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 | |
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? | |
agitated |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of agitate | |
2. adj. Angry, annoyed, bothered or worked up. | |
3. adj. (of a solution or substance) Violently and chaotically moving around, such as because of being shaken. | |
agitate |
1. v. To cause to move with a violent, irregular action | |
the wind agitates the sea | |
to agitate water in a vessel | |
2. v. (intransitive, rare) To move or actuate. | |
3. v. To stir up; to disturb or excite; to perturb | |
He was greatly agitated by the news. | |
4. v. To discuss with great earnestness; to debate | |
to agitate a controversial subject | |
5. v. To revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; to contrive busily; to devise; to plot | |
politicians agitate desperate designs | |
like |
1. v. (transitive, archaic) To please. | |
2. v. To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of. | |
I like hamburgers | |
I like skiing in winter | |
I like the Seattle Mariners this season | |
3. v. (obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something. | |
4. v. To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity. | |
I like to go to the dentist every six months | |
She likes to keep herself physically fit | |
we like to keep one around the office just in case | |
5. v. (obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition). | |
6. v. (archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly. | |
He liked to have been too late. | |
7. v. To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for. | |
I really like Sandra but don't know how to tell her. | |
8. v. (obsolete) To liken; to compare. | |
9. v. (Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote. | |
I liked my friend's last status on Facebook. | |
I can't stand Bloggs' tomato ketchup, but I liked it on Facebook so I could enter a competition. | |
10. n. (usually plural) Something that a person likes (prefers). | |
Tell me your likes and dislikes. | |
11. n. (internet) An individual vote showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet. | |
12. adj. Similar. | |
My partner and I have like minds. | |
13. adj. (obsolete) Likely; probable. | |
14. adv. (informal) For example, such as: to introduce an example or list of examples. | |
There are lots of birds, like ducks and gulls, in this park. | |
15. adv. (archaic, colloquial) Likely. | |
16. adv. (obsolete) In a like or similar manner. | |
17. n. (sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort. | |
There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like. | |
It was something the likes of which I had never seen before. | |
18. n. (golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side. | |
to play the like | |
19. conj. (colloquial) As, the way. | |
20. conj. As if; as though. | |
It looks like you've finished the project. | |
It seemed like you didn't care. | |
21. prep. Similar to, reminiscent of. | |
These hamburgers taste like leather. | |
22. part. (colloquial, Scotland, Geordie, Teesside, Scouse) A delayed filler. | |
He was so angry, like. | |
23. part. (colloquial) A mild intensifier. | |
She was, like, sooooo happy. | |
24. part. (colloquial) indicating approximation or uncertainty | |
There were, like, twenty of them. | |
And then he, like, got all angry and left the room. | |
25. part. (colloquial, slang) When preceded by any form of the verb to be, used to mean “to say” or “to think”; used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase. | |
I was like, “Why did you do that?” and he's like, “I don't know.” | |
26. interj. (Liverpool, Geordie) Used to place emphasis upon a statement. | |
divint ye knaa, like? | |
boiling |
1. v. present participle of boil | |
2. n. The process of changing the state of a substance from liquid to gas by heating it to its boiling point. | |
3. n. An animation style with constantly changing wavy outlines, giving a shimmering or wobbling appearance. | |
4. adj. That boils or boil. | |
boiling kettle boiling oil | |
5. adj. (informal, hyperbole) Of a thing: extremely hot or active. | |
The radiator is boiling – I’m going to turn it down a bit. | |
6. adj. (informal, hyperbole) Of a person: feeling uncomfortably hot. | |
I’m boiling – can’t we open a window? | |
7. adj. (informal, hyperbole) Of the weather: very hot. | |
It’s boiling out today! | |
8. adv. (of adjectives associated with heat) Extremely | |
He was boiling mad. | |
boil |
1. n. A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection. | |
2. n. The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour. | |
Add the noodles when the water comes to the boil. | |
3. n. A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood. | |
4. n. (rare, nonstandard) The collective noun for a group of hawks. | |
5. v. To heat (a liquid) to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. | |
Boil some water in a pan. | |
6. v. (transitive, intransitive) To cook in boiling water. | |
Boil the eggs for two minutes. | |
Is the rice boiling yet? | |
7. v. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to begin to turn into a gas, seethe. | |
Pure water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. | |
8. v. (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses) Said of weather being uncomfortably hot. | |
It’s boiling outside! | |
9. v. (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses) To feel uncomfortably hot. See also seethe. | |
I’m boiling in here – could you open the window? | |
10. v. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation. | |
to boil sugar or salt | |
11. v. (obsolete) To steep or soak in warm water. | |
12. v. To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce. | |
the boiling waves of the sea | |
13. v. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid. | |
His blood boils with anger. | |
water |
1. n. A substance (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gas | |
By the action of electricity, the water was resolved into its two parts, oxygen and hydrogen. | |
2. n. (in particular) The liquid form of this substance: liquid H₂O. | |
May I have a glass of water? | |
Your plants need more water. | |
3. n. A serving of liquid water. | |
4. n. (alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy. | |
He showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God. | |
5. n. (or in the plural) Water in a body; an area of open water. | |
The boat was found within the territorial waters. | |
These seals are a common sight in the coastal waters of Chile. | |
6. n. (poetic, archaic, or dialectal) A body of water, almost always a river. | |
7. n. A combination of water and other substance(s). | |
8. n. (sometimes ) Mineral water. | |
Perrier is the most popular water in this restaurant. | |
9. n. (often, in the plural) Spa water. | |
Many people visit Bath to take the waters. | |
10. n. (pharmacy) A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance. | |
ammonia water | |
11. n. Urine. | |
12. n. Amniotic fluid; used only in the plural in the UK but often also in the singular in North America, especially to avoid cacophony, as in this example: ( | |
Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s water breaks. (North America) | |
Before your child is born, your water(s) will break. (North America) | |
Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s waters break. (UK) | |
13. n. (colloquial, medicine) Fluids in the body, especially when causing swelling. | |
He suffers from water on the knee. | |
14. n. (figuratively, in the or in the singular) A state of affairs; conditions; usually with an adjective indicating an adverse condition. | |
The rough waters of change will bring about the calm after the storm. | |
15. n. (colloquial, figuratively) A person's intuition. | |
I know he'll succeed. I feel it in my waters. | |
16. n. (dated, finance) Excess valuation of securities. | |
17. n. The limpidity and lustre of a precious stone, especially a diamond. | |
a diamond of the first water is perfectly pure and transparent | |
18. n. A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc. | |
19. v. To pour water into the soil surrounding (plants). | |
20. v. To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate. | |
21. v. To provide (animals) with water for drinking. | |
I need to go water the cattle. | |
22. v. (intransitive) To get or take in water. | |
The ship put into port to water. | |
23. v. (transitive, colloquial) To urinate onto. | |
Nature called, so I stepped into the woods and watered a tree. | |
24. v. To dilute. | |
Can you water the whisky, please? | |
25. v. (transitive, dated, finance) To overvalue (securities), especially through deceptive accounting. | |
26. v. (intransitive) To fill with or secrete water. | |
Chopping onions makes my eyes water. | |
The smell of fried onions makes my mouth water. | |
27. v. To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines. | |
to water silk | |
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 | |
bubble |
1. n. A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid. | |
2. n. A small spherical cavity in a solid material. | |
bubbles in window glass, or in a lens | |
3. n. Anything resembling a hollow sphere. | |
4. n. (economics) A period of intense speculation in a market, causing prices to rise quickly to irrational levels as the metaphorical bubble expands, and then fall even more quickly as the bubble bursts (e | |
5. n. (obsolete) Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe. | |
6. n. (figurative) The emotional and/or physical atmosphere in which the subject is immersed; circumstances, ambience. | |
7. n. (Cockney rhyming slang) a Greek (also: bubble and squeak) | |
8. n. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits. | |
9. n. The globule of air in the spirit tube of a level. | |
10. n. Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project. | |
11. n. (Cockney rhyming slang) A laugh. (also: bubble bath) | |
Are you having a bubble?! | |
12. n. (computing) Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory. | |
13. n. (poker) The point in a poker tournament when the last player without a prize loses all their chips and leaves the game, leaving only players that are going to win prizes. (e.g., if the last remaining | |
Many players tend to play timidly (not play many hands) around the bubble, to keep their chips and last longer in the game. | |
14. v. (intransitive) To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling). | |
15. v. (intransitive, figurative) To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface. | |
Rage bubbled inside him. | |
16. v. (intransitive, figurative) To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid. | |
17. v. (transitive, archaic) To cheat, delude. | |
18. v. (intransitive, Scotland, and Northern England) To cry, weep. | |
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 | |
effervesce |
1. v. (intransitive, of a liquid) to emit small bubbles of dissolved gas; to froth or fizz | |
2. v. (intransitive, of a gas) to escape from solution in a liquid in the form of bubbles | |
3. v. (intransitive, of a person) to show high spirits | |