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. | |
oracle |
1. n. A shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity. | |
2. n. A person such as a priest through whom the deity is supposed to respond with prophecy or advice. | |
3. n. A prophetic response, often enigmatic or allegorical, so given. | |
4. n. A person considered to be a source of wisdom. | |
a literary oracle | |
5. n. A wise sentence or decision of great authority. | |
6. n. One who communicates a divine command; an angel; a prophet. | |
7. n. (computing theory) A theoretical entity capable of answering some collection of questions. | |
8. n. (Jewish antiquity) The sanctuary, or most holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself. | |
9. v. (obsolete) To utter oracles or prophecies. | |
prediction |
1. n. A statement of what will happen in the future. | |
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra or Robert Storm Petersen (in translation from Danish) | |
2. n. A probability estimation based on statistical methods. | |
fated |
1. adj. Foreordained, predetermined, established in advance by fate. | |
2. v. (rare) simple past tense and past participle of fate | |
fate |
1. n. The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events. | |
2. n. The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause. | |
3. n. Destiny; often with a connotation of death, ruin, misfortune, etc. | |
Accept your fate. | |
4. n. (mythology) alternative case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings). | |
5. v. To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable. | |
The oracle's prediction fated Oedipus to kill his father; not all his striving could change what would occur. | |
oedipus |
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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 | |
kill |
1. v. To put to death; to extinguish the life of. | |
Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and drugs combined. | |
2. v. To render inoperative. | |
He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting. | |
3. v. (transitive, figuratively) To stop, cease or render void; to terminate. | |
The editor decided to kill the story. | |
The news that a hurricane had destroyed our beach house killed our plans to sell it. | |
My computer wouldn't respond until I killed some of the running processes. | |
4. v. (transitive figuratively, hyperbole) To amaze, exceed, stun or otherwise incapacitate. | |
That night, she was dressed to kill. | |
That joke always kills me. | |
5. v. (transitive, figuratively) To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in. | |
It kills me to throw out three whole turkeys, but I can't get anyone to take them and they've already started to go bad. | |
It kills me to learn how many poor people are practically starving in this country while rich moguls spend such outrageous amounts on useless luxuries. | |
6. v. To use up or to waste. | |
I'm just doing this to kill time. | |
He told the bartender, pointing at the bottle of scotch he planned to consume, "Leave it, I'm going to kill the bottle.". | |
7. v. (transitive figuratively, informal) To exert an overwhelming effect on. | |
Between the two of us, we killed the rest of the case of beer. | |
Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate anymore. | |
8. v. (transitive figuratively, hyperbole) To overpower, overwhelm or defeat. | |
The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations. | |
9. v. To force a company out of business. | |
10. v. (intransitive, informal, hyperbolic) To produce intense pain. | |
You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill. | |
11. v. (figuratively, informal hyperbole transitive) To punish severely. | |
My parents are going to kill me! | |
12. v. (transitive, sports) To strike a ball or similar object with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point. | |
13. v. To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy. | |
14. v. (mathematics, transitive, informal) To cause to assume the value zero. | |
15. v. (computing, Internet, IRC, transitive) To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network. | |
16. v. (metallurgy) To deadmelt. | |
17. n. The act of killing. | |
The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives. | |
18. n. Specifically, the death blow. | |
The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head. | |
19. n. The result of killing; that which has been killed. | |
The fox dragged its kill back to its den. | |
20. n. (volleyball) The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally. | |
21. n. A creek; a body of water; a channel or arm of the sea. | |
The channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills. | |
Schuylkill, Catskill, etc. | |
22. n. A kiln. | |
His |
1. pron. honoraltcaps, his | |
2. det. Belonging to him. | |
3. det. (dated) Belonging to a person of unspecified gender. | |
4. det. (obsolete) Its; belonging to it. (Now only when implying personification.) | |
5. det. (archaic) Used as a genitive marker in place of ’s after a noun, especially a masculine noun ending in -s, to express the possessive case. | |
Ahab his mark for Ahab's mark. | |
Sejanus his Fall | |
6. pron. That which belongs to him; the possessive case of he, used without a following noun. | |
The decision was his to live with. | |
7. pron. alternative spelling of His | |
8. n. plural of hi | |
father |
1. n. A (generally human) male who begets a child. | |
My father was a strong influence on me. | |
My friend Tony just became a father. | |
2. n. , trans-album=The Borrowers | |
3. n. , , Father, dear fatherWill you be proud of me?I wish I could beJust like you. | |
4. n. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor. | |
5. n. A term of respectful address for an elderly man. | |
Come, father; you can sit here. | |
6. n. A term of respectful address for a priest. | |
7. n. A person who plays the role of a father in some way. | |
My brother was a father to me after my parents got divorced. | |
The child is father to the man. | |
8. n. The founder of a discipline or science. | |
Albert Einstein is the father of modern physics. | |
9. n. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. | |
10. n. A senator of Ancient Rome. | |
11. v. To be a father to; to sire. | |
12. v. (figuratively) To give rise to. | |
13. v. To act as a father; to support and nurture. | |
14. v. To provide with a father. | |
15. v. To adopt as one's own. | |
not |
1. adv. Negates the meaning of the modified verb. | |
Did you take out the trash? No, I did not. | |
Not knowing any better, I went ahead. | |
2. adv. To no degree. | |
That is not red; it's orange. | |
3. conj. And not. | |
I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken. | |
He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple. | |
4. interj. (slang) Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically. | |
I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney... not! | |
Sure, you're perfect the way you are... not! | |
5. n. Unary logical function NOT, true if input is false, or a gate implementing that negation function. | |
You need a not there to conform with the negative logic of the memory chip. | |
6. contraction. (obsolete) Contraction of ne wot, wot not; know not; knows not. | |
all |
1. adv. (degree) intensifier. | |
It suddenly went all quiet. | |
She was all, “Whatever.” | |
2. adv. (poetic) Entirely. | |
3. adv. Apiece; each. | |
The score was 30 all when the rain delay started. | |
4. adv. (degree) So much. | |
Don't want to go? All the better since I lost the tickets. | |
5. adv. (obsolete, poetic) even; just | |
6. det. Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or un). | |
All contestants must register at the scorer’s table. All flesh is originally grass. All my friends like classical music. | |
7. det. Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer). | |
The store is open all day and all night. (= through the whole of the day and the whole of the night.) | |
I’ve been working on this all year. (= from the beginning of the year until now.) | |
8. det. (obsolete) Any. | |
9. det. Only; alone; nothing but. | |
He's all talk; he never puts his ideas into practice. | |
10. pron. Everything. | |
some gave all they had; she knows all and sees all; Those who think they know it all are annoying to those of us who do. | |
11. pron. Everyone. | |
A good time was had by all. | |
12. n. (with a possessive pronoun) Everything that one is capable of. | |
She gave her all, and collapsed at the finish line. | |
13. n. The totality of one's possessions. | |
14. conj. (obsolete) although | |
15. adj. (dialect, Pennsylvania) All gone; dead. | |
The butter is all. | |
His |
1. pron. honoraltcaps, his | |
2. det. Belonging to him. | |
3. det. (dated) Belonging to a person of unspecified gender. | |
4. det. (obsolete) Its; belonging to it. (Now only when implying personification.) | |
5. det. (archaic) Used as a genitive marker in place of ’s after a noun, especially a masculine noun ending in -s, to express the possessive case. | |
Ahab his mark for Ahab's mark. | |
Sejanus his Fall | |
6. pron. That which belongs to him; the possessive case of he, used without a following noun. | |
The decision was his to live with. | |
7. pron. alternative spelling of His | |
8. n. plural of hi | |
striving |
1. v. present participle of strive | |
2. n. Effort; the act of one who strives. | |
strive |
1. v. To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently. | |
He strove to excel. | |
to strive for the truth | |
2. v. To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest. | |
to strive against fate | |
3. v. To vie; to compete as a rival. | |
4. n. (obsolete) An effort; a striving. | |
5. n. (obsolete) strife; contention | |
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. | |
change |
1. v. (intransitive) To become something different. | |
The tadpole changed into a frog. Stock prices are constantly changing. | |
2. v. (transitive, ergative) To make something into something else. | |
The fairy changed the frog into a prince. I had to change the wording of the ad so it would fit. | |
3. v. To replace. | |
Ask the janitor to come and change the lightbulb. After a brisk walk, I washed up and changed my shirt. | |
4. v. (intransitive) To replace one's clothing. | |
You can't go into the dressing room while she's changing. The clowns changed into their costumes before the circus started. | |
5. v. To replace the clothing of (the one wearing it). | |
It's your turn to change the baby. | |
6. v. (intransitive) To transfer to another vehicle (train, bus, etc.) | |
7. v. (archaic) To exchange. | |
8. v. To change hand while riding (a horse). | |
to change a horse | |
9. n. The process of becoming different. | |
The product is undergoing a change in order to improve it. | |
10. n. Small denominations of money given in exchange for a larger denomination. | |
Can I get change for this $100 bill please? | |
11. n. A replacement, e.g. a change of clothes | |
12. n. Money given back when a customer hands over more than the exact price of an item. | |
A customer who pays with a 10-pound note for a £9 item receives one pound in change. | |
13. n. Coins (as opposed to paper money). | |
Do you have any change on you? I need to make a phone call. | |
14. n. A transfer between vehicles. | |
The train journey from Bristol to Nottingham includes a change at Birmingham. | |
15. n. (baseball) A change-up pitch. | |
16. n. (campanology) Any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale. | |
17. n. (dated) A place where merchants and others meet to transact business; an exchange. | |
18. n. (Scotland, dated) A public house; an alehouse. | |
what |
1. pron. (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: (used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.) | |
2. pron. (relative, nonstandard) That; which; who. | |
3. pron. That which; those that; the thing that. | |
He knows what he wants. | |
What goes up must come down. | |
Keep up with what your friends are doing. | |
4. pron. Whatever. | |
I will do what I can to help you. | |
5. adv. (usually followed by "with") In some manner or degree; in part; partly. See also what with | |
What with singing and joking, the time passed quickly. | |
6. adv. Such. | |
What a pity. | |
What a beautiful day! | |
7. adv. (obsolete) Why? | |
8. adv. (now rare) Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both…and. | |
9. adv. (Singlish) (alt form, wat) (used to contradict an assumption) | |
10. interj. An expression of surprise or disbelief. | |
What! That’s amazing. | |
11. interj. Response that enquires what the asker desires (usually said unhappily). | |
12. interj. (UK, colloquial, dated) (clipping of what do you say)? | |
It’s a nice day, what? | |
13. interj. What did you say? I beg your pardon? | |
14. det. Which; which kind of. | |
What shirt are you going to wear? | |
What time is it? | |
What kind of car is that? | |
15. det. How much; how great (used in an exclamation). | |
What talent he has! | |
What a talent! | |
16. det. (relative) Whatever | |
Write down what things come into your mind. | |
17. n. (obsolete) Something; thing; stuff. | |
18. n. The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what. | |
19. n. Something that is addressed by , as opposed to a person, addressed by who. | |
would |
1. v. As a past-tense form of will.: | |
2. v. (obsolete) Wished, desired (something). | |
3. v. (archaic) Wanted to ( + bare infinitive). | |
4. v. Used to; was or were habitually accustomed to ( + bare infinitive); indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly. | |
5. v. Used with bare infinitive to form the "anterior future", indicating a futurity relative to a past time. | |
6. v. (archaic) Used with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses. | |
7. v. Was determined to; loosely, could naturally have been expected to (given the tendencies of someone's character etc.). | |
8. v. As a modal verb, the subjunctive of will.: | |
9. v. Used to give a conditional or potential "softening" to the present; might, might wish. | |
10. v. Used as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality (with a bare infinitive); indicating an action or state that is conditional on another. | |
11. v. (chiefly archaic) Might wish ( + verb in past subjunctive); often used in the first person (with or without that) in the sense of "if only". | |
12. v. Used to impart a sense of hesitancy or uncertainty to the present; might be inclined to. Now sometimes colloquially with ironic effect. | |
13. v. Used interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …? | |
Would you pass the salt, please? | |
14. v. (chiefly archaic, transitive, or control verb) Might desire; wish (something). | |
15. n. Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality. | |
will |
1. v. (rare, transitive) To wish, desire (something). | |
Do what you will. | |
2. v. (rare, intransitive) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that). | |
3. v. (auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action). | |
4. v. (auxiliary) To choose to (do something), used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive). | |
5. v. (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall. | |
6. v. (auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to. | |
Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand. | |
7. n. One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention. | |
Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason. | |
8. n. One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands. | |
Eventually I submitted to my parents' will. | |
9. n. The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition. | |
Most creatures have a will to live. | |
10. n. (law) A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes. | |
11. n. (archaic) That which is desired; one's wish. | |
12. n. (archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.) | |
He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. | |
13. v. (archaic) To wish, desire. | |
14. v. (transitive, intransitive) To instruct (that something be done) in one's will. | |
15. v. To try to make (something) happen by using one's will (intention). | |
All the fans were willing their team to win the game. | |
16. v. To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document). | |
He willed his stamp collection to the local museum. | |
occur |
1. v. (intransitive) To happen or take place. | |
The liftoff will occur in exactly twelve seconds. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To present or offer itself. | |
I will write if the opportunity occurs. | |
3. v. (impersonal) To come or be presented to the mind; to suggest itself. | |
4. v. (intransitive, sciences) To be present or found. | |
The chemical monofluoroacetate occurs in all parts of Dichapetalum cymosum, and is responsible for its toxic effects. | |