| lacking |
| 1. v. present participle of lack | |
| 2. n. The absence of something; a lack. | |
| 3. adj. Missing or not having enough of (a good quality, etc). | |
| This cheese is lacking in pungency. | |
| 4. adj. not carrying a firearm | |
| are you packing or lacking? | |
| lack |
| 1. n. (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy. | |
| 2. n. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want. | |
| 3. v. To be without, to need, to require. | |
| My life lacks excitement. | |
| 4. v. (intransitive) To be short (of or for something). | |
| He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money. | |
| 5. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want. | |
| 6. v. (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach. | |
| matter |
| 1. n. Substance, material. | |
| 2. n. (physics) The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume. | |
| 3. n. (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles. (Non-antimatter matter). | |
| 4. n. A kind of substance. | |
| vegetable matter | |
| 5. n. Written material (especially in books or magazines). | |
| printed matter; He always took some reading matter with him on the plane. | |
| 6. n. (philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substa | |
| 7. n. A condition, subject or affair, especially one of concern. | |
| What's the matter?; state matters | |
| 8. n. An approximate amount or extent. | |
| I stayed for a matter of months. | |
| 9. n. (obsolete) The essence; the pith; the embodiment. | |
| 10. n. (obsolete) Inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing. | |
| 11. n. (dated) Pus. | |
| 12. v. (intransitive) To be important. | |
| The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich. | |
| Sorry for pouring ketchup on your clean white shirt! - Oh, don't worry, it does not matter. | |
| 13. v. (transitive, obsolete outside dialects) To care about, to mind; to find important. | |
| 14. v. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate. | |
| empty |
| 1. adj. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant. | |
| an empty purse; an empty jug; an empty stomach | |
| 2. adj. (computing, programming) Containing no elements (as of a string or array), opposed to being null (having no valid value). | |
| 3. adj. (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of. | |
| 4. adj. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened. | |
| 5. adj. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language. | |
| empty words, or threats | |
| 6. adj. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain. | |
| empty pleasures | |
| 7. adj. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial. | |
| empty dreams | |
| 8. adj. (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree. | |
| an empty vine | |
| 9. adj. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy. | |
| empty brains; an empty coxcomb | |
| 10. v. (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of. | |
| to empty a well or a cistern | |
| The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film. | |
| 11. v. (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination. | |
| Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River. | |
| 12. n. A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty. | |
| Put the empties out to be recycled. | |
| devoid |
| 1. adj. empty; having none of; completely without | |
| I went searching for a knife, but the kitchen was devoid of anything sharper than a spoon. | |
| 2. v. (obsolete) To empty out; to remove. | |
| The child will devoid the garbage after he devours his sandwich. | |
| 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. | |
| substance |
| 1. n. Physical matter; material. | |
| 2. n. The essential part of anything; the most vital part. | |
| 3. n. Substantiality; solidity; firmness. | |
| Some textile fabrics have little substance. | |
| 4. n. Material possessions; estate; property; resources. | |
| a man of substance | |
| 5. n. A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. | |
| 6. n. Drugs (illegal narcotics) | |
| substance abuse | |
| 7. n. (theology) Hypostasis. | |
| 8. v. (rare, transitive) To give substance to; to make real or substantial. | |
