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. | |
gradual |
1. adj. Proceeding or advancing by small, slow, regular steps or degrees | |
a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline | |
2. n. (Roman Catholic Church) An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps. | |
3. n. (Roman Catholic Church) A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass. | |
reduction |
1. n. The act, process, or result of reducing. | |
2. n. The amount or rate by which something is reduced, e.g. in price. | |
A 5% reduction in robberies | |
3. n. (chemistry) A reaction in which electrons are gained and valence is reduced; often by the removal of oxygen or the addition of hydrogen. | |
4. n. (cooking) The process of rapidly boiling a sauce to concentrate it. | |
5. n. (mathematics) The rewriting of an expression into a simpler form. | |
6. n. (computability theory) a transformation of one problem into another problem, such as mapping reduction or polynomial reduction. | |
7. n. (music) An arrangement for a far smaller number of parties, e.g. a keyboard solo based on a full opera. | |
8. n. (philosophy, phenomenology) A philosophical procedure intended to reveal the objects of consciousness as pure phenomena. (See phenomenological reduction.) | |
9. n. (medicine) A medical procedure to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment. | |
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. | |
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. | |
tangible |
1. adj. Touchable; able to be touched or felt; perceptible by the sense of touch | |
2. adj. Possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete. | |
3. adj. Comprehensible by the mind; understandable. | |
4. n. A physical object, something that can be touched. | |
5. n. Real or concrete results. | |
Yes, but what are the tangibles? | |
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. | |
intangible |
1. adj. incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal | |
2. n. Anything intangible | |
3. n. (legal) Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes | |
resource |
1. n. Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. | |
2. n. A person's capacity to deal with difficulty. | |
a man/woman of resource | |
3. v. To supply with resources. | |
due |
1. adj. Owed or owing. | |
He is due four weeks of back pay. | |
The amount due is just three quid. | |
The due bills total nearly seven thousand dollars. | |
He can wait for the amount due him. | |
2. adj. Appropriate. | |
With all due respect, you're wrong about that. | |
3. adj. Scheduled; expected. | |
Rain is due this afternoon. | |
The train is due in five minutes. | |
When is your baby due? | |
4. adj. Having reached the expected, scheduled, or natural time. | |
The baby is just about due. | |
5. adj. Owing; ascribable, as to a cause. | |
The dangerously low water table is due to rapidly growing pumping. | |
6. adj. On a direct bearing, especially for the four points of the compass | |
The town is 5 miles due North of the bridge. | |
7. adv. (used with compass directions) Directly; exactly. | |
The river runs due north for about a mile. | |
8. n. Deserved acknowledgment. | |
Give him his due — he is a good actor. | |
9. n. (in plural dues) A membership fee. | |
10. n. That which is owed; debt; that which belongs or may be claimed as a right; whatever custom, law, or morality requires to be done, duty. | |
11. n. Right; just title or claim. | |
to |
1. part. A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive. | |
I want to leave. | |
He asked me what to do. | |
I don’t know how to say it. | |
I have places to go and people to see. | |
2. part. As above, with the verb implied. | |
"Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed.". | |
If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to. | |
3. part. A particle used to create phrasal verbs. | |
I have to do laundry today. | |
4. prep. Indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at. | |
We are walking to the shop. | |
5. prep. Used to indicate purpose. | |
He devoted himself to education. | |
They drank to his health. | |
6. prep. Used to indicate result of action. | |
His face was beaten to a pulp. | |
7. prep. Used after an adjective to indicate its application. | |
similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking. | |
8. prep. (obsolete,) As a. | |
With God to friend (with God as a friend); with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe); lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice); t | |
9. prep. (arithmetic) Used to indicate a ratio or comparison. | |
one to one = 1:1 | |
ten to one = 10:1. | |
I have ten dollars to your four. | |
10. prep. (arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation. | |
Three squared or three to the second power is nine. | |
Three to the power of two is nine. | |
Three to the second is nine. | |
11. prep. Used to indicate the indirect object. | |
I gave the book to him. | |
12. prep. (time) Preceding. | |
ten to ten = 9:50; We're going to leave at ten to (the hour). | |
13. prep. Used to describe what something consists of or contains. | |
Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it. | |
There's a lot of sense to what he says. | |
14. prep. (Canada, UK, Newfoundland, West Midlands) At. | |
Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y. | |
15. adv. Toward a closed, touching or engaging position. | |
Please push the door to. | |
16. adv. (nautical) Into the wind. | |
17. adv. misspelling of too | |
causes |
1. n. plural of cause | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of cause | |
cause |
1. n. (often with of, typically of adverse results) The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result. | |
They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding. | |
2. n. (especially with for and a bare noun) Sufficient reason for a state, as of emotion. | |
There is no cause for alarm. | |
The end of the war was a cause for celebration. | |
3. n. A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends. | |
4. n. (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage. | |
5. n. (obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair. | |
6. n. (legal) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action. | |
7. v. To set off an event or action. | |
The lightning caused thunder. | |
8. v. To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority. | |
His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful. | |
9. v. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse. | |
that |
1. conj. Introducing a clause which is the subject or object of a verb (such as one involving reported speech), or which is a complement to a previous statement. | |
He told me that the book is a good read. | |
I believe that it is true. — She is convinced that he is British. | |
2. conj. Introducing a subordinate clause expressing a reason or cause: because, in that. | |
Be glad that you have enough to eat. | |
3. conj. (now uncommon) Introducing a subordinate clause that expresses an aim, purpose or goal ("final"), and usually contains the auxiliaries may, might or should: so, so that. | |
4. conj. Introducing — especially, but not exclusively, with an antecedent like so or such — a subordinate clause expressing a result, consequence or effect. | |
The noise was so loud that she woke up. | |
The problem was sufficiently important that it had to be addressed. | |
5. conj. (archaic, or poetic) Introducing a premise or supposition for consideration: seeing as; inasmuch as; given that; as would appear from the fact that. | |
6. conj. Introducing a subordinate clause modifying an adverb. | |
Was John there? — Not that I saw. | |
How often did she visit him? — Twice that I saw. | |
7. conj. Introducing an exclamation expressing a desire or wish. | |
8. conj. Introducing an exclamation expressing a strong emotion such as sadness or surprise. | |
9. det. The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction. | |
That book is a good read. This one isn't. | |
That battle was in 1450. | |
That cat of yours is evil. | |
10. pron. (demonstrative) The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "t | |
He went home, and after that I never saw him again. | |
11. pron. The known (thing); (used to refer to something just said). | |
They're getting divorced. What do you think about that? | |
12. pron. (demonstrative) The aforementioned quality; used together with a verb and pronoun to emphatically repeat a previous statement. | |
The water is so cold! — That it is. | |
13. pron. (relative) (plural that) Which, who; (representing a subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition). | |
The CPR course that she took really came in handy. | |
The house that he lived in was old and dilapidated. | |
14. pron. (colloquial) (Used in place of relative adverbs such as where or when; often omitted.) | |
the place that = where or to which I went last year | |
the last time that = when I went to Europe | |
15. adv. (degree) To a given extent or degree. | |
"The ribbon was that thin." "I disagree, I say it was not that thin, it was thicker... or maybe thinner...". | |
16. adv. (degree) To a great extent or degree; very, particularly (in negative constructions). | |
I'm just not that sick. | |
I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult. | |
17. adv. (obsolete, outside, dialects) To such an extent; so. (in positive constructions). | |
Ooh, I was that happy I nearly kissed her. | |
18. n. (philosophy) Something being indicated that is there; one of those. | |
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? | |
passive |
1. adj. Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction. | |
2. adj. Taking no action. | |
He remained passive during the protest. | |
3. adj. (grammar) Being in the passive voice. | |
4. adj. (psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one. | |
5. adj. (finance) Not participating in management. | |
6. adj. (aviation) Without motive power. | |
a passive balloon; a passive aeroplane; passive flight, such as gliding and soaring | |
7. n. (grammar) The passive voice of verbs. | |
8. n. (grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice. | |
and |
1. conj. As a coordinating conjunction; expressing two elements to be taken together or in addition to each other. | |
2. conj. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs. | |
3. conj. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences. | |
4. conj. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first. | |
5. conj. (obsolete) Yet; but. | |
6. conj. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (not dated); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often | |
7. conj. (now colloquial, or literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements. | |
8. conj. Connecting two identical elements, with implications of continued or infinite repetition. | |
9. conj. Introducing a parenthetical or explanatory clause. | |
10. conj. Introducing the continuation of narration from a previous understood point; also used alone as a question: ‘and so what?’. | |
11. conj. (now regional or somewhat colloquial) Used to connect two verbs where the second is dependent on the first: ‘to’. Used especially after come, | |
12. conj. Introducing a qualitative difference between things having the same name; "as well as other". | |
13. conj. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus (with singular or plural verb). | |
14. conj. Expressing a condition.: | |
15. conj. (now US dialect) If; provided that. | |
16. conj. (obsolete) As if, as though. | |
17. n. (enm, music, often informal) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat. | |
18. n. (UK dialectal) Breath. | |
19. n. (UK dialectal) Sea smoke; steam fog. | |
20. v. (UK dialectal, intransitive) To breathe; whisper; devise; imagine. | |
do |
1. v. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker | |
2. v. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be. | |
Do you go there often? | |
3. v. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods. | |
I do not go there often. | |
Do not listen to him. | |
4. v. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker for emphasis with the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods. | |
But I do go sometimes. | |
Do tell us. | |
It is important that he do come see me. | |
5. v. (pro-verb) A syntactic marker that refers back to an earlier verb and allows the speaker to avoid repeating the verb; not generally used with auxiliari | |
I play tennis; she does too. | |
# They don't think it be like it is, but it do. | |
6. v. To perform; to execute. | |
All you ever do is surf the Internet. What will you do this afternoon? | |
7. v. (obsolete) To cause, make (someone) (do something). | |
8. v. (intransitive, transitive) To suffice. | |
it’s not the best broom, but it will have to do; this will do me, thanks. | |
9. v. (intransitive) To be reasonable or acceptable. | |
It simply will not do to have dozens of children running around such a quiet event. | |
10. v. To have (as an effect). | |
The fresh air did him some good. | |
11. v. (intransitive) To fare, perform (well or poorly). | |
Our relationship isn't doing very well; how do you do? | |
12. v. (transitive, chiefly in questions) To have as one's job. | |
What does Bob do? — He's a plumber. | |
13. v. To perform the tasks or actions associated with (something) | |
"Don't forget to do your report" means something quite different depending on whether you're a student or a programmer. | |
14. v. To cook. | |
I'll just do some eggs. | |
15. v. To travel in, to tour, to make a circuit of. | |
Let’s do New York also. | |
16. v. To treat in a certain way. | |
17. v. To work for or on, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, etc. | |
18. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself. | |
19. v. (see also do time) To spend (time) in jail. | |
I did five years for armed robbery. | |
20. v. To impersonate or depict. | |
They really laughed when he did Clinton, with a perfect accent and a leer. | |
21. v. (transitive, slang) To kill. | |
22. v. (transitive, slang) To deal with for good and all; to finish up; to undo; to ruin; to do for. | |
23. v. (informal) To punish for a misdemeanor. | |
He got done for speeding. | |
Teacher'll do you for that! | |
24. v. (transitive, slang) To have sex with. (See also do it) | |
25. v. To cheat or swindle. | |
That guy just did me out of two hundred bucks! | |
26. v. To convert into a certain form; especially, to translate. | |
the novel has just been done into English; I'm going to do this play into a movie | |
27. v. (transitive, intransitive) To finish. | |
Aren't you done yet? | |
28. v. (dated) To work as a domestic servant (with for). | |
29. v. (archaic, dialectal, transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the present progressive of verbs. | |
30. v. (stock exchange) To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note. | |
31. v. (informal, transitive) To make or provide. | |
Do they do haircuts there? | |
Could you do me a burger with mayonnaise instead of ketchup? | |
32. v. (informal, transitive) To injure (one's own body part). | |
33. v. To take drugs. | |
I do cocaine. | |
34. v. (transitive, in the form be doing somewhere) To exist with a purpose or for a reason. | |
What's that car doing in our swimming pool? - | |
35. n. (colloquial) A party, celebration, social function. | |
We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday. | |
36. n. (informal) A hairdo. | |
Nice do! | |
37. n. Something that can or should be done (usually in the phrase dos and don'ts). | |
38. n. (obsolete) A deed; an act. | |
39. n. (archaic) Ado; bustle; stir; to-do; A period of confusion or argument. | |
40. n. (obsolete, UK, slang) A cheat; a swindler. | |
41. n. (obsolete, UK, slang) An act of swindling; a fraud or deception. | |
42. n. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale. | |
43. adv. (rare) (abbreviation of ditto) | |
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. | |
involve |
1. v. (archaic) To roll or fold up; to wind round; to entwine. | |
2. v. (archaic) To envelop completely; to surround; to cover; to hide. | |
to involve in darkness or obscurity | |
3. v. To complicate or make intricate, as in grammatical structure. | |
4. v. (archaic) To connect with something as a natural or logical consequence or effect; to include necessarily; to imply. | |
5. v. To take in; to gather in; to mingle confusedly; to blend or merge. | |
6. v. To envelop, enfold, entangle. | |
to involve a person in debt or misery | |
He's involved in the crime. | |
7. v. To engage (someone) to participate in a task. | |
How can we involve the audience more during the show? | |
By getting involved in her local community, Mary met lots of people and also helped make it a nicer place to live. | |
8. v. (mathematics) To raise to any assigned power; to multiply, as a quantity, into itself a given number of times. | |
a quantity involved to the third or fourth power | |
productive |
1. adj. Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile. | |
2. adj. Yielding good or useful results; constructive. | |
3. adj. Of, or relating to the creation of goods or services. | |
4. adj. (linguistics, of an affix or word construction rule) Consistently applicable to any of an open set of words. | |
5. adj. (medicine) Of a cough, producing mucus or sputum from the respiratory tract. | |
6. adj. (medicine) Of inflammation, producing new tissue. | |
7. adj. (set theory) A type of set of natural numbers, related to mathematical logic. | |
a productive set | |
use |
1. n. The act of using. | |
the use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations; there is no use for your invention | |
2. n. (followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit. | |
What's the use of a law that nobody follows? | |
3. n. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed. | |
This tool has many uses. | |
4. n. Occasion or need to employ; necessity. | |
I have no further use for these textbooks. | |
5. n. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury. | |
6. n. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit. | |
7. n. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience. | |
8. n. (religion) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese. | |
the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford use; the York use; the Roman use; etc. | |
9. n. (forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging. | |
10. v. To utilize or employ. | |
11. v. To employ; to apply; to utilize. | |
Use this knife to slice the bread. | |
We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem. | |
12. v. (transitive, often with up) To expend; to consume by employing. | |
I used the money they allotted me. | |
We should use up most of the fuel. | |
She used all the time allotted to complete the test. | |
13. v. To exploit. | |
You never cared about me; you just used me! | |
14. v. To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly. | |
He uses cocaine. I have never used drugs. | |
15. v. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted. | |
Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day. | |
16. v. (transitive, with auxiliary "could") To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand. | |
I could use a drink. My car could use a new coat of paint. | |
17. v. To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Note: This usage uses the nounal pronunciation of the word rather than the typically verbal one.) | |
soldiers who are used to hardships and danger (still common) | |
to use the soldiers to hardships and danger (now rare) | |
18. v. (reflexive, obsolete, with "to") To become accustomed, to accustom oneself. | |
19. v. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually do; to be wont to do. | |
20. v. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually employ; to be wont to employ. | |
21. v. (intransitive, past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to. | |
I used to get things done. | |
22. v. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat. | |
to use an animal cruelly | |
23. v. (reflexive, obsolete) To behave, act, comport oneself. | |
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. | |
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. | |
resource |
1. n. Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. | |
2. n. A person's capacity to deal with difficulty. | |
a man/woman of resource | |
3. v. To supply with resources. | |