I |
1. pron. The speaker or writer, referred to as the grammatical subject, of a sentence. | |
(audio, Here I am, sir.ogg, Audio) | |
2. pron. (nonstandard, hypercorrection) The speaker or writer, referred to as the grammatical object, of a sentence. | |
3. n. (metaphysics) The ego. | |
4. n. (US, roadway) Interstate. | |
5. n. (grammar) (abbreviation of instrumental case) | |
6. pron. nonstandard spelling of I | |
could |
1. v. simple past tense of can | |
Before I was blind, I could see very well. | |
2. v. conditional of can | |
3. v. Used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact). | |
I think he could do it if he really wanted to. | |
I wish I could fly! | |
4. v. Used to politely ask for permission to do something. | |
Could I borrow your coat? | |
5. v. Used to politely ask for someone else to do something. | |
Could you proofread this email? | |
6. v. Used to show the possibility that something might happen. | |
We could rearrange the time if you like. | |
7. v. Used to suggest something. | |
You could try adding more salt to the soup. | |
8. n. Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality. | |
can |
1. v. (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to; to be able to. | |
She can speak English, French, and German. I can play football. Can you remember your fifth birthday? | |
2. v. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to. | |
You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework. Can I use your pen? | |
3. v. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible. | |
Can it be Friday already? | |
Teenagers can really try their parents' patience. | |
Animals can experience emotions. | |
4. v. (auxiliary verb, defective) Used with verbs of perception. | |
Can you hear that?. | |
I can feel the baby moving inside me. | |
5. v. (obsolete, transitive) To know. | |
6. n. A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top. | |
7. n. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can). | |
8. n. A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish. | |
9. n. (archaic) A chamber pot, now (US, slang) a toilet or lavatory. | |
Shit or get off the can. | |
Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me. | |
10. n. (US, slang) Buttocks. | |
11. n. (slang) Jail or prison. | |
Bob's in the can. He won't be back for a few years. | |
12. n. (slang) Headphones. | |
13. n. (archaic) A drinking cup. | |
14. n. (nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark | |
15. n. A chimney pot. | |
16. v. To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar. | |
They spent August canning fruit and vegetables. | |
17. v. to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.). | |
He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail. | |
18. v. To shut up. | |
Can your gob. | |
19. v. (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee. | |
The boss canned him for speaking out. | |
hear |
1. v. (intransitive) To perceive sounds through the ear. | |
I was deaf, and now I can hear. | |
2. v. To perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way. | |
I heard a sound from outside the window. | |
3. v. To exercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to. | |
4. v. To listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.). | |
Eventually the king chose to hear her entreaties. | |
5. v. To receive information about; to come to learn of. | |
6. v. (with from) To be contacted by. | |
7. v. To listen to (a person, case) in a court of law; to try. | |
Your case will be heard at the end of the month. | |
8. v. (transitive, informal) To sympathize with; to share the feeling or opinion of. | |
You're tired of all the ads on TV? I hear ya. | |
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. | |
patter |
1. n. A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface. | |
I could hear the patter of mice running about in the dark. | |
2. v. To make irregularly repeated sounds of low-to-moderate magnitude and lower-than-average pitch. | |
The bullets pattered into the log-cabin walls. | |
3. v. To spatter; to sprinkle. | |
4. n. Glib and rapid speech, such as from an auctioneer, or banter during a sports event. | |
5. v. To speak in such a way – glibly and rapidly, such as from an auctioneer, or when bantering during a sports event. | |
6. n. One who pats. | |
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. | |
mice |
1. n. plural form of mouse | |
running |
1. adj. Moving or advancing at a run. | |
2. adj. Of a horse, having a running gait; not a trotter or pacer. | |
3. adj. present, current | |
running month | |
4. adj. Flowing; easy; cursive. | |
running handwriting | |
5. adj. Continuous; keeping along step by step. | |
a running explanation | |
6. adj. (botany) Extending by a slender climbing or trailing stem. | |
a running vine | |
7. adj. (medicine) Discharging pus. | |
a running sore | |
8. adj. (of a nose) Discharging snot or mucus. | |
a running nose | |
9. adv. (informal) consecutively; in a row | |
Mom's strawberry jam won the blue ribbon at the Holland County Fair three years running. | |
10. n. The action of the verb to run. | |
His running of the business leaves something to be desired. | |
11. n. The activity of running as a form of exercise, as a sport, or for any other reason | |
Running is good exercise. | |
12. n. That which runs or flows; the quantity of a liquid which flows in a certain time or during a certain operation. | |
the first running of a still | |
13. n. The discharge from an ulcer or other sore. | |
14. v. present participle of run | |
run |
1. v. To move swiftly. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot. (Compare walk.) | |
Run, Sarah, run! | |
3. v. (intransitive) To go at a fast pace, to move quickly. | |
The horse ran the length of the track. I have been running all over the building looking for him. Sorry, I've got to run; my house is | |
4. v. To cause to move quickly; to make move lightly. | |
Every day I run my dog across the field and back. I'll just run the vacuum cleaner over the carpet. Run your fingers through my hair. | |
5. v. (transitive, or intransitive) To compete in a race. | |
The horse will run the Preakness next year. I'm not ready to run a marathon. | |
6. v. (intransitive) Of fish, to migrate for spawning. | |
7. v. (intransitive, soccer) To carry a football down the field. | |
8. v. To achieve or perform by running or as if by running. | |
The horse ran a great race. | |
9. v. (intransitive) To flee from a danger or towards help. | |
Whenever things get tough, she cuts and runs. When he's broke, he runs to me for money. | |
10. v. (transitive, juggling, colloquial) To juggle a pattern continuously, as opposed to starting and stopping quickly. | |
11. v. (fluids) To flow. | |
12. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To move or spread quickly. | |
There's a strange story running around the neighborhood. The flu is running through my daughter's kindergarten. | |
13. v. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to flow. | |
The river runs through the forest. There's blood running down your leg. | |
14. v. (intransitive) Of an object, to have a liquid flowing from it. | |
Your nose is running. Why is the hose still running? My cup runneth over. | |
15. v. To make a liquid flow; to make liquid flow from an object. | |
You'll have to run the water a while before it gets hot. Run the tap until the water gets hot. | |
16. v. (intransitive) To become liquid; to melt. | |
17. v. (intransitive) To leak or spread in an undesirable fashion; to bleed (especially used of dye or paint). | |
He discovered during washing that the red rug ran on his white sheet, staining it pink. | |
18. v. To fuse; to shape; to mould; to cast. | |
to run bullets | |
19. v. (figurative, transitive) To go through without stopping, usually illegally. | |
run a red light or stop sign; run a blockade | |
20. v. (nautical, of a vessel) To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing close-hauled. | |
21. v. (social) To carry out an activity. | |
22. v. To control or manage, be in charge of. | |
My uncle ran a corner store for forty years. She runs the fundraising. My parents think they run my life. He is running an expe | |
23. v. (intransitive) To be a candidate in an election. | |
I have decided to run for governor of California. We're trying to find somebody to run against him next year. | |
24. v. To make run in a race or an election. | |
He ran his best horse in the Derby. The Green Party is running twenty candidates in this election. | |
25. v. To exert continuous activity; to proceed. | |
to run through life; to run in a circle | |
26. v. (intransitive) To be presented in one of the media. | |
The story will run on the 6-o'clock news. The latest Robin Williams movie is running at the Silver City theatre. Her picture ran on t | |
27. v. To print or broadcast in the media. | |
run a story; run an ad | |
28. v. To transport someone or something. | |
Could you run me over to the store? Please run this report upstairs to director's office. | |
29. v. To smuggle illegal goods. | |
to run guns; to run rum | |
30. v. (transitive, agriculture) To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control. | |
Looks like we're gonna have to run the tomatoes again. | |
31. v. To extend or persist, statically or dynamically, through space or time. | |
32. v. (intransitive) To extend in space or through a range (often with a measure phrase). | |
The border runs for 3000 miles. The leash runs along a wire. The grain of the wood runs to the right on this table. It ran in q | |
33. v. (intransitive) To extend in time, to last, to continue (usually with a measure phrase). | |
The sale will run for ten days. The contract runs through 2008. The meeting ran late. The book runs 655 pages. The speech | |
34. v. To make something extend in space. | |
I need to run this wire along the wall. | |
35. v. (intransitive) Of a machine, including computer programs, to be operating or working normally. | |
My car stopped running. That computer runs twenty-four hours a day. Buses don't run here on Sunday. | |
36. v. To make a machine operate. | |
It's full. You can run the dishwasher now. Don't run the engine so fast. | |
37. v. To execute or carry out a plan, procedure or program. | |
They ran twenty blood tests on me and they still don't know what's wrong. Our coach had us running plays for the whole practice. I will run the sample. Don't run that software | |
38. v. To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation. | |
to run from one subject to another | |
39. v. (copulative) To become different in a way mentioned (usually to become worse). | |
Our supplies are running low. They frequently overspent and soon ran into debt. | |
40. v. To cost a large amount of money. | |
Buying a new laptop will run you a thousand dollars. Laptops run about a thousand dollars apiece. | |
41. v. (intransitive) Of stitches or stitched clothing, to unravel. | |
My stocking is running. | |
42. v. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation. | |
43. v. To cause to enter; to thrust. | |
to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into one's foot | |
44. v. To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven. | |
45. v. To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine. | |
to run a line | |
46. v. To encounter or incur (a danger or risk). | |
to run the risk of losing one's life | |
47. v. To put at hazard; to venture; to risk. | |
48. v. To tease with sarcasms and ridicule. | |
49. v. To sew (a seam) by passing the needle through material in a continuous line, generally taking a series of stitches on the needle at the same time. | |
50. v. To control or have precedence in a card game. | |
Every three or four hands he would run the table. | |
51. v. To be in form thus, as a combination of words. | |
52. v. (archaic) To be popularly known; to be generally received. | |
53. v. To have growth or development. | |
Boys and girls run up rapidly. | |
54. v. To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline. | |
55. v. To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company. | |
Certain covenants run with the land. | |
56. v. (golf) To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole. | |
57. v. (video games) To speedrun. | |
58. v. past participle of rin | |
59. n. Act or instance of running, of moving rapidly using the feet. | |
I just got back from my morning run. | |
60. n. Act or instance of hurrying (to or from a place) (not necessarily by foot); dash or errand, trip. | |
I need to make a run to the store. | |
about |
1. prep. In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of. | |
2. prep. Near; not far from; approximately; regarding time, size, quantity. | |
3. prep. On the point or verge of. | |
the show is about to start; I am not about to admit to your crime | |
4. prep. On one's person; nearby the person. | |
5. prep. Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout. | |
6. prep. Concerned with; engaged in; intent on. | |
7. prep. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of; to affect. | |
He knew more about what was occurring than anyone. | |
8. prep. (figurative) In or near, as in mental faculties or (literally) in possession of; in control of; at one's command; in one's makeup. | |
He has his wits about him. | |
9. prep. In the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place. | |
10. adv. Not distant; approximate. | |
11. adv. On all sides; around. | |
12. adv. Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down. | |
13. adv. Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence, in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost. | |
about as cold; about as high | |
14. adv. Near; in the vicinity. | |
15. adv. In succession; one after another; in the course of events. | |
16. adv. On the move; active; astir. | |
17. adv. To a reversed order; half round; facing in the opposite direction; from a contrary point of view. | |
to face about; to turn oneself about | |
18. adv. (nautical) To the opposite tack. | |
19. adv. (obsolete) Preparing; planning. | |
20. adv. (archaic) In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference. | |
a mile about, and a third of a mile across | |
21. adv. (chiefly North America, colloquial) Going to; on the verge of; intending to. | |
22. adj. Moving around; astir. | |
out and about; up and about | |
After my bout with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it took me 6 months to be up and about again. | |
23. adj. In existence; being in evidence; apparent | |
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. | |
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. | |
dark |
1. adj. Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light. | |
The room was too dark for reading. | |
2. adj. (of a source of light) Extinguished. | |
Dark signals should be treated as all-way stop signs. | |
3. adj. Deprived of sight; blind. | |
4. adj. (of colour) Dull or deeper in hue; not bright or light. | |
my sister's hair is darker than mine; her skin grew dark with a suntan | |
5. adj. Hidden, secret, obscure. | |
6. adj. Not clear to the understanding; not easily through; obscure; mysterious; hidden. | |
7. adj. (betting, of race horses) Having racing capability not widely known. | |
8. adj. Without moral or spiritual light; sinister, malign. | |
a dark villain; a dark deed | |
9. adj. Conducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak. | |
the Great Depression was a dark time; the film was a dark psychological thriller | |
10. adj. Lacking progress in science or the arts; said of a time period. | |
11. adj. With emphasis placed on the unpleasant aspects of life; said of a work of fiction, a work of nonfiction presented in narrative form or a portion of either. | |
The ending of this book is rather dark. | |
12. n. A complete or (more often) partial absence of light. | |
Dark surrounds us completely. | |
13. n. Ignorance. | |
We kept him in the dark. | |
The lawyer was left in the dark as to why the jury was dismissed. | |
14. n. Nightfall. | |
It was after dark before we got to playing baseball. | |
15. n. A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, etc. | |