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. | |
rapid |
1. adj. Very swift or quick. | |
a rapid stream; rapid growth; rapid improvement | |
2. adj. Steep, changing altitude quickly. (of a slope) | |
3. adj. Needing only a brief exposure time. (of a lens, plate, film, etc.) | |
4. adj. (England, dialectal) Violent, severe. | |
5. adj. (obsolete, dialectal) Happy. | |
6. adv. (archaic or colloquial) Rapidly. | |
7. n. (often, in the plural) a rough section of a river or stream which is difficult to navigate due to the swift and turbulent motion of the water. | |
8. n. (dated) A burst of rapid fire. | |
variation |
1. n. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing | |
2. n. A related but distinct thing. | |
when the process didn't work, we tried a variation; all of his songs are variations on a single theme | |
3. n. (nautical) The angular difference at the vessel between the direction of true north and magnetic north. Also called magnetic declination. | |
4. n. (board games) A line of play that differs from the original. | |
5. n. (music) A technique where material is repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, counterpoint or orchestration; but with some invariant characteristic, e.g. a ground ba | |
6. n. (genetics) The modification of a hereditary trait. | |
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. | |
signal |
1. n. That which conveys information; an entity of some kind used to represent something. | |
2. n. A sign made to give notice of some occurrence, command, or danger, or to indicate the start of a concerted action. | |
3. n. An on-off light, semaphore, or other device used to give an indication to another person. | |
4. n. (of a radio, TV, telephone, internet, etc.) An electrical or electromagnetic action, normally a voltage that is a function of time that conveys the information of the radio or TV program or of communi | |
My mobile phone can't get a signal in the railway station. | |
5. n. A token; an indication; a foreshadowing; a sign. | |
6. n. Useful information, as opposed to noise. | |
7. n. (computing, Unix) A simple interprocess communication used to notify a process or thread of an occurrence. | |
8. n. (biochemistry) A signalling interaction between cells | |
9. v. To indicate; to convey or communicate by a signal. | |
I signalled my acquiescence with a nod. | |
10. v. To communicate with (a person or system) by a signal. | |
Seeing the flames, he ran to the control room and signalled headquarters. | |
11. adj. Standing above others in rank, importance, or achievement. | |
a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal act of benevolence | |
parameters |
1. n. plural of parameter | |
parameter |
1. n. A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc. | |
2. n. (sciences) a variable that describes some system (material, object, event etc.) or some aspect thereof | |
3. n. (programming) An input variable of a procedure definition, that gets an actual value (argument) at execution time (formal parameter). | |
Roughly, a tuple of arguments could be thought of as a vector, whereas a tuple of parameters could be thought of as a covector (i.e., linear functional). When a function is called, a parameter | |
4. n. (programming) An actual value given to such a formal parameter (argument or actual parameter). | |
5. n. A characteristic or feature that distinguishes something from others. | |
6. n. (geometry) In the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate. | |
The parameter of the principal axis of a conic section is called the latus rectum. | |
7. n. (crystallography) The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane. | |
8. n. (crystallography) The fundamental axial ratio for a given species. | |
such |
1. det. (demonstrative) Like this, that, these, those; used to make a comparison with something implied by context. | |
I’ve never seen such clouds in the sky before. Such is life. | |
2. det. (particularly used in formal documents) Any. | |
the above address or at such other address as may notify | |
3. det. Used as an intensifier; roughly equivalent to very much of. | |
The party was such a bore. | |
4. det. (obsolete) A certain; representing the object as already particularized in terms which are not mentioned. | |
5. pron. A person, a thing, people or things like the one or ones already mentioned. | |
6. n. (philosophy) Something being indicated that is similar to something else. | |
As |
1. n. plural of A | |
She went from getting Cs and Ds to earning straight As. | |
2. adv. To such an extent or degree. | |
You’re not as tall as I am. | |
It's not as well made, but it's twice as expensive. | |
3. adv. In the manner or role specified. | |
The kidnappers released him as agreed. | |
The parties were seen as agreeing on a range of issues. | |
He was never seen as the boss, but rather as a friend. | |
4. adv. (dated) For example (compare such as). | |
5. conj. In the same way that; according to what. | |
Do as I say! | |
I'm under a lot of pressure, as you know. | |
As you wish, my lord! | |
6. conj. At the same instant that; when. | |
As I came in, she flew. | |
7. conj. At the same time that; while. | |
He sleeps as the rain falls. | |
8. conj. Varying through time in the same proportion that. | |
As my fear grew, so did my legs become heavy. | |
9. conj. Being that, considering that, because, since. | |
As it’s too late, I quit. | |
10. conj. Introducing a basis of comparison, after as, so, or a comparison of equality. | |
She's twice as strong as I was two years ago. | |
It's not so complicated as I expected. | |
11. conj. (dated) Introducing a comparison with a hypothetical state (+ subjunctive); ‘as though’, ‘as if’. | |
12. conj. Introducing a comparison with a hypothetical state with the verb elided; as if, as though. | |
13. conj. (now England, US, regional) Functioning as a relative conjunction; that. | |
14. conj. Expressing concession; though. | |
15. conj. (obsolete, rare) Than. | |
16. prep. Introducing a basis of comparison, with an object in the objective case. | |
You are not as tall as me. | |
They're big as houses. | |
17. prep. In the role of. | |
What is your opinion as a parent? | |
18. n. (unit of weight) A libra. | |
19. n. Any of several coins of Rome, coined in bronze or later copper; or the equivalent value. | |
20. n. plural of a | |
amplitude |
1. n. The measure of something's size, especially in terms of width or breadth; largeness, magnitude. | |
2. n. (mathematics) The maximum absolute value of the vertical component of a curve or function, especially one that is periodic. | |
3. n. (physics) The maximum absolute value of some quantity that varies. | |
4. n. (astronomy) The arc of the horizon between the true east or west point and the center of the sun, or a star, at its rising or setting. At the rising, the amplitude is eastern or ortive: at the setting | |
5. n. (astronomy) The arc of the horizon between the true east or west point and the foot of the vertical circle passing through any star or object. | |
6. n. (firearms) The horizontal line which measures the distance to which a projectile is thrown; the range. | |
phase |
1. n. A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time. | |
2. n. That which is exhibited to the eye; the appearance which anything manifests, especially any one among different and varying appearances of the same object. | |
3. n. Any appearance or aspect of an object of mental apprehension or view. | |
The problem has many phases. | |
4. n. (astronomy) A particular appearance or state in a regularly recurring cycle of changes with respect to quantity of illumination or form, or the absence, of its enlightened disk. Illustrated in Wikiped | |
the phases of the moon | |
5. n. (physics) Any one point or portion in a recurring series of changes, as in the changes of motion of one of the particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in d | |
6. n. (chemistry) A component in a material system that is distinguished by chemical composition and/or physical state (solid, liquid or gas) and/or crystal structure. It is delineated from an adjoining pha | |
7. n. (zoology) In certain organisms, one of two or more colour variations characteristic of the species, but independent of the ordinary seasonal and sexual differences, and often also of age. | |
8. n. (rugby union) The period of play between consecutive breakdowns. | |
9. n. (genetics) A haplotype. | |
10. n. (math) The arctangent of the quotient formed by dividing the imaginary part of a complex number by the real part. | |
11. n. (music) A distortion caused by a difference in the speed of propagation for different frequencies | |
12. n. (electrical engineering) In a polyphase electrical power system, one of the power-carrying conductors, or the alternating current carried by it. | |
13. v. (with in, or out) To begin—if construed with "in"—or to discontinue—if construed with out—(doing) something over a period of time (i.e. in phases). | |
The use of the obsolete machines was gradually phased out as the new models were phased in. | |
14. v. (genetics, informal, transitive) To determine haplotypes in (data) when genotypes are known. | |
15. v. To pass into or through a solid object. | |
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. | |
frequency |
1. n. The rate of occurrence of anything; the relationship between incidence and time period. | |
2. n. The property of occurring often rather than infrequently. | |
3. n. The quotient of the number of timesn a periodic phenomenon occurs over the timet in which it occurs:f = n / t. | |
4. n. (statistics) number of times an event occurred in an experiment (absolute frequency) | |