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. | |
takes |
1. v. third-person singular present indicative of take | |
2. n. plural of take | |
take |
1. v. To get into one's hands, possession or control, with or without force. | |
They took Charlton's gun from his cold, dead hands. | |
I'll take that plate off the table. | |
2. v. To seize or capture. | |
take the guards prisoner | |
take prisoners | |
After a bloody battle, they were able to take the city. | |
3. v. To catch or get possession of (fish or game). | |
took ten catfish in one afternoon | |
4. v. (transitive, cricket) To catch the ball; especially as a wicket-keeper and after the batsman has missed or edged it. | |
5. v. To appropriate or transfer into one's own possession, sometimes by physically carrying off. | |
Billy took her pencil. | |
6. v. To exact. | |
take a toll | |
take revenge | |
7. v. To capture or win (a piece or trick) in a game. | |
took the next two tricks | |
took Smith's rook | |
8. v. To receive or accept (something) (especially something given or bestowed, awarded, etc). | |
took third place | |
took bribes | |
The camera takes 35mm film. | |
9. v. To receive or accept (something) as payment or compensation. | |
The store doesn't take checks. | |
She wouldn't take any money for her help. | |
Do you take credit? | |
The vending machine only takes bills, it doesn't take coins. | |
10. v. To accept and follow (advice, etc). | |
take my advice | |
11. v. To receive into some relationship. | |
take a wife | |
The school only takes new students in the fall. | |
The therapist wouldn't take him as a client. | |
12. v. (transitive, intransitive, legal) To receive or acquire (property) by law (e.g. as an heir). | |
13. v. To remove. | |
take two eggs from the carton | |
14. v. To remove or end by death; to kill. | |
The earthquake took many lives. | |
The plague took rich and poor alike. | |
Cancer took her life. | |
He took his life last night. | |
15. v. To subtract. | |
take one from three and you are left with two | |
16. v. To have sex with. | |
17. v. To defeat (someone or something) in a fight. | |
Don't try to take that guy. He's bigger than you. | |
The woman guarding us looks like a professional, but I can take her! | |
18. v. To grasp or grip. | |
He took her hand in his. | |
19. v. To select or choose; to pick. | |
Take whichever bag you like. | |
She took the best men with her and left the rest to garrison the city. | |
I'll take the blue plates. | |
I'll take two sugars in my coffee, please. | |
20. v. To adopt (select) as one's own. | |
She took his side in every argument. | |
take a stand on the important issues | |
21. v. To carry or lead (something or someone). | |
She took her sword with her everywhere she went. | |
I'll take the plate with me. | |
22. v. (transitive, especially of a vehicle) To transport or carry; to convey to another place. | |
The next bus will take you to Metz. | |
I took him for a ride | |
I took him down to London. | |
23. v. (transitive, of a path, road, etc.) To lead (to a place); to serve as a means of reaching. | |
These stairs take you down to the basement. | |
Stone Street took us right past the store. | |
24. v. To pass (or attempt to pass) through or around. | |
She took the steps two or three at a time/ | |
He took the curve / corner too fast. | |
The pony took every hedge and fence in its path. | |
25. v. To escort or conduct (a person). | |
He took her to lunch at the new restaurant, took her to the movies, and then took her home. | |
26. v. (reflexive) To go. | |
27. v. To use as a means of transportation. | |
take the ferry | |
I took a plane. | |
He took the bus to London, and then took a train to Manchester. | |
He's 96 but he still takes the stairs. | |
28. v. (obsolete) To visit; to include in a course of travel. | |
29. v. To obtain for use by payment or lease. | |
She took a condo at the beach for the summer. | |
He took a full-page ad in the Times. | |
30. v. To obtain or receive regularly by (paid) subscription. | |
They took two magazines. | |
I used to take The Sunday Times. | |
31. v. To consume. | |
32. v. To receive (medicine) into one's body, e.g. by inhalation or swallowing; to ingest. | |
take two of these and call me in the morning | |
take the blue pill | |
I take aspirin every day to thin my blood. | |
33. v. To partake of (food or drink); to consume. | |
The general took dinner at seven o'clock. | |
34. v. To experience, undergo, or endure. | |
35. v. To undergo; to put oneself into, to be subjected to. | |
take sun-baths | |
take a shower | |
She made the decision to take chemotherapy. | |
36. v. To experience or feel. | |
She takes pride in her work. | |
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.) | |
pleasure |
1. n. A state of being pleased or contented; gratification. | |
He remembered with pleasure his home and family. | |
I get a lot of pleasure from watching others work hard while I relax. | |
2. n. A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment. | |
It was a pleasure to meet you. | |
Having a good night's sleep is one of life's little pleasures. | |
3. n. One's preference. | |
What is your pleasure: coffee or tea? | |
4. n. (formal) The will or desire of someone or some agency in power. | |
to hold an office at pleasure: to hold it indefinitely until it is revoked | |
to be imprisoned at Her Majesty's pleasureupright - : to be imprisoned indefinitely | |
at Congress's pleasure: whenever or as long as Congress desires | |
5. interj. pleased to meet you | |
6. v. To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify. | |
7. v. To give sexual pleasure to. | |
Johnny pleasured Jackie orally last night. | |
8. v. (intransitive, dated) To take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure. | |
to go pleasuring | |
in |
1. prep. Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or other limits. | |
2. prep. Contained by. | |
The dog is in the kennel. | |
3. prep. Within. | |
4. prep. Surrounded by. | |
We are in the enemy camp. Her plane is in the air. | |
5. prep. Part of; a member of. | |
One in a million. She's in band and orchestra. | |
6. prep. Pertaining to; with regard to. | |
What grade did he get in English? | |
Military letters should be formal in tone, but not stilted. | |
7. prep. At the end of a period of time. | |
They said they would call us in a week. | |
8. prep. Within a certain elapsed time | |
Are you able to finish this in three hours? The massacre resulted in over 1000 deaths in three hours. | |
9. prep. During (said of periods of time). | |
in the first week of December; Easter falls in the fourth lunar month; The country reached a high level of prosperity in his fi | |
10. prep. (grammar, phonetics, of sounds and letters) Coming at the end of a word. | |
English nouns in -ce form their plurals in -s. | |
11. prep. Into. | |
Less water gets in your boots this way. | |
12. prep. Used to indicate limit, qualification, condition, or circumstance. | |
In replacing the faucet washers, he felt he was making his contribution to the environment. | |
13. prep. Indicating an order or arrangement. | |
My fat rolls around in folds. | |
14. prep. Denoting a state of the subject. | |
He stalked away in anger. John is in a coma. | |
15. prep. Indicates, connotatively, a place-like form of someone's (or something's) personality, as his, her or its psychic and physical characteristics. | |
You've got a friend in me. He's met his match in her. | |
16. prep. Wearing (an item of clothing). | |
I glanced over at the pretty girl in the red dress. | |
17. prep. Used to indicate means, medium, format, genre, or instrumentality. | |
18. prep. (of something offered or given in an exchange) In the form of, in the denomination of. | |
Please pay me in cash — preferably in tens and twenties. | |
The deposit can be in any legal tender, even in gold. | |
Her generosity was rewarded in the success of its recipients. | |
19. prep. Used to indicate a language, script, tone, etc. of a text, speech, etc. | |
Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" in C minor is among his most popular. | |
His speech was in French, but was simultaneously translated into eight languages. | |
When you write in cursive, it's illegible. | |
20. v. (obsolete, transitive) To enclose. | |
21. v. (obsolete, transitive) To take in; to harvest. | |
22. adv. (not comparable) Located indoors, especially at home or the office, or inside something. | |
Is Mr. Smith in? | |
23. adv. Moving to the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room. | |
Suddenly a strange man walked in. | |
24. adv. (sports) Still eligible to play, e.g. able to bat in cricket and baseball. | |
He went for the wild toss but wasn't able to stay in. | |
25. adv. (UK) Abbreviation of in aid of. | |
What's that in? | |
26. adv. After the beginning of something. | |
27. n. A position of power or a way to get it. | |
His parents got him an in with the company | |
28. n. (sport) The state of a batter/batsman who is currently batting – see innings | |
29. n. A re-entrant angle; a nook or corner. | |
30. adj. In fashion; popular. | |
Skirts are in this year. | |
31. adj. Incoming. | |
the in train | |
32. adj. (nautical, of the sails of a vessel) Furled or stowed. | |
33. adj. (legal) With privilege or possession; used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin. | |
in by descent; in by purchase; in of the seisin of her husband | |
34. adj. (cricket) Currently batting. | |
35. n. Inch. | |
fine |
1. adj. Senses referring to subjective quality. | |
2. adj. Of superior quality. | |
The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen. | |
Only a really fine wine could fully complement Lucía's hand-made pasta. | |
3. adj. (informal) Being acceptable, adequate, passable, or satisfactory. | |
How are you today? – Fine. | |
Will this one do? It's got a dent in it. – Yeah, it'll be fine, I guess. | |
It's fine with me if you stay out late, so long as you're back by three. | |
4. adj. (informal) Good-looking, attractive. | |
That man is so fine that I'd jump into his pants without a moment's hesitation. | |
5. adj. Subtle, delicately balanced. | |
6. adj. (obsolete) Showy; overdecorated. | |
7. adj. Delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; dexterous. | |
8. adj. (An answer often used to cover an unnecessary explanation, rather to avoid conflict or an argument. Saying "I'm fine" can be used to avoid inquiry when | |
When a girl says she's "fine," she ain't fine. | |
9. adj. Senses referring to objective quality. | |
10. adj. Of a particular grade of quality, usually between very good and very fine, and below mint. | |
The small scratch meant that his copy of “X-Men 2” was merely fine when it otherwise would have been “near mint”. | |
11. adj. (of weather) Sunny and not raining. | |
12. adj. Consisting of especially minute particulate; made up of particularly small pieces. | |
Grind it into a fine powder. | |
When she touched the artifact, it collapsed into a heap of fine dust. | |
13. adj. Particularly slender; especially thin, narrow, or of small girth. | |
The threads were so fine that you had to look through a magnifying glass to see them. | |
14. adj. Made of slender or thin filaments. | |
They protected themselves from the small parasites with a fine wire mesh. | |
15. adj. Having a (specified) proportion of pure metal in its composition. | |
coins nine tenths fine | |
16. adj. (cricket) Behind the batsman and at a small angle to the line between the wickets. | |
...to nudge it through the covers (or tickle it down to fine leg) for a fournb... | |
17. adj. (obsolete) Subtle; thin; tenuous. | |
18. adv. Expression of (typically) reluctant agreement. | |
19. adv. Well, nicely, in a positive way. | |
Everything worked out fine. | |
20. adv. (dated, dialect, colloquial) Finely; elegantly; delicately. | |
21. adv. (pool, billiards) In a manner so that the driven ball strikes the object ball so far to one side as to be barely deflected, the object ball being driven to one side. | |
22. n. Fine champagne; French brandy. | |
23. n. (usually in the plural) Something that is fine; fine particles. | |
24. v. To make finer, purer, or cleaner; to purify or clarify. | |
to fine gold | |
25. v. (intransitive) To become finer, purer, or cleaner. | |
26. v. To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc. | |
to fine the soil | |
27. v. To change by fine gradations. | |
to fine down a ship's lines, i.e. to diminish her lines gradually | |
28. v. To clarify (wine and beer) by filtration. | |
29. v. (intransitive, dated) To become gradually fine; to diminish; to dwindle (with away, down, or off). | |
30. n. A fee levied as punishment for breaking the law. | |
The fine for jay-walking has gone from two dollars to thirty in the last fifteen years. | |
31. v. To issue a fine as punishment to (someone). | |
She was fined a thousand dollars for littering, but she appealed. | |
32. v. (intransitive) To pay a fine. | |
33. n. (music) The end of a musical composition. | |
34. n. (music) The location in a musical score that indicates the end of the piece, particularly when the piece ends somewhere in the middle of the score due to a section of the music being repeated. | |
35. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To finish; to cease. | |
36. v. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to cease; to stop. | |
37. n. (obsolete) End; conclusion; termination; extinction. | |
38. n. A final agreement concerning lands or rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal. | |
39. n. (legal) A sum of money or price paid for obtaining a benefit, favor, or privilege, as for admission to a copyhold, or for obtaining or renewing a lease. | |
food |
1. n. Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life. | |
The innkeeper brought them food and drink. | |
2. n. A foodstuff. | |
3. n. (figuratively) Anything that nourishes or sustains. | |
The man's inspiring speech gave us food for thought. | |
Mozart and Bach are food for my soul. | |
and |
1. conj. As a coordinating conjunction; expressing two elements to be taken together or in addition to each other. | |
2. conj. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs. | |
3. conj. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences. | |
4. conj. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first. | |
5. conj. (obsolete) Yet; but. | |
6. conj. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (not dated); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often | |
7. conj. (now colloquial, or literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements. | |
8. conj. Connecting two identical elements, with implications of continued or infinite repetition. | |
9. conj. Introducing a parenthetical or explanatory clause. | |
10. conj. Introducing the continuation of narration from a previous understood point; also used alone as a question: ‘and so what?’. | |
11. conj. (now regional or somewhat colloquial) Used to connect two verbs where the second is dependent on the first: ‘to’. Used especially after come, | |
12. conj. Introducing a qualitative difference between things having the same name; "as well as other". | |
13. conj. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus (with singular or plural verb). | |
14. conj. Expressing a condition.: | |
15. conj. (now US dialect) If; provided that. | |
16. conj. (obsolete) As if, as though. | |
17. n. (enm, music, often informal) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat. | |
18. n. (UK dialectal) Breath. | |
19. n. (UK dialectal) Sea smoke; steam fog. | |
20. v. (UK dialectal, intransitive) To breathe; whisper; devise; imagine. | |
drink |
1. v. To consume (a liquid) through the mouth. | |
He drank the water I gave him. | |
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. | |
2. v. (transitive, metonymic) To consume the liquid contained within (a bottle, glass, etc.). | |
Jack drank the whole bottle by himself. | |
3. v. (intransitive) To consume alcoholic beverages. | |
You've been drinking, haven't you? | |
No thanks, I don't drink. | |
4. v. To take in (a liquid), in any manner; to suck up; to absorb; to imbibe. | |
5. v. To take in; to receive within one, through the senses; to inhale; to hear; to see. | |
6. v. (transitive, obsolete) To smoke, as tobacco. | |
7. n. A beverage. | |
I’d like another drink please. | |
8. n. A (served) alcoholic beverage. | |
Can I buy you a drink? | |
9. n. The action of drinking, especially with the verbs take or have. | |
He was about to take a drink from his root beer. | |
10. n. A type of beverage (usually mixed). | |
My favourite drink is the White Russian. | |
11. n. Alcoholic beverages in general. | |
12. n. (colloquial, with the) Any body of water. | |
If he doesn't pay off the mafia, he’ll wear cement shoes to the bottom of the drink! | |
13. n. (archaic) Drinks in general; something to drink | |