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. | |
whole |
1. adj. Entire. | |
I ate a whole fish. | |
2. adj. (Used as an intensifier.) | |
I brought a whole lot of balloons for the party. She ate a whole bunch of french fries. | |
3. adj. Sound, uninjured, healthy. | |
He is of whole mind, but the same cannot be said about his physical state. | |
4. adj. (of food) From which none of its constituents has been removed. | |
whole wheat; whole milk | |
5. adj. (mining) As yet unworked. | |
6. adv. (colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly. | |
I ate a fish whole! | |
7. n. Something complete, without any parts missing. | |
This variety of fascinating details didn't fall together into an enjoyable, coherent whole. | |
8. n. An entirety. | |
body |
1. n. Physical frame. | |
2. n. The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism. | |
I saw them walking from a distance, their bodies strangely angular in the dawn light. | |
3. n. The fleshly or corporeal nature of a human, as opposed to the spirit or soul. | |
The body is driven by desires, but the soul is at peace. | |
4. n. A corpse. | |
Her body was found at four o'clock, just two hours after the murder. | |
5. n. (archaic, or informal except in compounds) A person. | |
What's a body gotta do to get a drink around here? | |
6. n. Main section. | |
7. n. The torso, the main structure of a human or animal frame excluding the extremities (limbs, head, tail). | |
The boxer took a blow to the body. | |
8. n. The largest or most important part of anything, as distinct from its appendages or accessories. | |
The bumpers and front tyres were ruined, but the body of the car was in remarkable shape. | |
9. n. (archaic) The section of a dress extending from the neck to the waist, excluding the arms. | |
Penny was in the scullery, pressing the body of her new dress. | |
10. n. The content of a letter, message, or other printed or electronic document, as distinct from signatures, salutations, headers, and so on. | |
11. n. (programming) The code of a subroutine, contrasted to its signature and parameters. | |
In many programming languages, the method body is enclosed in braces. | |
12. n. Coherent group. | |
13. n. A group of people having a common purpose or opinion; a mass. | |
I was escorted from the building by a body of armed security guards. | |
14. n. An organisation, company or other authoritative group. | |
The local train operating company is the managing body for this section of track. | |
15. n. A unified collection of details, knowledge or information. | |
We have now amassed a body of evidence which points to one conclusion. | |
16. n. Material entity. | |
17. n. Any physical object or material thing. | |
All bodies are held together by internal forces. | |
18. n. Substance; physical presence. | |
We have given body to what was just a vague idea. | |
19. n. Comparative viscosity, solidity or substance (in wine, colours etc.). | |
The red wine, sadly, lacked body. | |
20. n. An agglomeration of some substance, especially one that would be otherwise un. | |
The English Channel is a body of water lying between Great Britain and France. | |
21. n. (printing) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated). | |
a nonpareil face on an agate body | |
22. n. (geometry) A three-dimensional object, such as a cube or cone. | |
23. v. To give body or shape to something. | |
24. v. To construct the bodywork of a car. | |
25. v. To embody. | |
26. v. (transitive, slang) To murder someone. | |
27. v. (transitive, slang) To utterly defeat someone. | |
28. v. (transitive, slang) to hard counter a particular character build or play style. Frequently used in the passive voice form, get bodied by. | |
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. | |
persons |
1. n. plural of person; used to refer to them individually, rather than as a group. Contrast people. | |
Which persons are responsible for this mess? | |
2. v. third-person singular present indicative of person | |
person |
1. n. An individual; usually a human being. | |
Each person is unique, both mentally and physically. | |
2. n. A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic represent | |
3. n. (Christianity) Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. | |
4. n. (chiefly in science fiction) Any sentient or socially intelligent being. | |
5. n. (in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing). | |
Jack's always been a dog person, but I prefer cats. | |
6. n. The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc. | |
7. n. (law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts. | |
At common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person. | |
8. n. (law) The human genitalia; specifically, the penis. | |
9. n. (grammar) A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom he is speaking. See grammatical person. | |
10. n. (biology) A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals. | |
11. v. (obsolete, transitive) To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate. | |
12. v. (transitive, gender-neutral) To man. | |
engaged |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of engage | |
2. adj. Agreed to be married. | |
3. adj. Busy or employed. | |
4. adj. Greatly interested. | |
5. adj. (British) (of a telephone) Already involved in a telephone call when a third party calls | |
I tried calling, but she (or her phone) was engaged. | |
6. adj. (architecture, of a column) attached to a wall or sunk into it halfway | |
7. adj. (of gears or cogs) in contact and in operation | |
8. adj. (military) being attacked or attacking | |
9. adj. (medicine, of a foetus) Having the widest part of its presenting part, usually the head, enter the pelvic brim or inlet. | |
engage |
1. v. (heading, transitive) To interact socially. | |
2. v. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. | |
3. v. To draw into conversation. | |
4. v. To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone). | |
5. v. To interact antagonistically.: | |
6. v. To enter into conflict with (an enemy). | |
7. v. (intransitive) To enter into battle. | |
8. v. To interact contractually.: | |
9. v. To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.). | |
10. v. (intransitive) To guarantee or promise (to do something). | |
11. v. To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive). | |
They were engaged last month! They're planning to have the wedding next year. | |
12. v. (obsolete, transitive) To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land). | |
13. v. To interact mechanically.: | |
14. v. To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch). | |
Whenever I engage the clutch, the car stalls out. | |
15. v. (engineering, transitive) To come into gear with. | |
The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another. | |
16. v. (intransitive) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in). | |
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. | |
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. | |
same |
1. adj. Not different or other; not another or others; not different as regards self; selfsame; identical. | |
Are you the same person who phoned me yesterday? | |
I realised I was the same age as my grandfather had been when he joined the air force. | |
Even if the twins are identical, they are still not the same person, unlike Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens. | |
Peter and Anna went to the same high school: the high school to which Peter went is the high school to which Anna went. | |
2. adj. Similar, alike. | |
You have the same hair I do! | |
3. adj. Used to express the unity of an object or person which has various different descriptions or qualities. | |
Round here it can be cloudy and sunny even in the same day. | |
We were all going in the same direction. | |
4. adj. A reply of confirmation of identity. | |
5. pron. The identical thing, ditto. | |
The same can be said of him. | |
It's the same everywhere. | |
6. pron. Something similar, something of the identical type. | |
She's having apple pie? I'll have the same. You two are just the same. | |
7. pron. (formal, often, legal) It or them, without a connotation of similarity. | |
The question is his credibility or lack of same. | |
8. pron. (Indian English, common) It or them, as above, meaning the last object mentioned, mainly as complement: on the same, for the same. | |
My picture/photography blog...kindly give me your reviews on the same. | |
9. interj. (Internet slang) Indicates the speaker's strong approval or agreement with the previous material. | |
10. adv. (obsolete, or UK dialectal) Together. | |
business |
1. n. A specific commercial enterprise or establishment. | |
I was left my father's business. | |
2. n. A person's occupation, work, or trade. | |
He is in the motor and insurance businesses. | |
I'm going to Las Vegas on business. | |
3. n. Commercial, industrial, or professional activity. | |
He's such a poor cook, I can't believe he's still in business! | |
We do business all over the world. | |
4. n. The volume or amount of commercial trade. | |
Business has been slow lately. | |
They did nearly a million dollars of business over the long weekend. | |
5. n. One's dealings; patronage. | |
I shall take my business elsewhere. | |
6. n. Private commercial interests taken collectively. | |
This proposal will satisfy both business and labor. | |
7. n. The management of commercial enterprises, or the study of such management. | |
I studied business at Harvard. | |
8. n. A particular situation or activity. | |
This UFO stuff is a mighty strange business. | |
9. n. An objective or a matter needing to be dealt with. | |
Our principal business here is to get drunk. | |
Let's get down to business. | |
10. n. Something involving one personally. | |
That's none of your business. | |
11. n. (parliamentary procedure) Matters that come before a body for deliberation or action. | |
If that concludes the announcements, we'll move on to new business. | |
12. n. (travel) Business class, the class of seating provided by airlines between first class and coach. | |
13. n. (acting) Action carried out with a prop or piece of clothing, usually away from the focus of the scene. | |
14. n. (rare) The collective noun for a group of ferrets. | |
15. n. (slang) Something very good; top quality. (possibly from "the bee's knees") | |
These new phones are the business! | |
16. n. (slang) Excrement, particularly that of a non-human animal. | |
Your ferret left his business all over the floor. | |
As the cart went by, its horse lifted its tail and did its business. | |
17. adj. Of, to, pertaining to or utilized for purposes of conducting trade, commerce, governance, advocacy or other professional purposes. | |
"Please do not use this phone for personal calls; it is a business phone.". | |
18. adj. Professional, businesslike, having concern for good business practice. | |
19. adj. Supporting business, conducive to the conduct of business. | |
especially |
1. adv. (manner) In a special manner; specially. | |
2. adv. (focus) Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal. | |
3. adv. (focus) Used to place greater emphasis upon someone or something. | |
Invite them all, especially Molly. | |
those |
1. det. plural of that | |
Those bolts go with these parts. | |
2. pron. plural of that | |
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. | |
same |
1. adj. Not different or other; not another or others; not different as regards self; selfsame; identical. | |
Are you the same person who phoned me yesterday? | |
I realised I was the same age as my grandfather had been when he joined the air force. | |
Even if the twins are identical, they are still not the same person, unlike Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens. | |
Peter and Anna went to the same high school: the high school to which Peter went is the high school to which Anna went. | |
2. adj. Similar, alike. | |
You have the same hair I do! | |
3. adj. Used to express the unity of an object or person which has various different descriptions or qualities. | |
Round here it can be cloudy and sunny even in the same day. | |
We were all going in the same direction. | |
4. adj. A reply of confirmation of identity. | |
5. pron. The identical thing, ditto. | |
The same can be said of him. | |
It's the same everywhere. | |
6. pron. Something similar, something of the identical type. | |
She's having apple pie? I'll have the same. You two are just the same. | |
7. pron. (formal, often, legal) It or them, without a connotation of similarity. | |
The question is his credibility or lack of same. | |
8. pron. (Indian English, common) It or them, as above, meaning the last object mentioned, mainly as complement: on the same, for the same. | |
My picture/photography blog...kindly give me your reviews on the same. | |
9. interj. (Internet slang) Indicates the speaker's strong approval or agreement with the previous material. | |
10. adv. (obsolete, or UK dialectal) Together. | |
profession |
1. n. A promise or vow made on entering a religious order. | |
She died only a few years after her profession. | |
2. n. A declaration of belief, faith or of one's opinion. | |
Despite his continued professions of innocence, the court eventually sentenced him to five years. | |
3. n. An occupation, trade, craft, or activity in which one has a professed expertise in a particular area; a job, especially one requiring a high level of skill or training. | |
My father was a barrister by profession. | |
4. n. The practitioners of such an occupation collectively. | |
His conduct is against the established practices of the legal profession. | |