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. | |
person |
1. n. An individual; usually a human being. | |
Each person is unique, both mentally and physically. | |
2. n. A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic represent | |
3. n. (Christianity) Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. | |
4. n. (chiefly in science fiction) Any sentient or socially intelligent being. | |
5. n. (in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing). | |
Jack's always been a dog person, but I prefer cats. | |
6. n. The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc. | |
7. n. (law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. | |
At common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person. | |
8. n. (law) The human genitalia; specifically, the penis. | |
9. n. (grammar) A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom he is speaking. See grammatical person. | |
10. n. (biology) A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals. | |
11. v. (obsolete, transitive) To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. | |
12. v. (transitive, gender-neutral) To man. | |
Who |
1. pron. honoraltcaps, who | |
2. pron. (interrogative) What person or people; which person or people; (asks for the identity of someone). (used in a direct or indirect question) | |
Who is that? (direct question) | |
I don't know who it is. (indirect question) | |
3. pron. (interrogative) What is one's position; (asks whether someone deserves to say or do something). | |
I don't like what you did, but who am I to criticize you? I've done worse. | |
4. pron. (relative) The person or people that. | |
It was a nice man who helped us. | |
5. pron. (relative, archaic) Whoever, he who, they who. | |
6. n. A person under discussion; a question of which person. | |
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? | |
near |
1. adj. Physically close. | |
2. adj. Closely connected or related. | |
3. adj. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear. | |
a near friend | |
4. adj. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling. | |
a version near to the original | |
5. adj. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow. | |
a near escape | |
6. adj. (of an event) Approaching. | |
The end is near. | |
7. adj. Approximate, almost. | |
The two words are near synonyms. | |
8. adj. (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team. | |
the near ox; the near leg | |
9. adj. (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short. | |
10. adj. (obsolete, slang) Stingy; parsimonious. | |
11. adv. Having a small intervening distance with regard to something. | |
I'm near-sighted. | |
12. adv. (colloquial) nearly | |
13. prep. Close to, in close proximity to. | |
There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun. | |
14. prep. Close to in time. | |
The voyage was near completion. | |
15. v. To come closer to; to approach. | |
The ship nears the land. | |
16. n. The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc. | |
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 | |
dying |
1. adj. Approaching death; about to die; moribund. | |
The dying dog was put out of his misery with a single shot! | |
dying fire | |
2. adj. Declining, terminal, or drawing to an end. | |
In the dying moments of daylight I glimpsed a sail on the horizon. | |
3. adj. Pertaining to death, or the moments before death. | |
His dying words were of his mother. | |
until my dying day | |
his dying bed | |
4. n. The process of approaching death; or, less precisely, death itself. | |
5. n. (with "the") Those who are currently expiring, moribund. | |
The battlefield was littered with the dead and dying. | |
6. v. present participle of die | |
7. v. (nonstandard) present participle of dye | |
die |
1. v. (intransitive) To stop living; to become dead; to undergo death. | |
2. v. followed by of; general use: | |
He died of embarrassment. | |
3. v. followed by from; general use, though somewhat more common in the context of medicine(topics, en, Medicine) or the sciencestopics, en, Sciences: | |
He died from heart failure. | |
4. v. followed by for; often expressing wider contextual motivations, though sometimes indicating direct causes: | |
He died for the one he loved. | |
5. v. (now rare) followed by with as an indication of direct cause: | |
6. v. (still current) followed by with as an indication of manner: | |
She died with dignity. | |
7. v. To stop living and undergo (a specified death). | |
He died a hero's death. | |
They died a thousand deaths. | |
8. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To yearn intensely. | |
I'm dying for a packet of crisps. | |
I'm dying for a piss. | |
9. v. (intransitive) To be utterly cut off by family or friends, as if dead. | |
The day our sister eloped, she died to our mother. | |
10. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To become spiritually dead; to lose hope. | |
He died a little inside each time she refused to speak to him. | |
11. v. (intransitive, colloquial, hyperbolic) To be mortified or shocked by a situation. | |
If anyone sees me wearing this ridiculous outfit, I'll die. | |
12. v. (figurative, intransitive, hyperbolic) To be so overcome with emotion or laughter as to be incapacitated. | |
When I found out my two favorite musicians would be recording an album together, I literally planned my own funeral arrangements and died. | |
13. v. (intransitive, of a machine) To stop working, to break down. | |
My car died in the middle of the freeway this morning. | |
14. v. (intransitive, of a computer program) To abort, to terminate (as an error condition). | |
15. v. To perish; to cease to exist; to become lost or extinct. | |
16. v. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc. | |
17. v. (often with "to") To become indifferent; to cease to be subject. | |
to die to pleasure or to sin | |
18. v. (intransitive, video games) To be killed by an enemy. Usually followed by to or another preposition. | |
I can't believe I just died to a squirrel! | |
19. v. (architecture) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where mouldings are lost in a sloped or curved face. | |
20. v. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor. | |
21. v. (of a stand-up comedian or a joke) To fail to evoke laughter from the audience. | |
Then there was that time I died onstage in Montreal... | |
22. n. The cubical part of a pedestal, a plinth. | |
23. n. A device for cutting into a specified shape. | |
24. n. A device used to cut an external screw thread. (Internal screw threads are cut with a tap.) | |
25. n. A mold for forming metal or plastic objects. | |
26. n. An embossed device used in stamping coins and medals. | |
27. n. (electronics) (plural also dice) An oblong chip fractured from a semiconductor wafer engineered to perform as an independent device or integrated circuit. | |
28. n. Any small cubical or square body. | |
29. n. A regular polyhedron, usually a cube, with numbers or symbols on each side and used in games of chance. | |
30. n. (obsolete) That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance. | |
31. n. (electronics) (plural also dies) An oblong chip fractured from a semiconductor wafer engineered to perform as an independent device or integrated circuit. | |
32. v. topics, en, Death, Dice games | |