dialect |
1. n. (linguistics) A variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular area, community or social group, often differing from other varieties of the same language in minor ways as regards vocabul | |
2. n. (pejorative) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong. | |
3. n. A lect (often a regional or minority language) as part of a group or family of languages, especially if they are viewed as a single language, or if contrasted with a standardized idiom that is conside | |
4. n. (computing, programming) A variant of a non-standardized programming language. | |
Home computers in the 1980s had many incompatible dialects of BASIC. | |
5. n. (ornithology) A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population. | |
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 | |
fish |
1. n. A cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills. | |
Salmon is a fish. | |
The Sun Mother created all the fishes of the world. | |
The Sun Mother created all the fish of the world. | |
We have many fish in our aquarium. | |
2. n. (archaic, or loosely) Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water. | |
3. n. The flesh of the fish used as food. | |
The seafood pasta had lots of fish but not enough pasta. | |
4. n. A card game in which the object is to obtain cards in pairs or sets of four (depending on the variation), by asking the other players for cards of a particular rank. | |
5. n. (derogatory, slang) A woman. | |
6. n. (slang) An easy victim for swindling. | |
7. n. (poker slang) A bad poker player. Compare shark (a good poker player). | |
8. n. (nautical) A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace, originally shaped roughly like a fish, used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship. | |
9. n. (nautical) A purchase used to fish the anchor. | |
10. n. (nautical) A torpedo. | |
11. n. (zoology) A paraphyletic grouping of the following extant taxonomic groups: | |
12. n. Class Myxini, the hagfish (no vertebra) | |
13. n. Class Petromyzontida, the lampreys (no jaw) | |
14. n. Within infraphylum Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates (also including Tetrapoda) | |
15. n. # Class Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays | |
16. n. # Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fish. | |
17. n. (cartomancy) The thirty-fourth Lenormand card. | |
18. n. A period of time spent fishing. | |
The fish at the lake didn't prove successful. | |
19. n. An instance of seeking something. | |
Merely two fishes for information told the whole story. | |
20. v. (intransitive) To hunt fish or other aquatic animals. | |
She went to the river to fish for trout. | |
21. v. To search (a body of water) for something other than fish. | |
They fished the surrounding lakes for the dead body. | |
22. v. (intransitive) To (attempt to) find or get hold of an object by searching among other objects. | |
Why are you fishing through my things? | |
He was fishing for the keys in his pocket. | |
23. v. (intransitive, followed by "for" or "around for") To talk to people in an attempt to get them to say something. | |
The detective visited the local pubs fishing around for more information. | |
The actors loitered at the door, fishing for compliments. | |
24. v. (intransitive, cricket) Of a batsman, to attempt to hit a ball outside off stump and miss it. | |
25. v. (nautical) To repair a spar or mast by fastening a beam or other long object (often called a fish) over the damaged part (see Noun above). | |
26. n. (obsolete) A counter, used in various games. | |
for |
1. conj. (dated) Because. | |
2. prep. Towards. | |
The astronauts headed for the moon. | |
3. prep. Directed at, intended to belong to. | |
I have something for you. | |
4. prep. In honor of, or directed towards the celebration or event of. | |
We're having a birthday party for Janet. | |
The cake is for Tom and Helen's anniversary. | |
The mayor gave a speech for the charity gala. | |
5. prep. Supporting. | |
All those for the motion raise your hands. | |
6. prep. Because of. | |
He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him. | |
(UK usage) He looks better for having lost weight. | |
She was the worse for drink. | |
7. prep. Over a period of time. | |
I've lived here for three years. | |
They fought for days over a silly pencil. | |
8. prep. Throughout an extent of space. | |
9. prep. On behalf of. | |
I will stand in for him. | |
10. prep. Instead of, or in place of. | |
11. prep. In order to obtain or acquire. | |
I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday. | |
He's going for his doctorate. | |
Do you want to go for coffee? | |
People all over Greece looked to Delphi for answers. | |
Can you go to the store for some eggs? | |
I'm saving up for a car. | |
Don't wait for an answer. | |
What did he ask you for? | |
12. prep. In the direction of: marks a point one is going toward. | |
Run for the hills! | |
He was headed for the door when he remembered. | |
13. prep. By the standards of, usually with the implication of those standards being lower than one might otherwise expect. | |
Fair for its day. | |
She's spry for an old lady. | |
14. prep. Despite, in spite of. | |
15. prep. Used to indicate the subject of a to-infinitive. | |
For that to happen now is incredibly unlikely. (=It is incredibly unlikely that that will happen now.) | |
All I want is for you to be happy. (=All I want is that you be happy.) | |
16. prep. (chiefly US) Out of; used to indicate a fraction, a ratio | |
In term of base hits, Jones was three for four on the day | |
17. prep. (cricket) Used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen. | |
At close of play, England were 305 for 3. | |
18. prep. To be, or as being. | |
19. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.) | |
20. prep. Used to construe various verbs (see the entries for individual phrasal verbs). | |
eels |
1. n. plural of eel | |
eel |
1. n. Any freshwater or marine fish of the order Anguilliformes, which are elongated and resemble snakes. | |
2. n. The European eel,. | |
3. v. To fish for eels. | |
4. v. To move with a sinuous motion like that of an eel. | |
by |
1. prep. Near or next to. | |
The mailbox is by the bus stop. | |
2. prep. At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval. | |
Be back by ten o'clock! We will send it by the first week of July. | |
3. prep. Indicates the actor in a clause with its verb in the passive voice: Through the action or presence of. | |
The matter was decided by the chairman. The boat was swamped by the water. He was protected by his body armour. | |
4. prep. Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of. | |
There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare | |
5. prep. Indicates the cause of a condition or event: Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of. | |
6. prep. Indicates a means: Involving/using the means of. | |
I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking. | |
7. prep. Indicates a source of light used as illumination. | |
The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight. | |
8. prep. Indicates an authority, rule, or permission followed. | |
I sorted the items by category. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. | |
9. prep. Indicates the amount of some progression: With a change of. | |
Our stock is up by ten percent. | |
10. prep. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another. | |
We went through the book page by page. We crawled forward by inches. | |
11. prep. Indicates a referenced source: According to. | |
He cheated by his own admission. | |
12. prep. Indicates an oath: With the authority of. | |
By Jove! I think she's got it! By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this. | |
13. prep. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something. | |
It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix. The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot. The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm. | |
14. prep. (horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of. | |
She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress. | |
15. adv. Along a path which runs by the speaker. | |
I watched as it passed by. | |
16. adv. In the vicinity, near. | |
There was a shepherd close by. | |
The shop is hard by the High Street. | |
17. adv. To or at a place, as a residence or place of business. | |
I'll stop by on my way home from work. | |
We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave. | |
18. adv. Aside, away. | |
The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring. | |
19. adj. Out of the way, subsidiary. | |
20. n. (card games) A pass | |
21. interj. alternative spelling of bye | |
disturbing |
1. adj. Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling. | |
2. v. present participle of disturb | |
disturb |
1. v. to confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids. | |
The noisy ventilation disturbed me during the exam. | |
The performance was disturbed twice by a ringing mobile phone. | |
A school of fish disturbed the water. | |
2. v. to divert, redirect, or alter by disturbing. | |
A mudslide disturbed the course of the river. | |
The trauma disturbed his mind. | |
3. v. (intransitive) to have a negative emotional impact; to cause emotional distress or confusion. | |
A disturbing film that tries to explore the mind of a serial killer. | |
His behaviour is very disturbing. | |
4. n. (obsolete) disturbance | |
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. | |
waters |
1. n. plural of water | |
2. n. amniotic fluid, see bag of waters | |
3. v. third-person singular present indicative of water | |
water |
1. n. A substance (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gas | |
By the action of electricity, the water was resolved into its two parts, oxygen and hydrogen. | |
2. n. (in particular) The liquid form of this substance: liquid H₂O. | |
May I have a glass of water? | |
Your plants need more water. | |
3. n. A serving of liquid water. | |
4. n. (alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy. | |
He showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God. | |
5. n. (or in the plural) Water in a body; an area of open water. | |
The boat was found within the territorial waters. | |
These seals are a common sight in the coastal waters of Chile. | |
6. n. (poetic, archaic, or dialectal) A body of water, almost always a river. | |
7. n. A combination of water and other substance(s). | |
8. n. (sometimes ) Mineral water. | |
Perrier is the most popular water in this restaurant. | |
9. n. (often, in the plural) Spa water. | |
Many people visit Bath to take the waters. | |
10. n. (pharmacy) A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance. | |
ammonia water | |
11. n. Urine. | |
12. n. Amniotic fluid; used only in the plural in the UK but often also in the singular in North America, especially to avoid cacophony, as in this example: ( | |
Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s water breaks. (North America) | |
Before your child is born, your water(s) will break. (North America) | |
Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s waters break. (UK) | |
13. n. (colloquial, medicine) Fluids in the body, especially when causing swelling. | |
He suffers from water on the knee. | |
14. n. (figuratively, in the or in the singular) A state of affairs; conditions; usually with an adjective indicating an adverse condition. | |
The rough waters of change will bring about the calm after the storm. | |
15. n. (colloquial, figuratively) A person's intuition. | |
I know he'll succeed. I feel it in my waters. | |
16. n. (dated, finance) Excess valuation of securities. | |
17. n. The limpidity and lustre of a precious stone, especially a diamond. | |
a diamond of the first water is perfectly pure and transparent | |
18. n. A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc. | |
19. v. To pour water into the soil surrounding (plants). | |
20. v. To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate. | |
21. v. To provide (animals) with water for drinking. | |
I need to go water the cattle. | |
22. v. (intransitive) To get or take in water. | |
The ship put into port to water. | |
23. v. (transitive, colloquial) To urinate onto. | |
Nature called, so I stepped into the woods and watered a tree. | |
24. v. To dilute. | |
Can you water the whisky, please? | |
25. v. (transitive, dated, finance) To overvalue (securities), especially through deceptive accounting. | |
26. v. (intransitive) To fill with or secrete water. | |
Chopping onions makes my eyes water. | |
The smell of fried onions makes my mouth water. | |
27. v. To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines. | |
to water silk | |