grammar |
1. n. A system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language. | |
2. n. (linguistics) The study of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences (syntax). | |
3. n. A book describing the rules of grammar of a language. | |
4. n. (computing theory) A formal system specifying the syntax of a language. | |
5. n. (computing theory) A formal system defining a formal language | |
6. n. The basic rules or principles of a field of knowledge or a particular skill. | |
7. n. (UK, archaic) A textbook. | |
a grammar of geography | |
8. n. (UK) A grammar school. | |
9. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse according to the rules of grammar; to use grammar. | |
pertaining |
1. v. present participle of pertain | |
2. n. Something that pertains; an appurtenance. | |
pertain |
1. v. (intransitive) to belong to or be a part of; be an adjunct, attribute, or accessory of | |
2. v. (intransitive) to relate, to refer, be relevant to | |
3. v. (intransitive) To apply; to be or remain in place; to continue to be applicable | |
to |
1. part. A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive. | |
I want to leave. | |
He asked me what to do. | |
I don’t know how to say it. | |
I have places to go and people to see. | |
2. part. As above, with the verb implied. | |
"Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed.". | |
If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to. | |
3. part. A particle used to create phrasal verbs. | |
I have to do laundry today. | |
4. prep. Indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at. | |
We are walking to the shop. | |
5. prep. Used to indicate purpose. | |
He devoted himself to education. | |
They drank to his health. | |
6. prep. Used to indicate result of action. | |
His face was beaten to a pulp. | |
7. prep. Used after an adjective to indicate its application. | |
similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking. | |
8. prep. (obsolete,) As a. | |
With God to friend (with God as a friend); with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe); lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice); t | |
9. prep. (arithmetic) Used to indicate a ratio or comparison. | |
one to one = 1:1 | |
ten to one = 10:1. | |
I have ten dollars to your four. | |
10. prep. (arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation. | |
Three squared or three to the second power is nine. | |
Three to the power of two is nine. | |
Three to the second is nine. | |
11. prep. Used to indicate the indirect object. | |
I gave the book to him. | |
12. prep. (time) Preceding. | |
ten to ten = 9:50; We're going to leave at ten to (the hour). | |
13. prep. Used to describe what something consists of or contains. | |
Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it. | |
There's a lot of sense to what he says. | |
14. prep. (Canada, UK, Newfoundland, West Midlands) At. | |
Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y. | |
15. adv. Toward a closed, touching or engaging position. | |
Please push the door to. | |
16. adv. (nautical) Into the wind. | |
17. adv. misspelling of too | |
the |
1. art. Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that an entity it articulates is presupposed; something already mentioned, or completely specified later in that same sentence, or assumed already | |
I’m reading the book. (Compare I’m reading a book.) | |
The street in front of your house. (Compare A street in Paris.) | |
The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird. | |
2. art. Used before a noun modified by a restrictive relative clause, indicating that the noun refers to a single referent defined by the relative clause. | |
The street that runs through my hometown. | |
3. art. Used before an object considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time. | |
No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe. | |
God save the Queen! | |
4. art. Used before a superlative or an ordinal number modifying a noun, to indicate that the noun refers to a single item. | |
That was the best apple pie ever. | |
5. art. Added to a superlative or an ordinal number to make it into a substantive. | |
That apple pie was the best. | |
6. art. Introducing a singular term to be taken generically: preceding a name of something standing for a whole class. | |
7. art. Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective. | |
Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. | |
8. art. Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar. | |
No one in the whole country had seen it before. | |
I don't think I'll get to it until the morning. | |
9. art. Used before a body part (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun. | |
A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”) | |
10. art. When stressed, indicates that it describes an object which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention. | |
That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery. | |
11. adv. 1=With a comparative ormore and a verb phrase, establishes a parallel with one or more other such comparatives. | |
The hotter the better. | |
The more I think about it, the weaker it looks. | |
The more money donated, the more books purchased, and the more happy children. | |
It looks weaker and weaker, the more I think about it. | |
12. adv. 1=With a comparative, and often withfor it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated withnone. | |
It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it. | |
It was a difficult time, and I’m none the wiser for it. | |
I'm much the wiser for having had a difficult time like that. | |
joining |
1. v. present participle of join | |
2. n. The act or result of joining; a joint or juncture. | |
join |
1. n. An intersection of piping or wiring; an interconnect. | |
2. n. (computing, databases) An intersection of data in two or more database tables. | |
3. n. (algebra) The lowest upper bound, an operation between pairs of elements in a lattice, denoted by the symbol ∨. | |
4. v. To combine more than one item into one; to put together. | |
The plumber joined the two ends of the broken pipe. We joined our efforts to get an even better result. | |
5. v. (intransitive) To come together; to meet. | |
Parallel lines never join. These two rivers join in about 80 miles. | |
6. v. To come into the company of. | |
I will join you watching the football game as soon as I have finished my work. | |
7. v. To become a member of. | |
Many children join a sports club. Most politicians have joined a party. | |
8. v. (computing, databases, transitive) To produce an intersection of data in two or more database tables. | |
By joining the Customer table on the Product table, we can show each customer's name alongside the products they have ordered. | |
9. v. To unite in marriage. | |
10. v. (obsolete, rare) To enjoin upon; to command. | |
11. v. To accept, or engage in, as a contest. | |
to join encounter, battle, or issue | |
of |
1. prep. Expressing distance or motion. | |
2. prep. (now obsolete, or dialectal) From (of distance, direction), "off". | |
3. prep. (obsolete except in phrases) Since, from (a given time, earlier state etc.). | |
4. prep. From, away from (a position, number, distance etc.). | |
There are no shops within twenty miles of the cottage. | |
5. prep. (North America, Scotland, Ireland) Before (the hour); to. | |
What's the time? / Nearly a quarter of three. | |
6. prep. Expressing separation. | |
7. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with the action indicated by a transitive verb and the quality or substance by a grammatical object.) | |
Finally she was relieved of the burden of caring for her sick husband. | |
8. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with resulting state indicated by an adjective.) | |
He seemed devoid of human feelings. | |
9. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating removal, absence or separation, construed with an intransitive verb.) | |
10. prep. Expressing origin. | |
11. prep. (Indicating an ancestral source or origin of descent.) | |
The word is believed to be of Japanese origin. | |
12. prep. (Indicating a (non-physical) source of action or emotion; introducing a cause, instigation); from, out of, as an expression of. | |
The invention was born of necessity. | |
13. prep. (following an intransitive verb) (Indicates the source or cause of the verb.) | |
It is said that she died of a broken heart. | |
14. prep. (following an adjective) (Indicates the subject or cause of the adjective.) | |
I am tired of all this nonsense. | |
15. prep. Expressing agency. | |
16. prep. (following a passive verb) (Indicates the agent (for most verbs, now usually expressed with by).) | |
I am not particularly enamoured of this idea. | |
17. prep. (Used to introduce the "subjective genitive"; following a noun to form the head of a postmodifying noun phrase) (see also 'Possession' senses below). | |
The contract can be terminated at any time with the agreement of both parties. | |
18. prep. (following an adjective) (Used to indicate the agent of something described by the adjective.) | |
It was very brave of you to speak out like that. | |
19. prep. Expressing composition, substance. | |
20. prep. (after a verb expressing construction, making etc.) (Used to indicate the material or substance used.) | |
Many 'corks' are now actually made of plastic. | |
21. prep. (directly following a noun) (Used to indicate the material of the just-mentioned object.) | |
She wore a dress of silk. | |
22. prep. (Indicating the composition of a given collective or quantitative noun.) | |
What a lot of nonsense! | |
23. prep. (Used to link a given class of things with a specific example of that class.) | |
Welcome to the historic town of Harwich. | |
24. prep. (Links two nouns in near-apposition, with the first qualifying the second); "which is also". | |
I'm not driving this wreck of a car. | |
25. prep. Introducing subject matter. | |
26. prep. (Links an intransitive verb, or a transitive verb and its subject (especially verbs to do with thinking, feeling, expressing etc.), with its subject-ma | |
I'm always thinking of you. | |
27. prep. (following a noun (now chiefly nouns of knowledge, communication etc.)) (Introduces its subject matter); about, concerning. | |
He told us the story of his journey to India. | |
28. prep. (following an adjective) (Introduces its subject matter.) | |
This behaviour is typical of teenagers. | |
29. prep. Having partitive effect. | |
30. prep. (following a number or other quantitive word) (Introduces the whole for which is indicated only the specified part or segment); "from among". | |
Most of these apples are rotten. | |
31. prep. (following a noun) (Indicates a given part.) | |
32. prep. (now archaic, literary, with preceding partitive word assumed, or as a predicate after to be) Some, an amount of, one of. | |
On the whole, they seem to be of the decent sort. | |
33. prep. (Links to a genitive noun or possessive pronoun, with partitive effect (though now often merged with possessive senses, below).) | |
He is a friend of mine. | |
34. prep. Expressing possession. | |
35. prep. Belonging to, existing in, or taking place in a given location, place or time. Compare "origin" senses, above. | |
He was perhaps the most famous scientist of the twentieth century. | |
36. prep. Belonging to (a place) through having title, ownership or control over it. | |
The owner of the nightclub was arrested. | |
37. prep. Belonging to (someone or something) as something they possess or have as a characteristic; (the "possessive genitive". (With abstract nouns, this inter | |
Keep the handle of the saucepan away from the flames. | |
38. prep. Forming the "objective genitive". | |
39. prep. (Follows an agent noun, verbal noun or noun of action.) | |
She had a profound distrust of the police. | |
40. prep. Expressing qualities or characteristics. | |
41. prep. (now archaic, or literary) (Links an adjective with a noun or noun phrase to form a quasi-adverbial qualifier); in respect to, as regards. | |
My companion seemed affable and easy of manner. | |
42. prep. (Indicates a quality or characteristic); "characterized by". | |
Pooh was said to be a bear of very little brain. | |
43. prep. (Indicates quantity, age, price, etc.) | |
We have been paying interest at a rate of 10%. | |
44. prep. (US, informal considered incorrect by some) (Used to link singular indefinite nouns (preceded by the indefinite article) and attributive adjectives mod | |
It's not that big of a deal. | |
45. prep. Expressing a point in time. | |
46. prep. (chiefly regional) During the course of (a set period of time, day of the week etc.), now specifically with implied repetition or regularity. | |
Of an evening, we would often go for a stroll along the river. | |
47. prep. (UK dialectal, chiefly in negative constructions) For (a given length of time). | |
I've not tekken her out of a goodly long while. | |
48. prep. (after a noun) (Indicates duration of a state, activity etc.) | |
After a delay of three hours, the plane finally took off. | |
bound |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of bind | |
I bound the splint to my leg. | |
I had bound the splint with duct tape. | |
2. adj. (with infinitive) Obliged (to). | |
You are not legally bound to reply. | |
3. adj. (with infinitive) Very likely (to), certain to | |
They were bound to come into conflict eventually. | |
4. adj. (linguistics, of a morpheme) That cannot stand alone as a free word. | |
5. adj. (mathematics, logic, of a variable) Constrained by a quantifier. | |
6. adj. (dated) Constipated; costive. | |
7. adj. Confined or restricted to a certain place; e.g. railbound. | |
8. adj. Unable to move in certain conditions; e.g. snowbound. | |
9. n. (often, used in plural) A boundary, the border which one must cross in order to enter or leave a territory. | |
I reached the northern bound of my property, took a deep breath and walked on. | |
Somewhere within these bounds you may find a buried treasure. | |
10. n. (mathematics) A value which is known to be greater or smaller than a given set of values. | |
11. v. To surround a territory or other geographical entity. | |
France, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra bound Spain. | |
Kansas is bounded by Nebraska on the north, Missouri on the east, Oklahoma on the south and Colorado on the west. | |
12. v. (mathematics) To be the boundary of. | |
13. n. A sizeable jump, great leap. | |
The deer crossed the stream in a single bound. | |
14. n. A spring from one foot to the other in dancing. | |
15. n. (dated) A bounce; a rebound. | |
the bound of a ball | |
16. v. (intransitive) To leap, move by jumping. | |
The rabbit bounded down the lane. | |
17. v. To cause to leap. | |
to bound a horse | |
18. v. (intransitive, dated) To rebound; to bounce. | |
a rubber ball bounds on the floor | |
19. v. (transitive, dated) To cause to rebound; to throw so that it will rebound; to bounce. | |
to bound a ball on the floor | |
20. adj. (obsolete) Ready, prepared. | |
21. adj. Ready to start or go (to); moving in the direction (of). | |
Which way are you bound? | |
Is that message bound for me? | |
bind |
1. v. (intransitive) To tie; to confine by any ligature. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To cohere or stick together in a mass. | |
Just to make the cheese more binding | |
3. v. (intransitive) To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction. | |
I wish I knew why the sewing machine binds up after I use it for a while. | |
4. v. (intransitive) To exert a binding or restraining influence. | |
These are the ties that bind. | |
5. v. To tie or fasten tightly together, with a cord, band, ligature, chain, etc. | |
to bind grain in bundles to bind a prisoner | |
6. v. To confine, restrain, or hold by physical force or influence of any kind. | |
Gravity binds the planets to the sun. | |
Frost binds the earth. | |
7. v. To couple. | |
8. v. (figuratively) To oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other social tie. | |
to bind the conscience to bind by kindness bound by affection commerce binds nations to each other | |
9. v. (law) To put (a person) under definite legal obligations, especially, under the obligation of a bond or covenant. | |
10. v. (law) To place under legal obligation to serve. | |
to bind an apprentice bound out to service | |
11. v. To protect or strengthen by applying a band or binding, as the edge of a carpet or garment. | |
12. v. (transitive, archaic) To make fast (a thing) about or upon something, as by tying; to encircle with something. | |
to bind a belt about one to bind a compress upon a wound | |
13. v. To cover, as with a bandage. | |
to bind up a wound | |
14. v. (transitive, archaic) To prevent or restrain from customary or natural action. | |
Certain drugs bind the bowels. | |
15. v. To put together in a cover, as of books. | |
The three novels were bound together. | |
16. v. (transitive, chemistry) To make two or more elements stick together. | |
17. v. (transitive, computing) To associate an identifier with a value; to associate a variable name, method name, etc. with the content of a storage location. | |
18. v. (dialect) To complain; to whine about something. | |
19. n. That which binds or ties. | |
20. n. A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary. | |
21. n. Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine. | |
22. n. (music) A ligature or tie for grouping notes. | |
23. n. (chess) A strong grip or stranglehold on a position that is difficult for the opponent to break. | |
the Maróczy Bind | |
24. n. The indurated clay of coal mines. | |
morphemes |
1. n. plural of morpheme | |
in |
1. prep. Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or other limits. | |
2. prep. Contained by. | |
The dog is in the kennel. | |
3. prep. Within. | |
4. prep. Surrounded by. | |
We are in the enemy camp. Her plane is in the air. | |
5. prep. Part of; a member of. | |
One in a million. She's in band and orchestra. | |
6. prep. Pertaining to; with regard to. | |
What grade did he get in English? | |
Military letters should be formal in tone, but not stilted. | |
7. prep. At the end of a period of time. | |
They said they would call us in a week. | |
8. prep. Within a certain elapsed time | |
Are you able to finish this in three hours? The massacre resulted in over 1000 deaths in three hours. | |
9. prep. During (said of periods of time). | |
in the first week of December; Easter falls in the fourth lunar month; The country reached a high level of prosperity in his fi | |
10. prep. (grammar, phonetics, of sounds and letters) Coming at the end of a word. | |
English nouns in -ce form their plurals in -s. | |
11. prep. Into. | |
Less water gets in your boots this way. | |
12. prep. Used to indicate limit, qualification, condition, or circumstance. | |
In replacing the faucet washers, he felt he was making his contribution to the environment. | |
13. prep. Indicating an order or arrangement. | |
My fat rolls around in folds. | |
14. prep. Denoting a state of the subject. | |
He stalked away in anger. John is in a coma. | |
15. prep. Indicates, connotatively, a place-like form of someone's (or something's) personality, as his, her or its psychic and physical characteristics. | |
You've got a friend in me. He's met his match in her. | |
16. prep. Wearing (an item of clothing). | |
I glanced over at the pretty girl in the red dress. | |
17. prep. Used to indicate means, medium, format, genre, or instrumentality. | |
18. prep. (of something offered or given in an exchange) In the form of, in the denomination of. | |
Please pay me in cash — preferably in tens and twenties. | |
The deposit can be in any legal tender, even in gold. | |
Her generosity was rewarded in the success of its recipients. | |
19. prep. Used to indicate a language, script, tone, etc. of a text, speech, etc. | |
Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" in C minor is among his most popular. | |
His speech was in French, but was simultaneously translated into eight languages. | |
When you write in cursive, it's illegible. | |
20. v. (obsolete, transitive) To enclose. | |
21. v. (obsolete, transitive) To take in; to harvest. | |
22. adv. (not comparable) Located indoors, especially at home or the office, or inside something. | |
Is Mr. Smith in? | |
23. adv. Moving to the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room. | |
Suddenly a strange man walked in. | |
24. adv. (sports) Still eligible to play, e.g. able to bat in cricket and baseball. | |
He went for the wild toss but wasn't able to stay in. | |
25. adv. (UK) Abbreviation of in aid of. | |
What's that in? | |
26. adv. After the beginning of something. | |
27. n. A position of power or a way to get it. | |
His parents got him an in with the company | |
28. n. (sport) The state of a batter/batsman who is currently batting – see innings | |
29. n. A re-entrant angle; a nook or corner. | |
30. adj. In fashion; popular. | |
Skirts are in this year. | |
31. adj. Incoming. | |
the in train | |
32. adj. (nautical, of the sails of a vessel) Furled or stowed. | |
33. adj. (legal) With privilege or possession; used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin. | |
in by descent; in by purchase; in of the seisin of her husband | |
34. adj. (cricket) Currently batting. | |
35. n. Inch. | |
a |
1. art. One; any indefinite example of; used to denote a singular item of a group. | |
There was a man here looking for you yesterday. | |
2. art. Used in conjunction with the adjectives score, dozen, hundred, thousand, and million, as a function word. | |
I've seen it happen a hundred times. | |
3. art. One certain or particular; any single.Brown, Lesley, (2003) | |
We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London. | |
4. art. The same; one. | |
We are of a mind on matters of morals. | |
5. art. Any, every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope; also used with a negative to indicate not a single one.Lindberg, Christine A. (2007) | |
A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties. | |
He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head? | |
6. art. Used before plural nouns modified by few, good many, couple, great many, etc. | |
7. art. Someone or something like; similar to; Used before a proper noun to create an example out of it. | |
The center of the village was becoming a Times Square. | |
8. prep. (archaic) To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto. | |
Stand a tiptoe. | |
9. prep. To do with separation; In, into. | |
Torn a pieces. | |
10. prep. To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by. | |
I brush my teeth twice a day. | |
11. prep. (obsolete) To do with method; In, with. | |
12. prep. (obsolete) To do with role or capacity; In. | |
A God’s name. | |
13. prep. To do with status; In. | |
King James Bible (II Chronicles 2:18) | |
To set the people a worke. | |
14. prep. (archaic) To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing. | |
1964, Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’ | |
The times, they are a-changin'. | |
15. prep. (archaic) To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in. | |
1611, King James Bible, Hebrews 11-21 | |
Jacob, when he was a dying | |
16. prep. (archaic) To do with an action/movement; To, into. | |
17. v. (archaic, or slang) Have. | |
I'd a come, if you'd a asked. | |
18. pron. (obsolete, outside, England, and Scotland dialects) He. | |
19. interj. A meaningless syllable; ah. | |
20. prep. (archaic, slang) Of. | |
The name of John a Gaunt. | |
21. adv. (chiefly Scotland) All. | |
22. adj. (chiefly Scotland) All. | |
Word |
1. n. Scripture; The Bible. | |
2. n. The creative word of God; logos. | |
3. n. The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language. (contrast morpheme.) | |
4. n. The smallest discrete unit of spoken language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more phonemes and one or more morphemes | |
5. n. The smallest discrete unit of written language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more letters or symbols and one or more morphemes | |
6. n. A discrete, meaningful unit of language approved by an authority or native speaker (compare non-word). | |
7. n. Something like such a unit of language: | |
8. n. A sequence of letters, characters, or sounds, considered as a discrete entity, though it does not necessarily belong to a language or have a meaning | |
9. n. (telegraphy) A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space. | |
10. n. (computing) A fixed-size group of bits handled as a unit by a machine (on many 16-bit machines, 16 bits or two bytes). | |
11. n. (computer science) A finite string that is not a command or operator. | |
12. n. (group theory) A group element, expressed as a product of group elements. | |
13. n. The fact or act of speaking, as opposed to taking action. | |
14. n. (now rare outside certain phrases) Something that someone said; a comment, utterance; speech. | |
15. n. (obsolete outside certain phrases) A watchword or rallying cry, a verbal signal (even when consisting of multiple words). | |
mum's the word | |
16. n. (obsolete) A proverb or motto. | |
17. n. News; tidings (used without an article). | |
Have you had any word from John yet? | |
18. n. An order; a request or instruction; an expression of will. | |
He sent word that we should strike camp before winter. | |
Don't fire till I give the word | |
Their mother's word was law. | |
19. n. A promise; an oath or guarantee. | |
I give you my word that I will be there on time. | |
20. n. A brief discussion or conversation. | |
Can I have a word with you? | |
21. n. (in the plural) See words. | |
There had been words between him and the secretary about the outcome of the meeting. | |
22. n. (theology, sometimes Word) Communication from God; the message of the Christian gospel; the Bible, Scripture. | |
Her parents had lived in Botswana, spreading the word among the tribespeople. | |
23. n. (theology, sometimes Word) Logos, Christ. | |
24. v. To say or write (something) using particular words; to phrase (something). | |
I’m not sure how to word this letter to the council. | |
25. v. (transitive, obsolete) To flatter with words, to cajole. | |
26. v. To ply or overpower with words. | |
27. v. (transitive, rare) To conjure with a word. | |
28. v. (intransitive, archaic) To speak, to use words; to converse, to discourse. | |
29. interj. (slang) Truth, indeed, that is the truth! The shortened form of the statement "My word is my bond.". | |
"Yo, that movie was epic!" / "Word?" ("You speak the truth?") / "Word." ("I speak the truth.") | |
30. interj. (slang) An abbreviated form of word up; a statement of the acknowledgment of fact with a hint of nonchalant approval. | |
31. v. alternative form of worth (to become). | |