an |
1. art. Form of a used before a vowel sound | |
2. art. (now quite rare) Form of a used before 'h' in an unstressed syllable | |
3. art. (nonstandard) Form of a used before 'h' in a stressed syllable | |
4. conj. (archaic) If | |
5. conj. (archaic) So long as. | |
An it harm none, do what ye will. | |
6. conj. (archaic) As if; as though. | |
7. n. The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, ა (Mkhedruli), Ⴀ (Asomtavruli) or ⴀ (Nuskhuri). | |
8. prep. In each; to or for each; per. | |
I was only going twenty miles an hour. | |
original |
1. adj. (not comparable) Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others. | |
the original state of mankind; the original laws of a country; the original inventor of a process | |
2. adj. (not comparable) First in a series or copies/versions. | |
The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions. | |
This recording is by the original broadway cast. | |
3. adj. (not comparable) Newly created. | |
Tonight we will hear an original work by one of our best composers. | |
4. adj. (comparable) Fresh, different. | |
The paper contains a number of original ideas about color perception. | |
5. adj. (not comparable) Pioneering. | |
Parker was one of the original bebop players. | |
6. adj. (not comparable) Having as its origin. | |
This kind of barbecue is original to North Carolina. | |
7. n. An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived. | |
This manuscript is the original. | |
8. n. A person with a unique and interesting personality and/or creative talent. | |
You’re a real original. | |
9. n. (archaic) An eccentric. | |
laconic |
1. adj. Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise. | |
phrase |
1. n. A short written or spoken expression. | |
2. n. (grammar) A word or group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, usually consisting of a head, or central word, and elaborating words. | |
3. n. (music) A small section of music in a larger piece. | |
4. n. (archaic) A mode or form of speech; diction; expression. | |
5. v. To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words. | |
I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising. | |
6. v. (intransitive, music) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing. | |
7. v. (transitive, music) To divide into melodic phrases. | |
conveying |
1. v. present participle of convey | |
convey |
1. v. To move (something) from one place to another. | |
Air conveys sound. Water is conveyed through the pipe. | |
2. v. (dated) To take or carry (someone) from one place to another. | |
3. v. To communicate; to make known; to portray. | |
to convey an impression; to convey information | |
4. v. (legal) To transfer legal rights (to). | |
He conveyed ownership of the company to his daughter. | |
5. v. (obsolete) To manage with privacy; to carry out. | |
6. v. (obsolete) To carry or take away secretly; to steal; to thieve. | |
some |
1. pron. A certain number, at least one. | |
Some enjoy spicy food, others prefer it milder. | |
2. pron. An indefinite quantity. | |
Can I have some of them? | |
3. pron. An indefinite amount, a part. | |
please give me some of the cake; everyone is wrong some of the time | |
4. det. A certain proportion of, at least one. | |
Some people like camping. | |
5. det. An unspecified quantity or number of. | |
Would you like some grapes? | |
6. det. An unspecified amount of (something un). | |
Would you like some water? | |
After some persuasion, he finally agreed. | |
7. det. A certain, an unspecified or unknown. | |
I've just met some guy who said he knew you. | |
The sequence S converges to zero for some initial value v. | |
8. det. A considerable quantity or number of; approximately. | |
He had edited the paper for some years. | |
9. det. (informal) A remarkable. | |
He is some acrobat! | |
10. adv. Of a measurement: approximately, roughly | |
I guess he must have weighed some 90 kilos. | |
Some 30,000 spectators witnessed the feat. | |
Some 4,000 acres of land were flooded. | |
principle |
1. n. A fundamental assumption or guiding belief. | |
We need some sort of principles to reason from. | |
2. n. A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem. | |
The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs. | |
3. n. (sometimes pluralized) Moral rule or aspect. | |
I don't doubt your principles. | |
You are clearly a person of principle. | |
It's the principle of the thing; I won't do business with someone I can't trust. | |
4. n. (physics) A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied. | |
Bernoulli's Principle | |
The Pauli Exclusion Principle prevents two fermions from occupying the same state. | |
The principle of the internal combustion engine | |
5. n. A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality. | |
Many believe that life is the result of some vital principle. | |
6. n. (obsolete) A beginning. | |
7. n. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause. | |
8. n. An original faculty or endowment. | |
9. v. To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct. | |
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. | |
concept |
1. n. abstract and general idea; an abstraction | |
2. n. understanding retained in the mind, from experience, reasoning and/or imagination; a generalization (generic, basic form), or abstraction (mental impression), of a particular set of instances or occur | |
3. n. (programming) In generic programming, a description of supported operations on a type, including their syntax and semantics. | |
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. | |
thought |
1. n. Form created in the mind, rather than the forms perceived through the five senses; an instance of thinking. | |
2. n. The process by which such forms arise or are manipulated; thinking. | |
3. n. A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region). | |
"Eastern thought". | |
4. v. simple past tense and past participle of think | |
think |
1. v. To ponder, to go over in one's head. | |
Idly, the detective thought what his next move should be. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem. | |
I thought for three hours about the problem and still couldn’t find the solution. | |
3. v. (intransitive) To conceive of something or someone (usually followed by of; infrequently, by on). | |
I tend to think of her as rather ugly. | |
4. v. To be of the opinion (that); to consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as. | |
At the time I thought his adamant refusal to give in right. | |
I hope you won’t think me stupid if I ask you what that means. | |
I think she is pretty, contrary to most people. | |
5. v. To guess; to reckon. | |
I think she’ll pass the examination. | |
6. v. To plan; to be considering; to be of a mind (to do something). | |
7. v. To presume; to venture. | |
8. n. (chiefly UK) An act of thinking; consideration (of something). | |
I'll have a think about that and let you know. | |
9. v. (obsolete except in methinks) To seem, to appear. | |