chiefly |
1. adv. (focus) Especially or primarily; above all. | |
2. adv. (focus) Mainly or principally; almost entirely. | |
3. adj. of, or relating to a chief | |
military |
1. adj. Characteristic of members of the armed forces. | |
Chelsea Manning was dishonorably discharged from all military duties. | |
2. adj. (North America) Relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force (often as distinguished from civilians or police forces). | |
If you join a military force, you may end up killing people. | |
3. adj. Relating to war. | |
4. adj. Relating to armies or ground forces. | |
5. n. Armed forces. | |
He spent six years in the military. | |
6. n. (US, with the) U.S. armed forces in general, including the Marine Corps. | |
It's not the job of the military to make policy. | |
slang |
1. n. Language outside of conventional usage. | |
2. n. Language that is unique to a particular profession or subject; jargon. | |
3. n. The specialized language of a social group, sometimes used to make what is said unintelligible to those not members of the group; cant. | |
4. v. (transitive, dated) To vocally abuse, or shout at. | |
5. v. (archaic) simple past tense of sling | |
6. n. (dialect) Any long, narrow piece of land; a promontory. | |
7. n. (obsolete) A fetter worn on the leg by a convict. | |
8. n. (obsolete) A counterfeit weight or measure. | |
9. n. (obsolete) A travelling show, or one of its performances. | |
10. n. (obsolete) A hawker's license. | |
11. n. (obsolete) A watchchain. | |
12. v. (transitive, AAVE, MLE) To sell (especially illegal drugs). | |
forming |
1. v. present participle of form | |
2. n. The act by which something is formed; formation. | |
form |
1. n. To do with shape.: | |
2. n. The shape or visible structure of a thing or person. | |
3. n. A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold. | |
4. n. (dated) A long bench with no back. | |
5. n. (fine arts) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body. | |
6. n. (crystallography) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid. | |
7. n. (social) To do with structure or procedure. | |
8. n. An order of doing things, as in religious ritual. | |
9. n. Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula. | |
10. n. Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system. | |
a republican form of government | |
11. n. Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality. | |
a matter of mere form | |
12. n. (archaic) A class or rank in society. | |
13. n. (UK) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area). | |
14. n. (education) A class or year of school pupils (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the year, as in sixth form). | |
15. n. A blank document or template to be filled in by the user. | |
To apply for the position, complete the application form. | |
16. n. Level of performance. | |
The team's form has been poor this year. | |
The orchestra was on top form this evening. | |
17. n. (grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech. | |
participial forms; verb forms | |
18. n. The den or home of a hare. | |
19. n. (computing, programming) A window or dialogue box. | |
20. n. (taxonomy) An infraspecific rank. | |
21. n. (printing, dated) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase. | |
22. n. (geometry) A quantic. | |
23. n. (sports) A specific way of performing a movement. | |
24. v. To assume (a certain shape or visible structure). | |
When you kids form a straight line I'll hand out the lollies. | |
25. v. To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person. | |
Roll out the dough to form a thin sheet. | |
26. v. (intransitive) To take shape. | |
When icicles start to form on the eaves you know the roads will be icy. | |
27. v. To put together or bring into being; assemble. | |
The socialists did not have enough MPs to form a government. | |
Paul McCartney and John Lennon formed The Beatles in Liverpool in 1960. | |
28. v. (transitive, linguistics) To create (a word) by inflection or derivation. | |
By adding "-ness", you can form a noun from an adjective. | |
29. v. To constitute, to compose, to make up. | |
Teenagers form the bulk of extreme traffic offenders. | |
30. v. To mould or model by instruction or discipline. | |
Singing in a choir helps to form a child's sociality. | |
31. v. To provide (a hare) with a form. | |
32. v. (electrical, historical, transitive) To treat (plates) to prepare them for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead pero | |
compounds |
1. n. plural of compound | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of compound | |
compound |
1. n. an enclosure within which workers, prisoners, or soldiers are confined | |
2. n. a group of buildings situated close together, e.g. for a school or block of offices | |
3. adj. composed of elements; not simple | |
a compound word | |
4. adj. (music) An octave higher than originally (i.e. a compound major second is equivalent to a major ninth). | |
5. n. Anything made by combining several things. | |
6. n. (chemistry, dated) A substance made from any combination elements. | |
7. n. (chemistry) A substance formed by chemical union of two or more ingredients in definite proportions by weight. | |
8. n. (linguistics) A lexeme that consists of more than one stem; compound word; for example laptop, formed from lap and top. | |
9. n. (rail) a compound locomotive, a steam locomotive with both high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders. | |
10. v. To form (a resulting mixture) by combining different elements, ingredients, or parts. | |
to compound a medicine | |
11. v. To assemble (ingredients) into a whole; to combine, mix, or unite. | |
12. v. To modify or change by combination with some other thing or part; to mingle with something else. | |
13. v. (transitive, legal) To settle by agreeing on less than the claim, or on different terms than those stipulated. | |
to compound a debt | |
14. v. To settle amicably; to adjust by agreement; to compromise. | |
15. v. (intransitive) To come to terms of agreement; to agree; to settle by a compromise; usually followed by with before the person participating, and for before the thing compounded or the consideration. | |
16. v. (transitive, obsolete) To compose; to constitute. | |
17. v. (intransitive, finance) To increase in value with interest, where the interest is earned on both the principal sum and prior earned interest. | |
18. v. To worsen a situation | |
denoting |
1. v. present participle of denote | |
denote |
1. v. To indicate; to mark. | |
The yellow blazes denote the trail. | |
2. v. To make overt. | |
The tears denoted her true feelings. | |
3. v. To refer to literally; to convey as meaning. | |
"Pre-" denotes "before.". | |
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. | |
team |
1. n. A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage. | |
2. n. Any group of people involved in the same activity, especially sports or work. | |
We need more volunteers for the netball team. | |
The IT manager leads a team of three software developers. | |
3. n. (obsolete) A group of animals moving together, especially young ducks. | |
4. n. (legal) A royalty or privilege granted by royal charter to a lord of a manor, of having, keeping, and judging in his court, his bondmen, neifes, and villains, and their offspring, or suit, that is, go | |
5. v. (intransitive) To form a group, as for sports or work. | |
They teamed to complete the project. | |
6. v. (intransitive, by extension) To go together well; to harmonize. | |
7. v. To convey or haul with a team. | |
to team lumber | |
8. v. To form together into a team. | |
to team oxen | |
9. v. To give work to a gang under a subcontractor. | |
10. v. misspelling of teem | |
weapon |
1. n. An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords. | |
The club that is now mostly used for golf was once a common weapon. | |
2. n. An instrument or other means of harming or exerting control over another. | |
Money is the main weapon of modern oligarchs. | |
3. n. (informal, humorous) A tool of any kind. | |
Choose your weapon. | |
4. n. (Scotland, Britain, slang) An idiot, an oaf, a fool, a tool; a contemptible or incompetent person. | |
or |
1. conj. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc. each of which could make a passage true. In English, this is the "inclusive or." The "exclusive or" is formed by "either(...) | |
In Ohio, anyone under the age of 18 who wants a tattoo or body piercing needs the consent of a parent or guardian. | |
He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what. | |
2. conj. (logic) An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms, the inclusive or and the exclusive or. | |
3. conj. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities. | |
4. conj. Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false). | |
It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold! | |
5. conj. Connects two equivalent names. | |
The country Myanmar, or Burma | |
6. n. (logic, electronics) alternative form of OR | |
7. n. (tincture) The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms. | |
8. adj. (tincture) Of gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms. | |
9. adv. (obsolete) Early (on). | |
10. adv. (obsolete) Earlier, previously. | |
11. prep. (now archaic, or dialect) Before; ere. | |
device |
1. n. Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one. | |
There are a number of household devices in a kitchen such as a dishwasher, a garbage disposal, or an electric can opener. | |
2. n. (computing) A peripheral device; an item of hardware. | |
3. n. A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. | |
4. n. (Ireland) An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb | |
5. n. (rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device. | |
6. n. (heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily because as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge bor | |
7. n. (archaic) Power of devising; invention; contrivance. | |
8. n. (legal) An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark. | |
9. n. (printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience. | |
10. n. (obsolete) A spectacle or show. | |
11. n. (obsolete) Opinion; decision. | |
specialized |
1. adj. Highly skilled in a specific field. | |
2. v. simple past tense and past participle of specialize | |
specialize |
1. v. To make distinct or separate, particularly: | |
2. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To go into specific details. | |
3. v. (rare, transitive) To specify: to mention specifically. | |
4. v. (uncommon, transitive) To narrow in scope. | |
5. v. (biology, transitive) To make distinct or separate in form or function. | |
6. v. (intransitive) To become distinct or separate, particularly: | |
7. v. To focus one's study upon a particular skill, field, topic, or genre. | |
8. v. To focus one's business upon a particular item or service. | |
9. v. (usually pejorative) To be known or notorious for some specialty. | |
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. | |
destruction |
1. n. The act of destroying. | |
The destruction of the condemned building will take place at noon. | |
2. n. The results of a destructive event. | |
Amid the seemingly endless destruction, a single flower bloomed. | |
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. | |
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. | |
first |
1. adj. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. | |
The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday. | |
I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race. | |
2. adj. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest. | |
Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. | |
3. adv. Before anything else; firstly. | |
Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook. | |
4. n. The person or thing in the first position. | |
He was the first to complete the course. | |
5. n. The first gear of an engine. | |
6. n. Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence. | |
This is a first. For once he has nothing to say. | |
7. n. (baseball) first base | |
There was a close play at first. | |
8. n. (UK, colloquial) A first-class honours degree. | |
9. n. (colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication. | |
10. n. A fraction of an integer ending in one. | |
one forty-first of the estate | |
11. n. (obsolete) Time; time granted; respite. | |
element |
1. n. One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based. | |
Letters are the elements of written language. | |
2. n. (chemistry) Any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms | |
3. n. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air. | |
4. n. (legal) A required aspect or component of a cause of action. A deed is regarded a violation of law only if each element can be proved. | |
5. n. (set theory) One of the objects in a set. | |
6. n. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener. | |
7. n. A small part of the whole. | |
an element of doubt; an element of the picture | |
8. n. (plural only, with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains. | |
exposed to the elements | |
9. n. A place or state of being that an individual or object is best suited to. | |
to be in one's element | |
10. n. (Christianity, usually plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion. | |
11. n. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic. | |
You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches. | |
12. n. A component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having a high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it. | |
The element in this electric kettle can heat the water in under a minute. | |
13. n. (computing) One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by a matching pair of tags. | |
14. v. (obsolete) To compound of elements. | |
15. v. (obsolete) To constitute and be the elements of. | |