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. | |
prototype |
1. n. An original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects (particularly manufactured items), or for its generalizations and models. | |
2. n. An early sample or model built to test a concept or process. | |
The prototype had loose wires and rough edges, but it worked. | |
3. n. (computing) A declaration of a function that specifies the name, return type, and parameters, but none of the body or actual code. | |
4. n. (semantics) An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes. | |
A robin is a prototype of a bird; a penguin is not. | |
5. v. To create a prototype of. | |
had |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of have. | |
2. v. (auxiliary) Used to form the pluperfect tense, expressing a completed action in the past (with a past participle). | |
3. v. (auxiliary, now rare) As past subjunctive: would have. | |
4. adj. (obsolete) Available. | |
have |
Additional archaic forms are second-person singular present tense hast, third-person singular present tense hath, present participle haveing, and second-person singular past tense hadst. | |
1. v. To possess, own, hold. | |
I have a house and a car. | |
Look what I have here — a frog I found on the street! | |
2. v. To be related in some way to (with the object identifying the relationship). | |
I have two sisters. | |
I have a lot of work to do. | |
3. v. To partake of a particular substance (especially a food or drink) or action. | |
I have breakfast at six o'clock. | |
Can I have a look at that? | |
I'm going to have some pizza and a beer right now. | |
4. v. To be scheduled to attend or participate in. | |
What class do you have right now? I have English. | |
Fred won't be able to come to the party; he has a meeting that day. | |
5. v. (auxiliary verb, taking a past participle) (Used in forming the perfect aspect and the past perfect aspect.) | |
I have already eaten today. | |
I had already eaten. | |
6. v. (auxiliary verb, taking a to-infinitive) See have to. | |
I have to go. | |
7. v. To give birth to. | |
The couple always wanted to have children. | |
My wife is having the baby right now! | |
My mother had me when she was 25. | |
8. v. To engage in sexual intercourse with. | |
He's always bragging about how many women he's had. | |
9. v. To accept as a romantic partner. | |
Despite my protestations of love, she would not have me. | |
10. v. (transitive with bare infinitive) To cause to, by a command, request or invitation. | |
They had me feed their dog while they were out of town. | |
11. v. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To cause to be. | |
He had him arrested for trespassing. | |
The lecture's ending had the entire audience in tears. | |
12. v. (transitive with bare infinitive) To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is not a verb argument.) | |
The hospital had several patients contract pneumonia last week. | |
I've had three people today tell me my hair looks nice. | |
13. v. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To depict as being. | |
Their stories differed; he said he'd been at work when the incident occurred, but her statement had him at home that entire evening. | |
14. v. (Used as interrogative auxiliary verb with a following pronoun to form tag questions. (For further discussion, see "Usage notes" below.)) | |
We haven't eaten dinner yet, have we? | |
Your wife hasn't been reading that nonsense, has she? | |
(UK usage) He has some money, hasn't he? | |
15. v. (UK, slang) To defeat in a fight; take. | |
I could have him! | |
I'm gonna have you! | |
16. v. (dated) To be able to speak a language. | |
I have no German. | |
17. v. To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of. | |
Dan certainly has arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before. | |
18. v. To be afflicted with, suffer from. | |
He had a cold last week. | |
19. v. To experience, go through, undergo. | |
We had a hard year last year, with the locust swarms and all that. | |
He had surgery on his hip yesterday. | |
I'm having the time of my life! | |
20. v. To trick, to deceive. | |
You had me alright! I never would have thought that was just a joke. | |
21. v. (transitive, often with present participle) To allow; to tolerate. | |
The child screamed incessantly for his mother to buy him a toy, but she wasn't having any of it. | |
I asked my dad if I could go to the concert this Thursday, but he wouldn't have it since it's a school night. | |
22. v. (transitive, often used in the negative) To believe, buy, be taken in by. | |
I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn't having any of it. | |
23. v. To host someone; to take in as a guest. | |
Thank you for having me! | |
24. v. To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation. | |
What do you have for problem two? | |
I have two contacts on my scope. | |
25. v. (transitive, of a jury) To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case. | |
We'll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury will have the case by that afternoon. | |
26. n. A wealthy or privileged person. | |
27. n. (uncommon) One who has some (contextually specified) thing. | |
28. n. (AU, NZ, informal) A fraud or deception; something misleading. | |
They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have. | |
loose |
1. v. To let loose, to free from restraints. | |
2. v. To unfasten, to loosen. | |
3. v. To make less tight, to loosen. | |
4. v. (intransitive) Of a grip or hold, to let go. | |
5. v. (archery) to shoot (an arrow) | |
6. v. (obsolete) To set sail. | |
7. v. (obsolete) To solve; to interpret. | |
8. adj. Not fixed in place tightly or firmly. | |
This wheelbarrow has a loose wheel. | |
9. adj. Not held or packaged together. | |
You can buy apples in a pack, but they are cheaper loose. | |
10. adj. Not under control. | |
The dog is loose again. | |
11. adj. Not fitting closely | |
I wear loose clothes when it is hot. | |
12. adj. Not compact. | |
It is difficult walking on loose gravel. | |
a cloth of loose texture | |
13. adj. Relaxed. | |
She danced with a loose flowing movement. | |
14. adj. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate. | |
a loose way of reasoning | |
15. adj. Indiscreet. | |
Loose talk costs lives. | |
16. adj. (dated) Free from moral restraint; immoral, unchaste. | |
17. adj. (not comparable, sports) Not being in the possession of any competing team during a game. | |
He caught an elbow going after a loose ball. | |
The puck was momentarily loose right in front of the net. | |
18. adj. (dated) Not costive; having lax bowels. | |
19. n. (archery) The release of an arrow. | |
20. n. (obsolete) A state of laxity or indulgence; unrestrained freedom, abandonment. | |
21. n. (rugby) All play other than set pieces (scrums and line-outs). | |
22. n. Freedom from restraint. | |
23. n. A letting go; discharge. | |
24. interj. (archery) begin shooting; release your arrows | |
25. v. misspelling of lose | |
I'm going to loose this game. | |
wires |
1. n. plural of wire | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of wire | |
wire |
1. n. Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. | |
2. n. A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable. | |
3. n. A metal conductor that carries electricity. | |
4. n. A fence made of usually barbed wire. | |
5. n. (sports) A finish line of a racetrack. | |
6. n. (informal) A telecommunication wire or cable | |
7. n. (by extension) An electric telegraph; a telegram. | |
8. n. (slang) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence. | |
9. n. (informal) A deadline or critical endpoint. | |
This election is going to go right to the wire | |
10. n. (billiards) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score. | |
11. n. (usually plural) Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings. | |
to pull the wires for office | |
12. n. (archaic, thieves' slang) A pickpocket who targets women. | |
13. n. (Scotland) A knitting needle. | |
14. v. To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing. | |
We need to wire that hole in the fence. | |
15. v. To string on a wire. | |
wire beads | |
16. v. To equip with wires for use with electricity. | |
17. v. To add something into an electrical system by means of wiring; to incorporate or include something. | |
I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen. | |
18. v. (informal) To send a message or a money value to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph. | |
Urgent: please wire me another 100 pounds sterling. | |
19. v. To make someone tense or psyched up. | |
I'm never going to sleep: I'm completely wired from all that coffee. | |
20. v. (slang) To install eavesdropping equipment. | |
We wired the suspect's house. | |
21. v. To snare by means of a wire or wires. | |
22. v. (transitive, croquet) To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot. | |
and |
1. conj. As a coordinating conjunction; expressing two elements to be taken together or in addition to each other. | |
2. conj. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs. | |
3. conj. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences. | |
4. conj. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first. | |
5. conj. (obsolete) Yet; but. | |
6. conj. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (not dated); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often | |
7. conj. (now colloquial, or literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements. | |
8. conj. Connecting two identical elements, with implications of continued or infinite repetition. | |
9. conj. Introducing a parenthetical or explanatory clause. | |
10. conj. Introducing the continuation of narration from a previous understood point; also used alone as a question: ‘and so what?’. | |
11. conj. (now regional or somewhat colloquial) Used to connect two verbs where the second is dependent on the first: ‘to’. Used especially after come, | |
12. conj. Introducing a qualitative difference between things having the same name; "as well as other". | |
13. conj. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus (with singular or plural verb). | |
14. conj. Expressing a condition.: | |
15. conj. (now US dialect) If; provided that. | |
16. conj. (obsolete) As if, as though. | |
17. n. (enm, music, often informal) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat. | |
18. n. (UK dialectal) Breath. | |
19. n. (UK dialectal) Sea smoke; steam fog. | |
20. v. (UK dialectal, intransitive) To breathe; whisper; devise; imagine. | |
rough |
1. adj. Not smooth; uneven. | |
2. adj. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished. | |
a rough estimate; a rough sketch of a building; a rough plan | |
3. adj. Turbulent. | |
The sea was rough. | |
4. adj. Difficult; trying. | |
Being a teenager nowadays can be rough. | |
5. adj. Crude; unrefined | |
His manners are a bit rough, but he means well. | |
6. adj. Violent; not careful or subtle | |
This box has been through some rough handling. | |
7. adj. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating. | |
a rough tone; a rough voice | |
8. adj. Not polished; uncut; said of a gem. | |
a rough diamond | |
9. adj. Harsh-tasting. | |
rough wine | |
10. adj. (chiefly UK, colloquial, slang) Somewhat ill; sick | |
11. adj. (chiefly UK, colloquial, slang) Unwell due to alcohol; hungover | |
12. n. The unmowed part of a golf course. | |
13. n. A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy. | |
14. n. (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce. | |
15. n. The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created. | |
16. n. A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process. | |
17. n. (obsolete) Boisterous weather. | |
18. v. To create in an approximate form. | |
Rough in the shape first, then polish the details. | |
19. v. (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player. | |
20. v. To render rough; to roughen. | |
21. v. To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes. | |
22. v. To endure primitive conditions. | |
23. adv. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly. | |
edges |
1. n. plural of edge | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of edge | |
edge |
1. n. The boundary line of a surface. | |
2. n. (geometry) A one-dimensional face of a polytope. In particular, the joining line between two vertices of a polygon; the place where two faces of a polyhedron meet. | |
3. n. An advantage. | |
I have the edge on him. | |
4. n. (also figuratively) The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe; that which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc. | |
5. n. A sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; an extreme verge. | |
The cup is right on the edge of the table. | |
He is standing on the edge of a precipice. | |
6. n. Sharpness; readiness or fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire. | |
7. n. The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part (of a period of time) | |
in the edge of evening | |
8. n. (cricket) A shot where the ball comes off the edge of the bat, often unintentionally. | |
9. n. (graph theory) A connected pair of vertices in a graph. | |
10. n. In male masturbation, a level of sexual arousal that is maintained just short of reaching the point of inevitability, or climax; see also edging. | |
11. v. To move an object slowly and carefully in a particular direction. | |
He edged the book across the table. | |
12. v. (intransitive) To move slowly and carefully in a particular direction. | |
He edged away from her. | |
13. v. (usually in the form 'just edge') To win by a small margin. | |
14. v. (cricket, transitive) To hit the ball with an edge of the bat, causing a fine deflection. | |
15. v. To trim the margin of a lawn where the grass meets the sidewalk, usually with an electric or gas-powered lawn edger. | |
16. v. To furnish with an edge; to construct an edging. | |
17. v. To furnish with an edge, as a tool or weapon; to sharpen. | |
18. v. (figurative) To make sharp or keen; to incite; to exasperate; to goad; to urge or egg on. | |
19. v. (intransitive) To delay one's orgasm so as to remain almost at the point of orgasm. | |
but |
1. prep. (obsolete, outside, Scotland) Outside of. | |
Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there. | |
2. prep. Apart from, except (for), excluding. | |
Everyone but Father left early. | |
I like everything but that. | |
Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave. | |
3. adv. Merely, only, just. | |
4. adv. (Australian, conjunctive) Though, however. | |
I'll have to go home early but. | |
5. adv. Used as an intensifier. | |
Nobody, but nobody, crosses me and gets away with it. | |
6. conj. (following a negative clause or sentence) On the contrary, but rather (introducing a word or clause that contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence without the negation). | |
I am not rich but (I am) poor; not John but Peter went there. | |
7. conj. However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (implies that the following clause is contrary to prior belief or contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence). | |
She is very old but still attractive. | |
You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not. | |
8. conj. Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "ex | |
I cannot but feel offended. | |
9. conj. (archaic) Without its also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant). | |
It never rains but it pours. | |
10. conj. (obsolete) Except with; unless with; without. | |
11. conj. (obsolete) Only; solely; merely. | |
12. conj. (obsolete) Until. | |
13. n. An instance or example of using the word "but". | |
It has to be done – no ifs or buts. | |
14. n. (Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage. | |
15. n. A limit; a boundary. | |
16. n. The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt. | |
17. v. (archaic) Use the word "but". | |
But me no buts. | |
it |
1. pron. The third-person singular personal pronoun that is normally used to refer to an inanimate object or abstract entity, also often used to refer to animals. | |
Put it over there. | |
Take each day as it comes. | |
I heard the sound of the school bus - it was early today. | |
2. pron. A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a child, especially of unknown gender. | |
She took the baby and held it in her arms. | |
3. pron. Used to refer to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation. | |
It's me. John. | |
Is it her? | |
4. pron. The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement. (known as the dummy pronoun or weather it) | |
It is nearly 10 o’clock. | |
It’s 10:45 read ten-forty-five. | |
It’s very cold today. | |
It’s lonely without you. | |
5. pron. The impersonal pronoun, used without referent in various short idioms. | |
stick it out | |
live it up | |
rough it | |
6. pron. The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject i | |
It is easy to see how she would think that. (with the infinitive clause headed by to see) | |
I find it odd that you would say that. (with the noun clause introduced by that) | |
It is hard seeing you so sick. (with the gerund seeing) | |
He saw to it that everyone would vote for him. (with the noun clause introduced by that) | |
It is not clear if the report was true. (with the noun clause introduced by if) | |
7. pron. All or the end; something after which there is no more. | |
Are there more students in this class, or is this it? | |
That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you. | |
8. pron. (chiefly pejorative, offensive) A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or is neither female nor male. | |
9. pron. (obsolete) (Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun): That which; what. | |
10. det. (obsolete) its | |
11. n. One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being. | |
12. n. The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag. | |
In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it… | |
13. n. (British) The game of tag. | |
Let's play it at breaktime. | |
14. n. Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond beauty. | |
15. n. (euphemism) Sexual activity. | |
caught them doing it | |
16. adj. (colloquial) Most fashionable. | |
worked |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of work | |
2. adj. Designed or executed in a particular manner or to a particular degree. | |
3. adj. Wrought. | |
4. adj. Processed in a particular way; prepared via labour. | |
5. adj. Decorated or embellished; embroidered. | |
6. adj. Prepared so as to demonstrate the steps required. | |
work |
1. n. (heading) Employment. | |
2. n. Labour, occupation, job. | |
My work involves a lot of travel. | |
3. n. The place where one is employed. | |
He hasn’t come home yet, he’s still at work. | |
4. n. One's employer | |
“I want to go to the R.E.M. reunion concert but I'm not sure if my work will let me off.” | |
5. n. (heading) Effort. | |
6. n. Effort expended on a particular task. | |
Holding a brick over your head is hard work. It takes a lot of work to write a dictionary. | |
7. n. Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result. | |
We know what we must do. Let's go to work. | |
8. n. Something on which effort is expended. | |
There's lots of work waiting for me at the office. | |
9. n. (physics) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move. | |
Work is done against friction to drag a bag along the ground. | |
10. n. (physics, more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process. | |
11. n. Sustained effort to achieve a goal or result, especially overcoming obstacles. | |
We don't have much time. Let's get to work piling up those sandbags. | |
12. n. Product; the result of effort.: | |
13. n. (often, in combination) The result of a particular manner of production. | |
There's a lot of guesswork involved. | |
14. n. (often, in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool. | |
We've got some paperwork to do before we can get started. The piece was decorated with intricate filigree work. | |
15. n. A literary, artistic, or intellectual production. | |
It is a work of art. | |
the poetic works of Alexander Pope | |
16. n. A fortification. | |
William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works. | |
17. n. (slang) The staging of events to appear as real. | |
18. n. (mining) Ore before it is dressed. | |
19. n. The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.) | |
Tell me you're using clean works at least. | |
20. v. (intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers. | |
He’s working in a bar. | |
21. v. Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business). | |
I work in a national park | |
she works in the human resources department | |
he mostly works in logging, but sometimes works in carpentry | |
22. v. Followed by as. Said of one's job title | |
I work as a cleaner. | |
23. v. Followed by for. Said of a company or individual who employs. | |
she works for Microsoft | |
he works for the president | |
24. v. Followed by with. General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients. | |
I work closely with my Canadian counterparts | |
you work with computers | |
she works with the homeless people from the suburbs | |
25. v. To effect by gradual degrees. | |
he worked his way through the crowd | |
the dye worked its way through | |
using some tweezers, she worked the bee sting out of her hand | |
26. v. To embroider with thread. | |
27. v. To set into action. | |
He worked the levers. | |
28. v. To cause to ferment. | |
29. v. (intransitive) To ferment. | |
30. v. To exhaust, by working. | |
The mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted. | |
31. v. To shape, form, or improve a material. | |
He used pliers to work the wire into shape. | |
32. v. To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality. | |
she works the night clubs | |
the salesman works the Midwest | |
this artist works mostly in acrylics | |
33. v. To operate in or through; as, to work the phones. | |
34. v. To provoke or excite; to influence. | |
The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy. | |
35. v. To use or manipulate to one’s advantage. | |
She knows how to work the system. | |
36. v. To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence. | |
I cannot work a miracle. | |
37. v. To cause to work. | |
He is working his servants hard. | |
38. v. (intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for. | |
he pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work"?; he looked at the bottle of pain pills, wondering if they would work; my plan didn’t work | |
39. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To influence. | |
They worked on her to join the group. | |
40. v. (intransitive) To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth. | |
41. v. (intransitive) To move in an agitated manner. | |
His fingers worked with tension. | |
A ship works in a heavy sea. | |
42. v. (intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled | |
this dough does not work easily; the soft metal works well | |
43. v. (transitive, with two objects, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad). | |
44. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache. | |