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. | |
act |
1. n. Something done, a deed. | |
an act of goodwill | |
2. n. (obsolete) Actuality. | |
3. n. A product of a legislative body, a statute. | |
4. n. The process of doing something. | |
He was caught in the act of stealing. | |
5. n. A formal or official record of something done. | |
6. n. A division of a theatrical performance. | |
The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act. | |
7. n. A performer or performers in a show. | |
Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band? | |
8. n. Any organized activity. | |
9. n. A display of behaviour. | |
10. n. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. | |
11. n. A display of behaviour meant to deceive. | |
to put on an act | |
12. v. (intransitive) To do something. | |
If you don't act soon, you will be in trouble. | |
13. v. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform. | |
14. v. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role. | |
I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre. | |
15. v. Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly). | |
16. v. (intransitive) To behave in a certain way. | |
He's acting strangely - I think there's something wrong with him. | |
17. v. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being. | |
He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn't worry. | |
18. v. To do something that causes a change binding on the doer. | |
act on behalf of John | |
19. v. (intransitive, construed with on or upon) To have an effect (on). | |
High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death. | |
Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies. | |
20. v. To play (a role). | |
He's been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve. | |
21. v. To feign. | |
He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused. | |
22. v. (mathematics, intransitive, construed with on or upon, of a group) To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of). | |
This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable! | |
23. v. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate. | |
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. | |
one |
1. num. (cardinal) The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number. | |
In some religions, there is only one god. | |
In many cultures, a baby turns one year old a year after its birth. | |
One person, one vote. | |
2. num. (number theory) The first positive number in the set of natural numbers. | |
3. num. (set theory) The cardinality of the smallest nonempty set. | |
4. num. (mathematics) The ordinality of an element which has no predecessor, usually called first or number one. | |
5. pron. (impersonal pronoun, indefinite) One thing (among a group of others); one member of a group. | |
The big one looks good. I want the green one. A good driver is one who drives carefully. | |
6. pron. (impersonal pronoun, sometimes with "the") The first mentioned of two things or people, as opposed to the other. | |
She offered him an apple and an orange; he took one and left the other. | |
7. pron. (indefinite personal pronoun) Any person (applying to people in general). | |
One’s guilt may trouble one, but it is best not to let oneself be troubled by things which cannot be changed. One shouldn’t be too quick to judge. | |
8. pron. (pronoun) Any person, entity or thing. | |
"driver", noun: one who drives. | |
9. n. The digit or figure 1. | |
10. n. (mathematics) The neutral element with respect to multiplication in a ring. | |
11. n. (US) A one-dollar bill. | |
12. n. (cricket) One run scored by hitting the ball and running between the wickets; a single. | |
13. n. A joke or amusing anecdote. | |
14. n. (colloquial) A particularly special or compatible person or thing. | |
15. n. (Internet slang) Used instead of ! to amplify an exclamation, parodying unskilled typists who forget to press the shift key while typing exclamation points, thus typing "1". | |
A: SUM1 Hl3p ME im alwyz L0ziN!!?! | |
Someone help me; I'm always losing! | |
B: y d0nt u just g0 away l0zer!!1!!one!!one!!eleven!!1! | |
Why don't you just go away loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
16. adj. Of a period of time, being particular. | |
One day the prince set forth to kill the dragon that had brought terror to his father’s kingdom for centuries. | |
17. adj. Being a single, unspecified thing; a; any. | |
My aunt used to say, "One day is just like the other.". | |
18. adj. Sole, only. | |
He is the one man who can help you. | |
19. adj. Whole, entire. | |
Body and soul are not separate; they are one. | |
20. adj. In agreement. | |
We are one on the importance of learning. | |
21. adj. The same. | |
The two types look very different, but are one species. | |
22. adj. Being a preeminent example. | |
He is one hell of a guy. | |
23. adj. Being an unknown person with the specified name; see also "a certain". | |
The town records from 1843 showed the overnight incarceration of one “A. Lincoln”. | |
24. v. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to become one; to gather into a single whole; to unite. | |
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. | |
bumbles |
1. n. plural of bumble | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of bumble | |
bumble |
1. n. A confusion; a jumble. | |
2. v. To act in an inept, clumsy or inexpert manner; to make mistakes. | |
Spiders build webs and wait for insects to bumble into them. | |
3. v. (intransitive) To boom, as a bittern; to buzz, as a fly. | |
4. n. A bumble-bee. | |
5. n. (dialect) The bittern. | |
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. | |
mistake |
1. n. An error; a blunder. | |
2. n. (baseball) A pitch which was intended to be pitched in a hard-to-hit location, but instead ends up in an easy-to-hit place. | |
3. v. To understand wrongly, taking one thing or person for another. | |
Sorry, I mistook you for my brother. You look very similar. | |
4. v. (transitive, obsolete) To misunderstand (someone). | |
5. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To commit an unintentional error; to do or think something wrong. | |
6. v. (obsolete, rare) To take or choose wrongly. | |
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. | |
error |
1. n. The state, quality, or condition of being wrong. | |
2. n. A mistake; an accidental wrong action or a false statement not made deliberately. | |
3. n. Sin; transgression. | |
4. n. (computing) A failure to complete a task, usually involving a premature termination. | |
5. n. (statistics) The difference between a measured or calculated value and a true one. | |
6. n. (baseball) A play which is scored as having been made incorrectly. | |
7. n. (appellate legal) One or more mistakes in a trial that could be grounds for review of the judgement. | |
8. n. Any alteration in the DNA chemical structure occurring during DNA replication, recombination or repairing. | |
9. v. (computing) To function improperly due to an error, especially accompanied by error message. | |
The web-page took a long time to load and errored out. | |
Remove that line of code and the script should stop erroring there. | |
This directory errors with a "Permission denied" message. | |
10. v. (telecommunications) To show or contain an error or fault. | |
The block transmission errored near the start and could not be received. | |
11. v. (nonstandard) To err. | |
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. | |
through |
1. prep. From one side of an opening to the other. | |
I went through the window. | |
2. prep. Entering, then later leaving. | |
I drove through the town at top speed without looking left or right. | |
3. prep. Surrounded by (while moving). | |
We slogged through the mud for hours before turning back and giving up. | |
4. prep. By means of. | |
This team believes in winning through intimidation. | |
5. prep. (North America) To (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values. | |
from 1945 through 1991; the numbers 1 through 9; your membership is active through March 15, 2013 | |
6. adj. Passing from one side of something to the other. | |
Interstate highways form a nationwide system of through roads. | |
7. adj. Finished; complete. | |
They were through with laying the subroof by noon. | |
8. adj. Valueless; without a future. | |
After being implicated in the scandal, he was through as an executive in financial services. | |
9. adj. No longer interested. | |
She was through with him. | |
10. adj. Proceeding from origin to destination without delay due to change of equipment. | |
The through flight through Memphis was the fastest. | |
11. adj. (association football) In possession of the ball beyond the last line of defence but not necessarily the goalkeeper; through on goal. | |
12. adv. From one side to the other by way of the interior. | |
The arrow went straight through. | |
13. adv. From one end to the other. | |
Others slept; he worked straight through. | |
She read the letter through. | |
14. adv. To the end. | |
He said he would see it through. | |
15. adv. Completely. | |
Leave the yarn in the dye overnight so the color soaks through. | |
16. adv. Out into the open. | |
The American army broke through at St. Lo. | |
17. n. A large slab of stone laid in a dry-stone wall from one side to the other; a perpend. | |
18. n. (obsolete) A coffin, sarcophagus or tomb of stone; a large slab of stone laid on a tomb. | |
clumsiness |
1. n. A lack of coordination or elegance; the condition or quality of being clumsy. | |
He dropped them not out of spite, but out of clumsiness. | |