| anything |
| 1. pron. Any object, act, state, event, or fact whatever; a thing of any kind; something or other. | |
| I would not do it for anything or any ring. | |
| 2. pron. (with “as” or “like”) Expressing an indefinite comparison. | |
| 3. n. Someone or something of importance. | |
| 4. adv. In any way, any extent or any degree. | |
| That isn't anything like a car. | |
| She's not anything like as strong as me. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| soft |
| 1. adj. Easily giving way under pressure. | |
| My head sank easily into the soft pillow. | |
| 2. adj. (of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh. | |
| Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching. | |
| soft silk; a soft skin | |
| 3. adj. (of a sound) Quiet. | |
| I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees. | |
| 4. adj. Gentle. | |
| There was a soft breeze blowing. | |
| 5. adj. Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind. | |
| soft eyes | |
| 6. adj. Gentle in action or motion; easy. | |
| 7. adj. Weak in character; impressible. | |
| 8. adj. Requiring little or no effort; easy. | |
| 9. adj. Not bright or intense. | |
| soft lighting | |
| 10. adj. Having a slight angle from straight. | |
| At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left. | |
| It's important to dance on soft knees to avoid injury. | |
| 11. adj. (linguistics) Voiced; sonant. | |
| 12. adj. (linguistics, rare) voiceless | |
| 13. adj. (linguistics, Slavic languages) palatalized | |
| 14. adj. (slang) Lacking strength or resolve, wimpy. | |
| When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come. | |
| 15. adj. (of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds. | |
| You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft. | |
| 16. adj. (colloquial) Foolish. | |
| 17. adj. (physics) Of a ferromagnetic material; a material that becomes essentially non magnetic when an external magnetic field is removed, a material with a low magnetic coercivity. (compare hard) | |
| 18. adj. (of a person) Physically or emotionally weak. | |
| 19. adj. Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action. | |
| The admin imposed a soft block/ban on the user or a soft lock on the article. | |
| 20. adj. (of a man) Effeminate. | |
| 21. adj. Agreeable to the senses. | |
| a soft liniment | |
| soft wines | |
| 22. adj. Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye. | |
| soft colours | |
| the soft outline of the snow-covered hill | |
| 23. interj. (archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast. | |
| 24. adv. (obsolete) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly. | |
| 25. n. A soft or foolish person; an idiot. | |
| 26. n. (motorsports) (ellipsis of soft tyre) (A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts.) | |
| 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. | |
| light |
| 1. n. (physics) Visible electromagnetic radiation. The human eye can typically detect radiation (light) in the wavelength range of about 400 to 750 nanometers. Nearby shorter and longer wavelength ranges, a | |
| As you can see, this spacious dining-room gets a lot of light in the mornings. | |
| 2. n. A source of illumination. | |
| Put that light out! | |
| 3. n. Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information. | |
| Can you throw any light on this problem? | |
| 4. n. (in the now rare) Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts. | |
| 5. n. A notable person within a specific field or discipline. | |
| Picasso was one of the leading lights of the cubist movement. | |
| 6. n. (painting) The manner in which the light strikes a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or | |
| 7. n. A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded. | |
| I'm really seeing you in a different light today. | |
| Magoon's governorship in Cuba was viewed in a negative light by many Cuban historians for years thereafter. | |
| 8. n. A flame or something used to create fire. | |
| Hey, buddy, you got a light? | |
| 9. n. A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame. | |
| a Bengal light | |
| 10. n. A window, or space for a window in architecture. | |
| This facade has eight south-facing lights. | |
| 11. n. The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue. | |
| The average length of a light on a 15×15 grid is 7 or 8. | |
| 12. n. (informal) A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic. | |
| 13. n. Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity. | |
| 14. n. The power of perception by vision. | |
| 15. n. The brightness of the eye or eyes. | |
| 16. n. A traffic light, or, by extension, an intersection controlled by one or more that will face a traveler who is receiving instructions. | |
| To get to our house, turn right at the third light. | |
| 17. v. To start (a fire). | |
| We lit the fire to get some heat. | |
| 18. v. To set fire to; to set burning; to kindle. | |
| She lit her last match. | |
| 19. v. To illuminate. | |
| I used my torch to light the way home through the woods in the night. | |
| 20. v. (intransitive) To become ignited; to take fire. | |
| This soggy match will not light. | |
| 21. v. To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light. | |
| 22. adj. Having light. | |
| The room is light when the Sun shines through the window. | |
| 23. adj. Pale in colour. | |
| She had light skin. | |
| 24. adj. (of coffee) Served with extra milk or cream. | |
| I like my coffee light. | |
| 25. adj. Of low weight; not heavy. | |
| My bag was much lighter once I had dropped off the books. | |
| 26. adj. Lightly-built; designed for speed or small loads. | |
| We took a light aircraft down to the city. | |
| 27. adj. Gentle; having little force or momentum. | |
| This artist clearly had a light, flowing touch. | |
| 28. adj. Easy to endure or perform. | |
| light duties around the house | |
| 29. adj. Low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt, etc. | |
| This light beer still gets you drunk if you have enough of it. | |
| 30. adj. Unimportant, trivial, having little value or significance. | |
| I made some light comment, and we moved on. | |
| 31. adj. (rail transport, of a locomotive, usually with "run") travelling with no carriages, wagons attached | |
| 32. adj. (obsolete) Unchaste, wanton. | |
| 33. adj. Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons. | |
| light troops; a troop of light horse | |
| 34. adj. Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift. | |
| 35. adj. (dated) Easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile. | |
| a light, vain person; a light mind | |
| 36. adj. Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; lacking dignity or solemnity; frivolous; airy. | |
| Ogden Nash was a writer of light verse. | |
| 37. adj. Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy. | |
| 38. adj. Not of the legal, standard, or usual weight; clipped; diminished. | |
| light coin | |
| 39. adj. Easily interrupted by stimulation. | |
| light sleep; light anesthesia | |
| 40. adv. Carrying little. | |
| I prefer to travel light. | |
| 41. n. (curling) A stone that is not thrown hard enough. | |
| 42. v. (nautical) To unload a ship, or to jettison material to make it lighter | |
| 43. v. To lighten; to ease of a burden; to take off. | |
| 44. v. To find by chance. | |
| I lit upon a rare book in a second-hand bookseller's. | |
| 45. v. To stop upon (of eyes or a glance); to notice | |
| 46. v. (archaic) To alight; to land or come down. | |
| She fell out of the window but luckily lit on her feet. | |
| quality |
| 1. n. Level of excellence. | |
| This school is well-known for having teachers of high quality. | |
| Quality of life is usually determined by health, education, and income. | |
| 2. n. A property or an attribute that differentiates a thing or person. | |
| One of the qualities of pure iron is that it does not rust easily. | |
| While being impulsive can be great for artists, it is not a desirable quality for engineers. | |
| Security, stability, and efficiency are good qualities of an operating system. | |
| 3. n. (archaic) High social position. (See also the quality.) | |
| A peasant is not allowed to fall in love with a lady of quality. | |
| Membership of this golf club is limited to those of quality and wealth. | |
| 4. n. The degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws, as opposed to scope of functions or quantity of items. | |
| 5. n. (thermodynamics) In a two-phase liquid–vapor mixture, the ratio of the mass of vapor present to the total mass of the mixture. | |
| 6. n. (emergency medicine) The third step in OPQRST where the responder investigates what the NOI/MOI feels like. | |
| To identify quality try asking, "what does it feel like?". | |
| 7. adj. Being of good worth, well made, fit for purpose. | |
| We only sell quality products. | |
| That was a quality game by Jim Smith. | |
| A quality system ensures products meet customer requirements. | |
| especially |
| 1. adv. (manner) In a special manner; specially. | |
| 2. adv. (focus) Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal. | |
| 3. adv. (focus) Used to place greater emphasis upon someone or something. | |
| Invite them all, especially Molly. | |
| fabric |
| 1. n. (archaic) Structure, building. | |
| 2. n. (archaic) The act of constructing, construction, fabrication. | |
| 3. n. (archaic) The structure of anything, the manner in which the parts of a thing are united; workmanship, texture, make. | |
| cloth of a beautiful fabric | |
| 4. n. The framework underlying a structure. | |
| the fabric of our lives | |
| the fabric of the universe | |
| 5. n. A material made of fibers, a textile or cloth. | |
| cotton fabric | |
| 6. n. (petrology) The appearance of crystalline grains in a rock. | |
| 7. n. (computing) Interconnected nodes that look like a textile fabric when diagrammed. | |
| The Internet is a fabric of computers connected by routers. | |
