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. | |
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. | |
carriages |
1. n. plural of carriage | |
2. n. (dated) Used to specify the time that an event will end (e.g. when people would leave in their carriages) | |
carriage |
1. n. The act of conveying; carrying. | |
2. n. Means of conveyance. | |
3. n. A wheeled vehicle, generally drawn by horse power. | |
The carriage ride was very romantic. | |
4. n. (British) A rail car, especially one designed for the conveyance of passengers. | |
5. n. (now rare) A manner of walking and moving in general; how one carries oneself, bearing, gait. | |
6. n. (archaic) One's behaviour, or way of conducting oneself towards others. | |
7. n. The part of a typewriter supporting the paper. | |
8. n. (US, New England) A shopping cart. | |
9. n. (British) A stroller; a baby carriage. | |
10. n. The charge made for conveying (especially in the phrases carriage forward, when the charge is to be paid by the receiver, and carriage paid). | |
11. n. (archaic) That which is carried, baggage | |
in |
1. prep. Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or other limits. | |
2. prep. Contained by. | |
The dog is in the kennel. | |
3. prep. Within. | |
4. prep. Surrounded by. | |
We are in the enemy camp. Her plane is in the air. | |
5. prep. Part of; a member of. | |
One in a million. She's in band and orchestra. | |
6. prep. Pertaining to; with regard to. | |
What grade did he get in English? | |
Military letters should be formal in tone, but not stilted. | |
7. prep. At the end of a period of time. | |
They said they would call us in a week. | |
8. prep. Within a certain elapsed time | |
Are you able to finish this in three hours? The massacre resulted in over 1000 deaths in three hours. | |
9. prep. During (said of periods of time). | |
in the first week of December; Easter falls in the fourth lunar month; The country reached a high level of prosperity in his fi | |
10. prep. (grammar, phonetics, of sounds and letters) Coming at the end of a word. | |
English nouns in -ce form their plurals in -s. | |
11. prep. Into. | |
Less water gets in your boots this way. | |
12. prep. Used to indicate limit, qualification, condition, or circumstance. | |
In replacing the faucet washers, he felt he was making his contribution to the environment. | |
13. prep. Indicating an order or arrangement. | |
My fat rolls around in folds. | |
14. prep. Denoting a state of the subject. | |
He stalked away in anger. John is in a coma. | |
15. prep. Indicates, connotatively, a place-like form of someone's (or something's) personality, as his, her or its psychic and physical characteristics. | |
You've got a friend in me. He's met his match in her. | |
16. prep. Wearing (an item of clothing). | |
I glanced over at the pretty girl in the red dress. | |
17. prep. Used to indicate means, medium, format, genre, or instrumentality. | |
18. prep. (of something offered or given in an exchange) In the form of, in the denomination of. | |
Please pay me in cash — preferably in tens and twenties. | |
The deposit can be in any legal tender, even in gold. | |
Her generosity was rewarded in the success of its recipients. | |
19. prep. Used to indicate a language, script, tone, etc. of a text, speech, etc. | |
Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" in C minor is among his most popular. | |
His speech was in French, but was simultaneously translated into eight languages. | |
When you write in cursive, it's illegible. | |
20. v. (obsolete, transitive) To enclose. | |
21. v. (obsolete, transitive) To take in; to harvest. | |
22. adv. (not comparable) Located indoors, especially at home or the office, or inside something. | |
Is Mr. Smith in? | |
23. adv. Moving to the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room. | |
Suddenly a strange man walked in. | |
24. adv. (sports) Still eligible to play, e.g. able to bat in cricket and baseball. | |
He went for the wild toss but wasn't able to stay in. | |
25. adv. (UK) Abbreviation of in aid of. | |
What's that in? | |
26. adv. After the beginning of something. | |
27. n. A position of power or a way to get it. | |
His parents got him an in with the company | |
28. n. (sport) The state of a batter/batsman who is currently batting – see innings | |
29. n. A re-entrant angle; a nook or corner. | |
30. adj. In fashion; popular. | |
Skirts are in this year. | |
31. adj. Incoming. | |
the in train | |
32. adj. (nautical, of the sails of a vessel) Furled or stowed. | |
33. adj. (legal) With privilege or possession; used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin. | |
in by descent; in by purchase; in of the seisin of her husband | |
34. adj. (cricket) Currently batting. | |
35. n. Inch. | |
returning |
1. v. present participle of return | |
2. n. The act of one who returns; a coming back. | |
return |
1. v. (intransitive) To come or go back (to a place or person). | |
Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To go back in thought, narration, or argument. | |
To return to my story... | |
3. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To turn back, retreat. | |
4. v. (transitive, obsolete) To turn (something) round. | |
5. v. To place or put back something where it had been. | |
Please return your hands to your lap. | |
6. v. To give something back to its original holder or owner. | |
You should return the library book within one month. | |
7. v. To take back something to a vendor for a refund. | |
If the goods don't work, you can return them. | |
8. v. To give in requital or recompense; to requite. | |
9. v. (tennis) To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve. | |
The player couldn't return the serve because it was so fast. | |
10. v. (card games) To play a card as a result of another player's lead. | |
If one players plays a trump, the others must return a trump. | |
11. v. (cricket) To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field. | |
12. v. To say in reply; to respond. | |
to return an answer; to return thanks | |
13. v. (intransitive, computing) To relinquish control to the calling procedure. | |
14. v. (transitive, computing) To pass (data) back to the calling procedure. | |
This function returns the number of files in the directory. | |
15. v. (transitive, dated) To retort; to throw back. | |
to return the lie | |
16. v. To report, or bring back and make known. | |
to return the result of an election | |
17. v. (by extension, UK) To elect according to the official report of the election officers. | |
18. n. The act of returning. | |
I expect the house to be spotless upon my return. | |
19. n. A return ticket. | |
Do you want a one-way or a return? | |
20. n. An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect, or the act of returning it. | |
Last year there were 250 returns of this product, an improvement on the 500 returns the year before. | |
21. n. An answer. | |
a return to one's question | |
22. n. An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information. | |
election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold | |
23. n. Gain or loss from an investment. | |
It yielded a return of 5%. | |
24. n. (taxation, finance): A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts. A tax return. | |
Hand in your return by the end of the tax year. | |
25. n. (computing) A carriage return character. | |
26. n. (computing) The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure. | |
27. n. (computing) A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure. | |
28. n. A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower. | |
29. n. (American football) Catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team. | |
30. n. (cricket) A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket. | |
31. n. (architecture) The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction | |
A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south. | |
are |
1. v. second-person singular present of be | |
Mary, where are you going? | |
2. v. first-person plural present of be | |
We are not coming. | |
3. v. second-person plural present of be | |
Mary and John, are you listening? | |
4. v. third-person plural present of be | |
They are here somewhere. | |
5. v. (East Yorkshire, Midlands) present of be | |
6. n. (dialectal, or obsolete) grace, mercy | |
To bid God's are. | |
God's are is what children of God seech and seek. | |
7. n. (obsolete) honour, dignity | |
8. n. (rare) an accepted (but deprecated and rarely used) SI unit of area equal to 100 square metres, or a former unit of approximately the same extent. Symbol: a | |
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? | |
diverted |
1. adj. that has been subject to diversion | |
2. v. simple past tense and past participle of divert | |
divert |
1. v. To turn aside from a course. | |
The workers diverted the stream away from the road. | |
2. v. To distract. | |
Don't let him divert your attention; keep your eye on the ball. | |
3. v. To entertain or amuse (by diverting the attention) | |
4. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To turn aside; to digress. | |
into |
1. prep. Going inside (of). | |
Mary danced into the house. | |
2. prep. Going to a geographic region. | |
We left the house and walked into the street. | |
The plane flew into the open air. | |
3. prep. Against, especially with force or violence. | |
The car crashed into the tree; I wasn't careful, and walked into a wall | |
4. prep. Producing, becoming; (indicates transition into another form or substance). | |
I carved the piece of driftwood into a sculpture of a whale. Right before our eyes, Jake turned into a wolf! | |
5. prep. After the start of. | |
About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot reported a fire on board. | |
6. prep. (colloquial) Interested in or attracted to. | |
She's really into Shakespeare right now; I'm so into you! | |
7. prep. (mathematics) Taking distinct arguments to distinct values. | |
The exponential function maps the set of real numbers into itself. | |
8. prep. (UK, archaic, India, mathematics) Expressing the operation of multiplication.(R:OED Online) | |
Five into three is fifteen. | |
9. prep. (mathematics) Expressing the operation of division, with the denominator given first. Usually with "goes". | |
Three into two won't go. | |
24 goes into 48 how many times? | |
10. prep. Investigating the subject (of). | |
Call for research into pesticides blamed for vanishing bees. | |
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. | |
siding |
1. n. (North America) A building material which covers and protects the sides of a house or other building. | |
Ugh. If there's one thing I can't stand it's cheesy vinyl siding. | |
2. v. present participle of side | |
Whenever he hears an argument, he can't help siding with one party or the other. | |
3. n. (rail transport) A second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for loading or unloading freight | |
side |
1. n. A bounding straight edge of a two-dimensional shape. | |
A square has four sides. | |
2. n. A flat surface of a three-dimensional object; a face. | |
A cube has six sides. | |
3. n. One half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone. | |
Which side of the tray shall I put it on? The patient was bleeding on the right side. | |
4. n. A region in a specified position with respect to something. | |
Meet me on the north side of the monument. | |
5. n. The portion of the human torso usually covered by the arms when they are not raised; the areas on the left and right between the belly or chest and the back. | |
I generally sleep on my side. | |
6. n. One surface of a sheet of paper (used instead of "page", which can mean one or both surfaces.) | |
John wrote 15 sides for his essay! | |
7. n. One possible aspect of a concept, person or thing. | |
Look on the bright side. | |
8. n. One set of competitors in a game. | |
Which side has kick-off? | |
9. n. (Australia) A sports team. | |
10. n. A group having a particular allegiance in a conflict or competition. | |
In the second world war, the Italians were on the side of the Germans. | |
11. n. (music) A recorded piece of music; a record, especially in jazz. | |
12. n. (sports) Sidespin; english | |
He had to put a bit of side on to hit the pink ball. | |
13. n. (UK, Australia, Ireland, dated) A television channel, usually as opposed to the one currently being watched (from when there were only two channels). | |
I just want to see what's on the other side — James said there was a good film on tonight. | |
14. n. (US, colloquial) A dish that accompanies the main course; a side dish. | |
Do you want a side of cole-slaw with that? | |
15. n. A line of descent traced through one parent as distinguished from that traced through another. | |
his mother's side of the family | |
16. n. (baseball) The batters faced in an inning by a particular pitcher | |
17. n. (slang) An unjustified air of self-importance. | |
18. v. (intransitive) To ally oneself, be in an alliance, usually with "with" or rarely "in with". | |
Which will you side with, good or evil? | |
19. v. To lean on one side. | |
20. v. (transitive, obsolete) To be or stand at the side of; to be on the side toward. | |
21. v. (transitive, obsolete) To suit; to pair; to match. | |
22. v. (transitive, shipbuilding) To work (a timber or rib) to a certain thickness by trimming the sides. | |
23. v. To furnish with a siding. | |
to side a house | |
24. v. (transitive, cooking) To provide with, as a side or accompaniment. | |
25. adj. Being on the left or right, or toward the left or right; lateral. | |
26. adj. Indirect; oblique; incidental. | |
a side issue; a side view or remark | |
27. adj. (UK archaic, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Wide; large; long, pendulous, hanging low, trailing; far-reaching. | |
28. adj. (Scotland) Far; distant. | |
29. adv. (UK dialectal) Widely; wide; far. | |