our |
1. det. Belonging to us. | |
2. det. Of, from, or belonging to the nation, region, or language of the speaker. | |
3. det. (Northern England, Scotland) Used before a person's name to indicate that the person is in one's family, or is a very close friend. | |
I'm going to see our Terry for tea. | |
4. v. misspelling of are | |
whole |
1. adj. Entire. | |
I ate a whole fish. | |
2. adj. (Used as an intensifier.) | |
I brought a whole lot of balloons for the party. She ate a whole bunch of french fries. | |
3. adj. Sound, uninjured, healthy. | |
He is of whole mind, but the same cannot be said about his physical state. | |
4. adj. (of food) From which none of its constituents has been removed. | |
whole wheat; whole milk | |
5. adj. (mining) As yet unworked. | |
6. adv. (colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly. | |
I ate a fish whole! | |
7. n. Something complete, without any parts missing. | |
This variety of fascinating details didn't fall together into an enjoyable, coherent whole. | |
8. n. An entirety. | |
Case |
1. n. (grammar) abstract feature of a noun phrase that determines its function in a sentence, such as a grammatical case and a position. | |
2. n. An actual event, situation, or fact. | |
For a change, in this case, he was telling the truth. | |
It is not the case that every unfamiliar phrase is an idiom. | |
In case of fire, break glass. sign on fire extinguisher holder in public space | |
3. n. (now rare) A given condition or state. | |
4. n. A piece of work, specifically defined within a profession. | |
It was one of the detective's easiest cases. Social workers should work on a maximum of forty active cases. The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning. | |
5. n. (academia) An instance or event as a topic of study. | |
The teaching consists of theory lessons and case studies. | |
6. n. (legal) A legal proceeding, lawsuit. | |
7. n. (grammar) A specific inflection of a word depending on its function in the sentence. | |
The accusative case canonically indicates a direct object. Latin has six cases, and remnants of a seventh. | |
8. n. (grammar) Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language. | |
Jane has been studying case in Caucasian languages. Latin is a language that employs case. | |
9. n. (medicine) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms. | |
There were another five cases reported overnight. | |
10. n. (programming) A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch. | |
11. v. (obsolete) To propose hypothetical cases. | |
12. n. A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture. | |
13. n. A box, sheath, or covering generally. | |
a case for spectacles; the case of a watch | |
14. n. A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine. | |
15. n. An enclosing frame or casing. | |
a door case; a window case | |
16. n. A suitcase. | |
17. n. A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed. | |
18. n. The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer. | |
19. n. (printing, historical) A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and | |
20. n. (typography, by extension) The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter. | |
21. n. (poker slang) Four of a kind. | |
22. n. (US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces. | |
23. n. (mining) A small fissure which admits water into the workings. | |
24. n. A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft. | |
25. adj. (poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank. | |
He drew the case eight! | |
26. v. To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment. | |
27. v. To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose. | |
28. v. (transitive, informal) To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery. | |
hinges |
1. n. plural of hinge | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of hinge | |
hinge |
1. n. A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc. | |
2. n. A naturally occurring joint resembling such hardware in form or action, as in the shell of a bivalve. | |
3. n. A stamp hinge, a folded and gummed paper rectangle for affixing postage stamps in an album. | |
4. n. A principle, or a point in time, on which subsequent reasonings or events depend. | |
This argument was the hinge on which the question turned. | |
5. n. (statistics) The median of the upper or lower half of a batch, sample, or probability distribution. | |
6. n. One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south. | |
7. v. To attach by, or equip with a hinge. | |
8. v. (intransitive, with on or upon) To depend on something. | |
9. v. (transitive, archaeology) The breaking off of the distal end of a knapped stone flake whose presumed course across the face of the stone core was truncated prematurely, leaving not a feathered distal | |
The flake hinged at an inclusion in the core. | |
10. v. (obsolete) To bend. | |
on |
1. adj. In the state of being active, functioning or operating. | |
2. adj. Performing according to schedule. | |
Are we still on for tonight? | |
Is the show still on? | |
3. adj. (chiefly UK, informal, usually negative) Acceptable, appropriate. | |
You can't do that; it's just not on. | |
4. adj. (informal) Destined, normally in the context of a challenge being accepted; involved, doomed. | |
"Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!". | |
Mike just threw coffee onto Paul's lap. It's on now. | |
5. adj. (baseball, informal) Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter. | |
6. adj. (euphemistic) Menstruating. | |
7. adv. To an operating state. | |
turn the television on | |
8. adv. Along, forwards (continuing an action). | |
drive on, rock on | |
9. adv. In continuation, at length. | |
and so on. | |
He rambled on and on. | |
10. adv. (not US) Later. | |
Ten years on, nothing had changed in the village. | |
11. prep. Positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above. | |
on the table; on the couch | |
The parrot was sitting on Jim's shoulder. | |
12. prep. At or near; adjacent to. | |
Soon we'll pass a statue on the left. | |
The fleet is on the American coast. | |
Croton-on-Hudson, Rostov-on-Don, Southend-on-Sea | |
13. prep. Covering. | |
He wore old shoes on his feet. | |
14. prep. At the date of. | |
Born on the 4th of July. | |
15. prep. Some time during the day of. | |
I'll see you on Monday. The bus leaves on Friday. Can I see you on a different day? On Sunday I'm busy. | |
16. prep. Dealing with the subject of, about, or concerning something. | |
A book on history. The World Summit on the Information Society. | |
17. prep. Touching; hanging from. | |
The fruit ripened on the trees. The painting hangs on the wall. | |
18. prep. (informal) In the possession of. | |
I haven't got any money on me. | |
19. prep. Because of, or due to. | |
To arrest someone on suspicion of bribery. To contact someone on a hunch. | |
20. prep. Upon; at the time of (and often because of). | |
On Jack's entry, William got up to leave. | |
On the addition of ammonia, a chemical reaction begins. | |
21. prep. Paid for by. | |
The drinks are on me tonight, boys. The meal is on the house. I paid for the airfare and meals for my family, but the hotel room was on the company. | |
22. prep. Used to indicate a means or medium. | |
I saw it on television. Can't you see I'm on the phone? | |
23. prep. Indicating a means of subsistence. | |
They lived on ten dollars a week. The dog survived three weeks on rainwater. | |
24. prep. Away or occupied with (e.g. a scheduled activity). | |
He's on his lunch break. on vacation; on holiday | |
25. prep. Denoting performance or action by contact with the surface, upper part, or outside of anything; hence, by means of; with. | |
to play on a violin or piano | |
Her words made a lasting impression on my mind. | |
26. prep. Regularly taking (a drug). | |
You've been on these antidepressants far too long. He's acting so strangely, I think he must be on something. | |
27. prep. Under the influence of (a drug). | |
He's acting crazy because he's on crack right now. | |
28. prep. (mathematics) Having identical domain and codomain. | |
a function on | |
29. prep. (mathematics) HavingV^n as domain and V as codomain, for some set V and integer n. | |
an operator on | |
30. prep. (mathematics) Generated by. | |
the free group on four letters | |
31. prep. Supported by (the specified part of itself). | |
A table can't stand on two legs. After resting on his elbows, he stood on his toes, then walked on his heels. | |
32. prep. At a given time after the start of something; at. | |
33. prep. In addition to; besides; indicating multiplication or succession in a series. | |
heaps on heaps of food | |
mischief on mischief; loss on loss | |
34. prep. (obsolete, regional) of | |
35. prep. Indicating dependence or reliance; with confidence in. | |
I depended on them for assistance. | |
He will promise on certain conditions. | |
Do you ever bet on horses? | |
36. prep. Toward; for; indicating the object of an emotion. | |
Have pity or compassion on him. | |
37. prep. (obsolete) At the peril of, or for the safety of. | |
38. prep. In the service of; connected with; of the number of. | |
He is on a newspaper; I am on the committee. | |
39. prep. By virtue of; with the pledge of. | |
He affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honour. | |
40. prep. To the account or detriment of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon. | |
On us be all the blame. | |
A curse on him! | |
Please don't tell on her and get her in trouble. | |
He turned on her and has been her enemy ever since. | |
He went all honest on me, making me listen to his confession. | |
41. v. (transitive, Singapore, Philippines) to switch on | |
Can you on the light? | |
42. prep. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Without. | |
43. n. In the Japanese language, a pronunciation, or reading, of a kanji character that was originally based on the character's pronunciation in Chinese, contrasted with kun. | |
Most kanji have two kinds of reading, called "on" and "kun". | |
whether |
1. det. (obsolete) Which of two. | |
2. pron. (obsolete) Which of two. | |
3. conj. (obsolete) Introducing a direct interrogative question (often with correlative or) which indicates doubt between alternatives. | |
4. conj. Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities (usually with correlative or). | |
He chose the correct answer, but I don't know whether it was by luck or by skill. | |
5. conj. Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question. | |
Do you know whether he's coming? | |
6. conj. Used to introduce a disjunctive adverbial clause which qualifies the main clause of the sentence (with correlative or). | |
He's coming, whether you like it or not. | |
the |
1. art. Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that an entity it articulates is presupposed; something already mentioned, or completely specified later in that same sentence, or assumed already | |
I’m reading the book. (Compare I’m reading a book.) | |
The street in front of your house. (Compare A street in Paris.) | |
The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird. | |
2. art. Used before a noun modified by a restrictive relative clause, indicating that the noun refers to a single referent defined by the relative clause. | |
The street that runs through my hometown. | |
3. art. Used before an object considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time. | |
No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe. | |
God save the Queen! | |
4. art. Used before a superlative or an ordinal number modifying a noun, to indicate that the noun refers to a single item. | |
That was the best apple pie ever. | |
5. art. Added to a superlative or an ordinal number to make it into a substantive. | |
That apple pie was the best. | |
6. art. Introducing a singular term to be taken generically: preceding a name of something standing for a whole class. | |
7. art. Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective. | |
Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. | |
8. art. Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar. | |
No one in the whole country had seen it before. | |
I don't think I'll get to it until the morning. | |
9. art. Used before a body part (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun. | |
A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”) | |
10. art. When stressed, indicates that it describes an object which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention. | |
That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery. | |
11. adv. 1=With a comparative ormore and a verb phrase, establishes a parallel with one or more other such comparatives. | |
The hotter the better. | |
The more I think about it, the weaker it looks. | |
The more money donated, the more books purchased, and the more happy children. | |
It looks weaker and weaker, the more I think about it. | |
12. adv. 1=With a comparative, and often withfor it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated withnone. | |
It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it. | |
It was a difficult time, and I’m none the wiser for it. | |
I'm much the wiser for having had a difficult time like that. | |
government |
1. n. The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to control a country, land area, people or organization. | |
2. n. (grammar, linguistics) The relationship between a word and its dependents | |
3. n. A group of people who hold a monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a given territory. | |
4. n. The state and its administration viewed as the ruling political power. | |
5. n. The management or control of a system. | |
6. n. The tenure of a chief of state. | |
actions |
1. n. plural of action | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of action | |
action |
1. n. Something done so as to accomplish a purpose. | |
2. n. A way of motion or functioning. | |
Knead bread with a rocking action. | |
3. n. Fast-paced activity. | |
a movie full of exciting action | |
4. n. A mechanism; a moving part or assembly. | |
a rifle action | |
5. n. (music): The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.Marshall Cavendish Corporat | |
6. n. (slang) sexual intercourse. | |
She gave him some action. | |
7. n. The distance separating the strings and the fretboard on the guitar. | |
8. n. (military) Combat. | |
He saw some action in the Korean War. | |
9. n. (legal) A charge or other process in a law court (also called lawsuit and actio). | |
10. n. (mathematics) A mapping from a pairing of mathematical objects to one of them, respecting their individual structures. The pairing is typically a Cartesian product or a tensor product. The object that | |
11. n. (physics) The product of energy and time. | |
12. n. The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events. | |
13. n. (art, painting and sculpture) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted. | |
14. n. (bowling) spin put on the bowling ball. | |
15. n. (business, obsolete, a Gallicism) A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds. | |
16. interj. Demanding or signifying the start of something, usually an act or scene of a theatric performance. | |
The director yelled ‘Action!’ before the camera started rolling. | |
17. v. (transitive, management) To act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect. | |
18. v. (transitive, chiefly archaic) To initiate a legal action against someone. | |
were |
1. v. Second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be. | |
John, you were the only person to see him. | |
2. v. First-person plural simple past tense indicative of be. | |
We were about to leave. | |
3. v. Second-person plural simple past tense indicative of be. | |
Mary and John, you were right. | |
4. v. Third-person plural simple past tense indicative of be. | |
They were a fine group. | |
They were to be the best of friends from that day on. | |
5. v. Simple imperfect subjunctive in all persons of be. | |
I wish that it were Sunday. | |
I wish that I were with you. | |
* with "if" omitted, put first in an "if" clause: | |
*: Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...) | |
*: Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...) | |
6. v. (Northern England) was. | |
7. n. (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild. | |
8. n. (fandom) (The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.) | |
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? | |
constitutional |
1. adj. Relating to a legal or political constitution. | |
a constitutional right | |
constitutional reforms | |
Brexit has rocked the foundations and plunged everyone into a state of heightened constitutional anxiety. | |
Some in Westminster are already speculating that it would cause a constitutional crisis | |
2. adj. Conforming to a legal or political constitution. | |
The UK Government’s White Paper, ‘The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union’ pledges ‘continued adherence to the constitutional framework, rights and institutio | |
Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. Treaty on European Union. | |
3. adj. Belonging to, or inherent in, the constitution, or in the structure of body or mind. | |
a constitutional infirmity | |
constitutional ardour or dullness | |
4. adj. For the benefit of one's constitution or health. | |
a constitutional walk | |
5. n. (nominalized adjective) | |
6. n. A walk that is taken regularly for good health and wellbeing. | |
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. | |
not |
1. adv. Negates the meaning of the modified verb. | |
Did you take out the trash? No, I did not. | |
Not knowing any better, I went ahead. | |
2. adv. To no degree. | |
That is not red; it's orange. | |
3. conj. And not. | |
I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken. | |
He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple. | |
4. interj. (slang) Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically. | |
I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney... not! | |
Sure, you're perfect the way you are... not! | |
5. n. Unary logical function NOT, true if input is false, or a gate implementing that negation function. | |
You need a not there to conform with the negative logic of the memory chip. | |
6. contraction. (obsolete) Contraction of ne wot, wot not; know not; knows not. | |