| mathematics |
| 1. n. An abstract representational system used in the study of numbers, shapes, structure, change and the relationships between these concepts. | |
| 2. n. A person's ability to count, calculate, and use different systems of mathematics at differing levels. | |
| My mathematics is always improving. | |
| cartography |
| 1. n. The creation of charts and maps based on the layout of a territory's geography. | |
| 2. n. (figuratively) An illustrative discussion of a topic. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| pertaining |
| 1. v. present participle of pertain | |
| 2. n. Something that pertains; an appurtenance. | |
| pertain |
| 1. v. (intransitive) to belong to or be a part of; be an adjunct, attribute, or accessory of | |
| 2. v. (intransitive) to relate, to refer, be relevant to | |
| 3. v. (intransitive) To apply; to be or remain in place; to continue to be applicable | |
| 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 | |
| co |
| 1. n. (slang) company | |
| 2. pron. (neologism, nonstandard) they (singular). Gender-neutral subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she. | |
| 3. pron. (neologism, nonstandard) them (singular). Gender-neutral object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her. | |
| ordinates |
| 1. n. plural of ordinate | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present indicative of ordinate | |
| based |
| 1. adj. Founded on; having a basis; often used in combining forms. | |
| That was a soundly based argument. | |
| 2. adj. (slang) Not caring what others think about his or her personality, style, or behavior; focused on maintaining individuality. | |
| 3. v. simple past tense and past participle of base | |
| 4. v. Being derived from (usually followed by on or upon). | |
| It's a new film based on a best-selling novel. | |
| 5. v. Having a base | |
| The ladder is based on the even sidewalk for stability. | |
| 6. v. Having a base of operations. | |
| The company is based in New York. | |
| base |
| 1. n. Something from which other things extend; a foundation. | |
| 2. n. A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object. | |
| 3. n. The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis. | |
| 4. n. A permanent structure for housing military personnel and material. | |
| 5. n. The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters. | |
| 6. n. (cooking, painting, pharmacy) A basic but essential component or ingredient. | |
| 7. n. A substance used as a mordant in dyeing. | |
| 8. n. (cosmetics) Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform. | |
| 9. n. (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts. | |
| 10. n. Important areas in games and sports. | |
| 11. n. A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek. | |
| 12. n. (baseball) One of the three places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out. | |
| 13. n. (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement. | |
| 14. n. (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer. | |
| 15. n. (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support. | |
| 16. n. (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT). | |
| 17. n. (geometry) The lowest side of a in a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat. | |
| 18. n. (heraldry) The lowest third of a shield or escutcheon. | |
| 19. n. (heraldry) The lower part of the field. See escutcheon. | |
| 20. n. (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent. | |
| The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3. | |
| 21. n. (mathematics) (synonym of radix). | |
| 22. n. (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated. | |
| 23. n. (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles. | |
| 24. n. (acrobatics, cheerleading) In hand-to-hand balance, the person who supports the flyer; the person that remains in contact with the ground. | |
| 25. n. (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached. | |
| 26. n. (music) (dated form of bass) | |
| 27. n. (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon. | |
| 28. n. (archaic) The housing of a horse. | |
| 29. n. (historical, in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armour) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower. | |
| 30. n. (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat. | |
| 31. n. (obsolete) An apron. | |
| 32. n. A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a sys | |
| 33. v. To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of. | |
| 34. v. To be located (at a particular place). | |
| 35. v. (acrobatics, cheerleading) To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer. | |
| 36. adj. (obsolete) Low in height; short. | |
| 37. adj. Low in place or position. | |
| 38. adj. (obsolete) Of low value or degree. | |
| 39. adj. (archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common. | |
| 40. adj. Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly. | |
| 41. adj. (now rare) Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality. | |
| 42. adj. Designating those metals which are not classed as precious or noble. | |
| 43. adj. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased. | |
| base coin | |
| base bullion | |
| 44. adj. (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard. | |
| 45. adj. Not classical or correct. | |
| base Latin | |
| 46. adj. obsolete form of bass | |
| the base tone of a violin | |
| 47. adj. (legal) Not held by honourable service. | |
| A base estate is one held by services not honourable, or held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant is a base tenant. | |
| 48. n. (now chiefly US historical) The game of prisoners' bars. | |
| on |
| 1. adj. In the state of being active, functioning or operating. | |
| 2. adj. Performing according to schedule. | |
| Are we still on for tonight? | |
| Is the show still on? | |
| 3. adj. (chiefly UK, informal, usually negative) Acceptable, appropriate. | |
| You can't do that; it's just not on. | |
| 4. adj. (informal) Destined, normally in the context of a challenge being accepted; involved, doomed. | |
| "Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!". | |
| Mike just threw coffee onto Paul's lap. It's on now. | |
| 5. adj. (baseball, informal) Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter. | |
| 6. adj. (euphemistic) Menstruating. | |
| 7. adv. To an operating state. | |
| turn the television on | |
| 8. adv. Along, forwards (continuing an action). | |
| drive on, rock on | |
| 9. adv. In continuation, at length. | |
| and so on. | |
| He rambled on and on. | |
| 10. adv. (not US) Later. | |
| Ten years on, nothing had changed in the village. | |
| 11. prep. Positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above. | |
| on the table; on the couch | |
| The parrot was sitting on Jim's shoulder. | |
| 12. prep. At or near; adjacent to. | |
| Soon we'll pass a statue on the left. | |
| The fleet is on the American coast. | |
| Croton-on-Hudson, Rostov-on-Don, Southend-on-Sea | |
| 13. prep. Covering. | |
| He wore old shoes on his feet. | |
| 14. prep. At the date of. | |
| Born on the 4th of July. | |
| 15. prep. Some time during the day of. | |
| I'll see you on Monday. The bus leaves on Friday. Can I see you on a different day? On Sunday I'm busy. | |
| 16. prep. Dealing with the subject of, about, or concerning something. | |
| A book on history. The World Summit on the Information Society. | |
| 17. prep. Touching; hanging from. | |
| The fruit ripened on the trees. The painting hangs on the wall. | |
| 18. prep. (informal) In the possession of. | |
| I haven't got any money on me. | |
| 19. prep. Because of, or due to. | |
| To arrest someone on suspicion of bribery. To contact someone on a hunch. | |
| 20. prep. Upon; at the time of (and often because of). | |
| On Jack's entry, William got up to leave. | |
| On the addition of ammonia, a chemical reaction begins. | |
| 21. prep. Paid for by. | |
| The drinks are on me tonight, boys. The meal is on the house. I paid for the airfare and meals for my family, but the hotel room was on the company. | |
| 22. prep. Used to indicate a means or medium. | |
| I saw it on television. Can't you see I'm on the phone? | |
| 23. prep. Indicating a means of subsistence. | |
| They lived on ten dollars a week. The dog survived three weeks on rainwater. | |
| 24. prep. Away or occupied with (e.g. a scheduled activity). | |
| He's on his lunch break. on vacation; on holiday | |
| 25. prep. Denoting performance or action by contact with the surface, upper part, or outside of anything; hence, by means of; with. | |
| to play on a violin or piano | |
| Her words made a lasting impression on my mind. | |
| 26. prep. Regularly taking (a drug). | |
| You've been on these antidepressants far too long. He's acting so strangely, I think he must be on something. | |
| 27. prep. Under the influence of (a drug). | |
| He's acting crazy because he's on crack right now. | |
| 28. prep. (mathematics) Having identical domain and codomain. | |
| a function on | |
| 29. prep. (mathematics) HavingV^n as domain and V as codomain, for some set V and integer n. | |
| an operator on | |
| 30. prep. (mathematics) Generated by. | |
| the free group on four letters | |
| 31. prep. Supported by (the specified part of itself). | |
| A table can't stand on two legs. After resting on his elbows, he stood on his toes, then walked on his heels. | |
| 32. prep. At a given time after the start of something; at. | |
| 33. prep. In addition to; besides; indicating multiplication or succession in a series. | |
| heaps on heaps of food | |
| mischief on mischief; loss on loss | |
| 34. prep. (obsolete, regional) of | |
| 35. prep. Indicating dependence or reliance; with confidence in. | |
| I depended on them for assistance. | |
| He will promise on certain conditions. | |
| Do you ever bet on horses? | |
| 36. prep. Toward; for; indicating the object of an emotion. | |
| Have pity or compassion on him. | |
| 37. prep. (obsolete) At the peril of, or for the safety of. | |
| 38. prep. In the service of; connected with; of the number of. | |
| He is on a newspaper; I am on the committee. | |
| 39. prep. By virtue of; with the pledge of. | |
| He affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honour. | |
| 40. prep. To the account or detriment of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon. | |
| On us be all the blame. | |
| A curse on him! | |
| Please don't tell on her and get her in trouble. | |
| He turned on her and has been her enemy ever since. | |
| He went all honest on me, making me listen to his confession. | |
| 41. v. (transitive, Singapore, Philippines) to switch on | |
| Can you on the light? | |
| 42. prep. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Without. | |
| 43. n. In the Japanese language, a pronunciation, or reading, of a kanji character that was originally based on the character's pronunciation in Chinese, contrasted with kun. | |
| Most kanji have two kinds of reading, called "on" and "kun". | |
| mutually |
| 1. adv. in the same way, each to the other; reciprocally | |
| The contract was mutually binding. | |
| 2. adv. in a shared manner; equally; affecting all parties the same way | |
| The adventure was mutually beneficial. | |
| orthogonal |
| 1. adj. (geometry) Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to each other. | |
| A chord and the radius that bisects it are orthogonal. | |
| 2. adj. mathematics | |
| 3. adj. Of a pair of vectors: having a zero inner product; perpendicular. | |
| The normal vector and tangent vector at a given point are orthogonal. | |
| 4. adj. Of a square matrix: such that its transpose is equal to its inverse. | |
| 5. adj. Of a linear transformation: preserving its angles. | |
| 6. adj. Of grid graphs, board games and polyominoes: vertical or horizontal but not diagonal. | |
| 7. adj. (statistics) Statistically independent, with reference to variates. | |
| 8. adj. (software engineering) Of two or more aspects of a problem, able to be treated separately. | |
| The content of the message should be orthogonal to the means of its delivery. | |
| 9. adj. Of two or more problems or subjects, independent of or irrelevant to each other. | |
| axes |
| 1. n. plural of ax | |
| 2. n. plural of axe | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present indicative of ax (all etymologies and senses) | |
| 4. v. third-person singular present indicative of axe (all etymologies and senses) | |
| 5. n. plural of axis | |
| 6. n. cln, en, heteronyms, irregular plurals ending in "-es", plurals ending in "-es" | |
| ax |
| 1. n. (US) alternative spelling of axe | |
| 2. v. alternative spelling of axe | |
| 3. v. (now dialectal, or nonstandard, especially, AAVE) alternative form of ask | |
| 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts I: | |
| When they were come togedder, they axed off hym, sayinge: Master wilt thou at this tyme restore agayne the kyngdom of israhel? | |
| 1979, Verna Mae Slone, What My Heart Wants to Tell, Kentucky 1988, p. 18: | |
| ‘I axed him if he knowed the way and he said he had not fergitten the lay of the land.’ | |
| axe |
| 1. n. A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it. | |
| 2. n. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle. | |
| 3. n. (informal) A dismissal or rejection. | |
| His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe. | |
| 4. n. (slang) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz. | |
| 5. n. (finance) A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives., Risk magazine | |
| A financial dealer has an axe in a stock that his buyers don't know about, giving him an advantage in making the most profit. | |
| 6. v. To fell or chop with an axe. | |
| 7. v. To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner. | |
| The government announced its plans to axe public spending. | |
| The broadcaster axed the series because far fewer people than expected watched it. | |
| He got axed in the last round of firings. | |
| 8. n. (archaic) The axle of a wheel. | |
| 9. v. To furnish with an axle. | |
| 10. v. (now obsolete, outside, dialects, especially, AAVE) alternative form of ask | |
