| obsolete |
| 1. adj. (of words, equipment, etc.) No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused or neglected (often by preference for something newer, which replaces the subject). | |
| It is speculated that, within a few years, the Internet's speedy delivery of news worldwide will make newspapers obsolete. | |
| 2. adj. (biology) Imperfectly developed; not very distinct. | |
| 3. v. (transitive, US) To cause to become obsolete. | |
| This software component has been obsoleted. | |
| We are in the process of obsoleting this product. | |
| 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. | |
| particular |
| 1. adj. (also non-comparable) | |
| 2. adj. (obsolete) Pertaining only to a part of something; partial. | |
| 3. adj. Specific; discrete; concrete. | |
| I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do. | |
| We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith. | |
| 4. adj. Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing. | |
| I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism. | |
| 5. adj. (obsolete) Known only to an individual person or group; confidential. | |
| 6. adj. Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions). | |
| My five favorite places are, in no particular order, New York, Chicago, Paris, San Francisco and London. | |
| I didn't have any particular interest in the book. | |
| He brought no particular news. | |
| She was the particular belle of the party. | |
| 7. adj. (comparable) Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; precise; fastidious. | |
| He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back. | |
| Women are more particular about their appearance. | |
| 8. adj. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise. | |
| a full and particular account of an accident | |
| 9. adj. (legal) Containing a part only; limited. | |
| a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder | |
| 10. adj. (legal) Holding a particular estate. | |
| a particular tenant | |
| 11. adj. (logic) Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject. | |
| a particular proposition, opposed to "universal", e.g. (particular affirmative) "Some men are wise"; (particular negative) "Some men are not wise". | |
| 12. n. A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point. | |
| 13. n. (obsolete) A person's own individual case. | |
| 14. n. (now philosophy, chiefly in plural) A particular case; an individual thing as opposed to a whole class. (Opposed to generals, universals.) | |
| character |
| 1. n. A being involved in the action of a story. | |
| 2. n. A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene. | |
| (genetics) A single locus governing the petal colour character was detected on the linkage group A2. | |
| 3. n. A complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person or a group. | |
| A study of the suspect's character and his cast iron alibi ruled him out. | |
| 4. n. Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength. | |
| He has a great deal of character. | |
| "You may not like to eat liver," said Calvin's father, "but it builds character.". | |
| 5. n. A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma. | |
| Julius Caesar is a great historical character. | |
| That bloke is such a character. | |
| 6. n. A written or printed symbol, or letter. | |
| 7. n. (dated) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people. | |
| an inscription in the Runic character | |
| 8. n. (dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code. | |
| 9. n. (computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character. | |
| 10. n. (informal) A person or individual, especially one who is unknown or raises suspicions. | |
| We saw a shady character slinking out of the office with some papers. | |
| 11. n. (mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group. | |
| 12. n. Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty. | |
| in the miserable character of a slave | |
| in his character as a magistrate | |
| 13. n. (dated) The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation. | |
| a man's character for truth and veracity | |
| Her actions give her a bad character. | |
| 14. n. (dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to his/her behaviour, competence, etc. | |
| 15. v. (obsolete) To write (using characters); to describe. | |
| 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. | |
| essence |
| 1. n. The inherent nature of a thing or idea. | |
| 2. n. (philosophy) The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory. | |
| 3. n. Constituent substance. | |
| 4. n. A being; especially, a purely spiritual being. | |
| 5. n. A significant feature of something. | |
| 6. n. The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through a distillation process. | |
| essence of Jojoba | |
| 7. n. An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring. | |
| vanilla essence | |
| 8. n. Fragrance, a perfume. | |
| 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. | |
| someone |
| 1. pron. Some person. | |
| Can someone help me, please? | |
| 2. n. A partially specified but unnamed person. | |
| Do you need a gift for that special someone? | |
| 3. n. an important person | |
| He thinks he has become someone. | |
| 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. | |
| something |
| 1. pron. An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing. | |
| I must have forgotten to pack something, but I can't think what. | |
| I have something for you in my bag. | |
| I have a feeling something good is going to happen today. | |
| 2. pron. (colloquial, of someone or something) A quality to a moderate degree. | |
| The performance was something of a disappointment. | |
| That child is something of a genius. | |
| 3. pron. (colloquial, of a person) A talent or quality that is difficult to specify. | |
| She has a certain something. | |
| 4. pron. (colloquial, often with really or quite) Somebody or something who is superlative in some way. | |
| He's really something! I've never heard such a great voice. | |
| She's quite something. I can't believe she would do such a mean thing. | |
| 5. adj. Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify. | |
| 6. adv. (degree) Somewhat; to a degree. | |
| The baby looks something like his father. | |
| 7. adv. (degree, colloquial) To a high degree. | |
| 8. v. Applied to an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g. from words of a song. | |
| 9. n. An object whose nature is yet to be defined. | |
| 10. n. An object whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g., from words of a song. Also used to refer to an object earlier indefinitely referred to as 'something' (pronoun sense). | |
| individuality |
| 1. n. The characteristics that contribute to the differentiation or distinction of someone or something from a group of otherwise comparable identity. | |
| 2. n. A person. | |
