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. | |
first |
1. adj. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. | |
The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday. | |
I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race. | |
2. adj. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest. | |
Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. | |
3. adv. Before anything else; firstly. | |
Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook. | |
4. n. The person or thing in the first position. | |
He was the first to complete the course. | |
5. n. The first gear of an engine. | |
6. n. Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence. | |
This is a first. For once he has nothing to say. | |
7. n. (baseball) first base | |
There was a close play at first. | |
8. n. (UK, colloquial) A first-class honours degree. | |
9. n. (colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication. | |
10. n. A fraction of an integer ending in one. | |
one forty-first of the estate | |
11. n. (obsolete) Time; time granted; respite. | |
prototype |
1. n. An original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects (particularly manufactured items), or for its generalizations and models. | |
2. n. An early sample or model built to test a concept or process. | |
The prototype had loose wires and rough edges, but it worked. | |
3. n. (computing) A declaration of a function that specifies the name, return type, and parameters, but none of the body or actual code. | |
4. n. (semantics) An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes. | |
A robin is a prototype of a bird; a penguin is not. | |
5. v. To create a prototype of. | |
was |
1. v. first-person singular past of be. | |
2. v. third-person singular past of be. | |
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? | |
unveiled |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of unveil | |
2. adj. Not wearing, or not covered by, a veil. | |
unveil |
1. v. To remove a veil from; to uncover; to reveal something hidden. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To remove a veil; to reveal oneself. | |
at |
1. prep. In, near, or in the general vicinity of a particular place. | |
Caesar was at Rome; at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine; at Jim’s house | |
2. prep. (indicating time) (Indicating occurrence in an instant of time or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker's perspective.) | |
at six o’clock; at closing time; at night. | |
3. prep. In the direction of (often in an unfocused or uncaring manner). | |
He threw the ball at me. He shouted at her. | |
4. prep. Denotes a price. | |
3 apples at 2¢ (each) The offer was at $30,000 before negotiations. | |
5. prep. Occupied in (activity). | |
men at work | |
6. prep. In a state of. | |
She is at sixes and sevens with him. They are at loggerheads over how best to tackle the fiscal cliff. The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces. | |
7. prep. Indicates a position on a scale or in a series. | |
Sell at 90. Tiger finished the round at tenth, seven strokes behind the leaders. I'm offering it—just to select customers—at cost. | |
8. prep. Because of. | |
to laugh at a joke mad at their comments | |
9. prep. Indicates a means, method, or manner. | |
10. prep. Holding a given speed or rate. | |
It is growing at the rate of 3% a year. Cruising along at fifty miles per hour. | |
11. prep. (used for skills (including in activities) or areas of knowledge) On the subject of; regarding. | |
The twins were both bad at chemistry. | |
He slipped at marksmanship over his extended vacation. | |
12. prep. (Ireland, stressed pronunciation) Bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to | |
13. n. The at sign (@). | |
14. n. (alt form, att) (Laos currency unit) | |
an |
1. art. Form of a used before a vowel sound | |
2. art. (now quite rare) Form of a used before 'h' in an unstressed syllable | |
3. art. (nonstandard) Form of a used before 'h' in a stressed syllable | |
4. conj. (archaic) If | |
5. conj. (archaic) So long as. | |
An it harm none, do what ye will. | |
6. conj. (archaic) As if; as though. | |
7. n. The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, ა (Mkhedruli), Ⴀ (Asomtavruli) or ⴀ (Nuskhuri). | |
8. prep. In each; to or for each; per. | |
I was only going twenty miles an hour. | |
exposition |
1. n. The action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight. | |
2. n. (authorship) The act or process of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing; the portions and aspects of a piece of writing that exist mainly to describe the setting, charact | |
This essay has too much exposition in it. | |
My reviewer said she couldn't picture the setting for my story, so I'm improving the exposition. | |
3. n. (obsolete) The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place. | |
4. n. An event at which goods, artwork and cultural displays are open for the public to view. | |
The first prototype was unveiled at an exposition. | |
5. n. (authorship) An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail. | |
I turned my research into an exposition on the traditional music of Borneo. | |
6. n. (authorship) An opening section in fiction, in which background information about the characters, events or setting is conveyed. | |
7. n. (music) The opening section of a fugue; the opening section of a movement in sonata form | |
8. n. The action of putting something out to public view; for example in a display or show. | |