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. | |
distance |
1. n. The amount of space between two points, usually geographical points, usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line. | |
The distance to Petersborough is thirty miles. | |
From Moscow, the distance is relatively short to Saint Petersburg, relatively long to Novosibirsk, but even greater to Vladivostok. | |
2. n. Length or interval of time. | |
3. n. (informal) The difference; the subjective measure between two quantities. | |
We're narrowing the distance between the two versions of the bill. The distance between the lowest and next gear on my bicycle is annoying. | |
4. n. Remoteness of place; a remote place. | |
5. n. Remoteness in succession or relation. | |
the distance between a descendant and his ancestor | |
6. n. A space marked out in the last part of a racecourse. | |
7. n. (figuratively) The entire amount of progress to an objective. | |
He had promised to perform this task, but did not go the distance. | |
8. n. (figuratively) A withholding of intimacy; alienation; variance. | |
The friendship did not survive the row: they kept each other at a distance. | |
9. n. The remoteness or reserve which respect requires; hence, respect; ceremoniousness. | |
10. n. The space measured back from the winning-post which a racehorse running in a heat must reach when the winner has covered the whole course, in order to run in the final heat. | |
11. v. To move away (from) someone or something. | |
He distanced himself from the comments made by some of his colleagues. | |
12. v. To leave at a distance; to outpace, leave behind. | |
from |
1. prep. With the source or provenance of or at. | |
This wine comes from France. | |
I got a letter from my brother. | |
2. prep. With the origin, starting point or initial reference of or at. | |
He had books piled from floor to ceiling. | |
He left yesterday from Chicago. | |
Face away from the wall! | |
3. prep. (mathematics, now uncommon) Denoting a subtraction operation. | |
20 from 31 leaves 11. | |
4. prep. With the separation, exclusion or differentiation of. | |
An umbrella protects from the sun. | |
He knows right from wrong. | |
which |
1. det. (interrogative) What, of those mentioned or implied. | |
Which song made the charts? | |
2. det. (relative) The one or ones that. | |
Show me which one is bigger. | |
They couldn't decide which song to play. | |
3. det. (relative) The one or ones mentioned. | |
He once owned a painting of the house, which painting would later be stolen. | |
For several seconds he sat in silence, during which time the tea and sandwiches arrived. | |
I'm thinking of getting a new car, in which case I'd get a red one. | |
4. pron. (interrogative) What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied). | |
Which is bigger?; Which is which? | |
5. pron. (relative) Who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied). | |
He walked by a door with a sign, which read: PRIVATE OFFICE. | |
We've met some problems which are very difficult to handle. | |
He had to leave, which was very difficult. | |
No art can be properly understood apart from the culture of which it is a part. | |
6. pron. (relative, archaic) Used of people (now generally who, whom or that). | |
7. n. An occurrence of the word which. | |
sound |
1. adj. Healthy. | |
He was safe and sound. | |
In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work. | |
2. adj. Complete, solid, or secure. | |
Fred assured me the floorboards were sound. | |
3. adj. (mathematics, logic) Having the property of soundness. | |
4. adj. (UK, slang) Good; acceptable; decent. | |
"How are you?" - "I'm sound.". | |
That's a sound track you're playing. | |
See that man over there? He's sound. You should get to know him. | |
5. adj. (of sleep) Quiet and deep. Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, often deeply. | |
Her sleep was sound. | |
6. adj. Heavy; laid on with force. | |
a sound beating | |
7. adj. Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective. | |
a sound title to land | |
8. adv. Soundly. | |
9. interj. (UK, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding, generally without much enthusiasm. | |
- I found my jacket.- Sound. | |
10. n. A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium. | |
He turned when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Nobody made a sound. | |
11. n. A vibration capable of causing such sensations. | |
12. n. (music) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc | |
13. n. Noise without meaning; empty noise. | |
14. n. earshot, Earshot, distance within which a certain noise may be heard. | |
Stay within the sound of my voice. | |
15. v. (intransitive) To produce a sound. | |
When the horn sounds, take cover. | |
16. v. (copulative) To convey an impression by one's sound. | |
He sounded good when we last spoke. | |
That story sounds like a pack of lies! | |
17. v. (intransitive) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound. | |
18. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To resound. | |
19. v. (intransitive, legal, often, with in) To arise or to be recognizable as arising in or from a particular area of law. | |
20. v. To cause to produce a sound. | |
Sound the alarm! | |
He sounds the instrument. | |
21. v. (transitive, phonetics, of a vowel or consonant) To pronounce. | |
The "e" in "house" isn't sounded. | |
22. n. (geography) A long narrow inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean. | |
Puget Sound; Owen Sound | |
23. n. The air bladder of a fish. | |
Cod sounds are an esteemed article of food. | |
24. n. A cuttlefish. | |
25. v. (intransitive) Dive downwards, used of a whale. | |
The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive. | |
26. v. To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. | |
When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal. | |
27. v. Test; ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device. | |
Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope. | |
28. v. (medicine) To examine with the instrument called a sound or sonde, or by auscultation or percussion. | |
to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra | |
29. n. (medicine) An instrument for probing or dilating; a sonde. | |
30. n. A long, thin probe for sounding body cavities or canals such as the urethra. | |
Is |
1. n. plural of I | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of be | |
He is a doctor. He retired some time ago. | |
Should he do the task, it is vital that you follow him. | |
3. n. plural of i | |
remember to dot your is | |
be |
1. v. (intransitive, now literary) To exist; to have real existence. | |
2. v. (with there, or dialectally it, as dummy subject) To exist. | |
There is just one woman in town who can help us. (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us. | |
3. v. (intransitive) To occupy a place. | |
The cup is on the table. | |
4. v. (intransitive) To occur, to take place. | |
When will the meeting be? | |
5. v. (intransitive, in perfect tenses, without predicate) Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar. | |
The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come. | |
I have been to Spain many times. | |
Moscow, huh? I've never been, but it sounds fascinating. | |
6. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same. | |
Knowledge is bliss. | |
Hi, I’m Jim. | |
7. v. (transitive, copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same. | |
3 times 5 is fifteen. | |
8. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal. | |
François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995. | |
9. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it. | |
The sky is blue. | |
10. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase. | |
The sky is a deep blue today. | |
11. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice. | |
The dog was drowned by the boy. | |
12. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses. | |
The woman is walking. | |
I shall be writing to you soon. | |
We liked to chat while we were eating. | |
13. v. (archaic, auxiliary) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs, most of which indicate motion. Often still used for "to go". | |
14. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form future tenses, especially the future periphrastic. | |
I am to leave tomorrow. | |
I would drive you, were I to obtain a car. | |
15. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to link a subject to a measurement. | |
This building is three hundred years old. | |
I am 75 kilograms. | |
He’s about 6 feet tall. | |
16. v. (transitive, copulative, with a cardinal numeral) Used to state the age of a subject in years. | |
I’m 20. (= I am 20 years old.) | |
17. v. (with a dummy subject) it Used to indicate the time of day. | |
It is almost eight. (= It is almost eight o’clock.) | |
It’s 8:30 read eight-thirty in Tokyo. | |
What time is it there? It’s night. | |
18. v. (With since) Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event. | |
It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to My grandmother died three years ago, but emphasizes the intervening period) | |
It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him. | |
19. v. (often, impersonal, with it as a dummy subject) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like. | |
It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid. | |
Why is it so dark in here? | |
20. v. (dynamic/lexical "be", especially in progressive tenses, conjugated non-suppletively in the present tense, see usage notes) To exist or behave in a certain way. | |
"What do we do?" "We be ourselves.". | |
Why is he being nice to me? | |
still |
1. adj. Not moving; calm. | |
Still waters run deep. | |
2. adj. Not effervescing; not sparkling. | |
still water; still wines | |
3. adj. Uttering no sound; silent. | |
4. adj. (not comparable) Having the same stated quality continuously from a past time | |
5. adj. Comparatively quiet or silent; soft; gentle; low. | |
6. adj. (obsolete) Constant; continual. | |
7. adv. Without motion. | |
They stood still until the guard was out of sight. | |
8. adv. (aspect) Up to a time, as in the preceding time. | |
Is it still raining? It was still raining five minutes ago. | |
We've seen most of the sights, but we are still to visit the museum. | |
9. adv. (degree) To an even greater degree. Used to modify comparative adjectives or adverbs. | |
Tom is tall; Dick is taller; Harry is still taller. ("still" and "taller" can easily swap places here) | |
10. adv. (conjunctive) Nevertheless. | |
I’m not hungry, but I’ll still manage to find room for dessert. | |
Yeah, but still... | |
11. adv. (archaic, poetic) Always; invariably; constantly; continuously. | |
12. adv. (extensive) Even, yet. | |
Some dogs howl, more yelp, still more bark. | |
13. n. A period of calm or silence. | |
the still of the night | |
14. n. (photography) A photograph, as opposed to movie footage. | |
15. n. (slang) A resident of the Falkland Islands. | |
16. n. A steep hill or ascent. | |
17. n. a device for distilling liquids. | |
18. n. (catering) a large water boiler used to make tea and coffee. | |
19. n. (catering) the area in a restaurant used to make tea and coffee, separate from the main kitchen. | |
20. n. A building where liquors are distilled; a distillery. | |
21. v. to calm down, to quiet | |
to still the raging sea | |
22. v. (obsolete) To trickle, drip. | |
23. v. To cause to fall by drops. | |
24. v. To expel spirit from by heat, or to evaporate and condense in a refrigeratory; to distill. | |
audible |
1. adj. Able to be heard. | |
2. v. (intransitive, American football) To change the play at the line of scrimmage by yelling out a new one. | |
The quarterback audibled after seeing the defensive formation. | |
3. n. (American football) The act of or an instance of changing the play at the line of scrimmage by yelling out a new one. | |
The audible changed the play to a run. | |