| this |
| 1. det. The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby). | |
| This classroom is where I learned to read and write. | |
| 2. det. The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone just mentioned). | |
| They give the appearance of knowing what they're doing. It's this appearance that lets them get away with so much. | |
| 3. det. The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone about to be mentioned). | |
| When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he gave this reply: “…” | |
| 4. det. A known (thing) (used in first mentioning a person or thing that the speaker does not think is known to the audience). Compare with "a certain ...". | |
| I met this woman the other day who's allergic to wheat. I didn't even know that was possible! | |
| There's just this nervous mannerism that Bob has with his hands, and it drives me crazy. | |
| 5. det. (Of a unit of time) which is current. | |
| It snowed this week. | |
| 6. adv. To the degree or extent indicated. | |
| I need this much water. | |
| We've already come this far, we can't turn back now. | |
| 7. pron. The thing, item, etc. being indicated. | |
| This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune,—often the surfeit of our own behaviour,—we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars(...) — Sh | |
| 8. n. (philosophy) Something being indicated that is here; one of these. | |
| 9. interj. (Internet slang) Indicates the speaker's strong approval or agreement with the previous material. | |
| spear |
| 1. n. A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion. | |
| 2. n. (now chiefly historical) A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman. | |
| 3. n. A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish. | |
| 4. n. (ice hockey) An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player. | |
| 5. n. (wrestling) In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection. | |
| 6. n. A shoot, as of grass; a spire. | |
| 7. n. The feather of a horse. | |
| 8. n. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod. | |
| 9. n. A long, thin strip from a vegetable. | |
| asparagus and broccoli spears | |
| 10. v. To penetrate or strike with, or as if with, any long narrow object. To make a thrusting motion that catches an object on the tip of a long device. | |
| 11. v. (intransitive) To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do. | |
| 12. adj. Male | |
| a spear counterpart | |
| 13. adj. Pertaining to male family members | |
| the spear side of the family | |
| Is |
| 1. n. plural of I | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present indicative of be | |
| He is a doctor. He retired some time ago. | |
| Should he do the task, it is vital that you follow him. | |
| 3. n. plural of i | |
| remember to dot your is | |
| 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? | |
| 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. | |
| Viking |
| 1. n. (historical) One of the Scandinavian or other Northern European seafaring warriors that raided (and then settled) the British Isles and other parts of Europe in the 8th to the 11th centuries and, acco | |
| 2. n. (by extension, fantasy) A stock character common in the fantasy genre, namely a barbarian, generally equipped with an axe or sword and a helmet adorned with horns. | |
| 3. n. (colloquial) A Norseman (mediaeval Scandinavian). | |
| 4. n. (colloquial, humorous, mildly, offensive) An ethnic Swede, Norwegian, Dane, Icelander or Faroe Islander. | |
| 5. n. (American football) A player on the Minnesota Vikings NFL team. | |
| 6. n. altcaps, Viking | |
| provenance |
| 1. n. Place or source of origin. | |
| Many supermarkets display the provenance of their food products. | |
| 2. n. (archaeology) The place and time of origin of some artifact or other object. See Usage note below. | |
| This spear is of Viking provenance. | |
| 3. n. (arts) The history of ownership of a work of art | |
| The picture is of royal provenance. | |
| 4. n. (computing) The copy history of a piece of data, or the intermediate pieces of data utilized to compute a final data element, as in a database record or web site (data provenance) | |
| 5. n. (computing) The execution history of computer processes which were utilized to compute a final piece of data (process provenance) | |
| 6. n. (of a person) Background; history; place of origin | |
| 7. v. To establish the provenance of something | |
