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 | |
collect |
1. v. To gather together; amass. | |
Suzanne collected all the papers she had laid out. | |
The team uses special equipment to collect data on temperature, wind speed and rainfall. | |
2. v. To get; particularly, get from someone. | |
A bank collects a monthly payment on a client's new car loan. A mortgage company collects a monthly payment on a house. | |
3. v. To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation. | |
John Henry collects stamps. | |
I don't think he collects as much as hoards. | |
4. v. (transitive, now rare) To form a conclusion; to deduce, infer. (Compare gather, get.) | |
5. v. (intransitive, often with on or against) To collect payments. | |
He had a lot of trouble collecting on that bet he made. | |
6. v. (intransitive) To come together in a group or mass. | |
The rain collected in puddles. | |
7. v. To infer; to conclude. | |
8. v. (transitive, of a vehicle or driver) To collide with or crash into (another vehicle or obstacle). | |
The truck veered across the central reservation and collected a car that was travelling in the opposite direction. | |
9. adj. To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment. | |
It was to be a collect delivery, but no-one was available to pay. | |
10. adv. With payment due from the recipient. | |
I had to call collect. | |
11. n. (sometimes capitalized) | |
12. n. (Christianity) The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson, especially one found in a prayerbook, as with the Book of Common Prayer. | |
He used the day's collect as the basis of his sermon. | |
or |
1. conj. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc. each of which could make a passage true. In English, this is the "inclusive or." The "exclusive or" is formed by "either(...) | |
In Ohio, anyone under the age of 18 who wants a tattoo or body piercing needs the consent of a parent or guardian. | |
He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what. | |
2. conj. (logic) An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms, the inclusive or and the exclusive or. | |
3. conj. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities. | |
4. conj. Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false). | |
It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold! | |
5. conj. Connects two equivalent names. | |
The country Myanmar, or Burma | |
6. n. (logic, electronics) alternative form of OR | |
7. n. (tincture) The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms. | |
8. adj. (tincture) Of gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms. | |
9. adv. (obsolete) Early (on). | |
10. adv. (obsolete) Earlier, previously. | |
11. prep. (now archaic, or dialect) Before; ere. | |
place |
1. n. (physical) An area; somewhere within an area. | |
2. n. An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard. | |
3. n. A group of houses. | |
They live at Westminster Place. | |
4. n. An inhabited area: a village, town, or city. | |
5. n. Any area of the earth: a region. | |
He is going back to his native place on vacation. | |
6. n. The area one occupies, particularly somewhere to sit. | |
We asked the restaurant to give us a table with three places. | |
7. n. The area where one lives: one's home, formerly(chiefly) country estates and farms. | |
Do you want to come over to my place later? | |
8. n. An area of the skin. | |
9. n. (euphemism) An area to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory. | |
10. n. (obsolete) An area to fight: a battlefield or the contested ground in a battle. | |
11. n. A location or position in space. | |
12. n. A particular location in a book or document, particularly the current location of a reader. | |
13. n. (obsolete) A passage or extract from a book or document. | |
14. n. (obsolete) A topic. | |
15. n. A frame of mind. | |
I'm in a strange place at the moment. | |
16. n. (chess) A chess position; a square of the chessboard. | |
17. n. (social) A responsibility or position in an organization. | |
18. n. A role or purpose; a station. | |
It is really not my place to say what is right and wrong in this case. | |
19. n. The position of a contestant in a competition. | |
We thought we would win but only ended up in fourth place. | |
20. n. (horse-racing) The position of first, second, or third at the finish, especially the second position. | |
to win a bet on a horse for place | |
21. n. The position as a member of a sports team. | |
He lost his place in the national team. | |
22. n. (obsolete) A fortified position: a fortress, citadel, or walled town. | |
23. n. Numerically, the column counting a certain quantity. | |
three decimal places; the hundreds place | |
24. n. Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding. | |
That's what I said in the first place! | |
25. n. Reception; effect; implying the making room for. | |
26. v. To put (an object or person) in a specific location. | |
He placed the glass on the table. | |
27. v. (intransitive) To earn a given spot in a competition. | |
The Cowboys placed third in the league. | |
28. v. (intransitive, racing) To finish second, especially of horses or dogs. | |
In the third race: Aces Up won, paying eight dollars; Blarney Stone placed, paying three dollars; and Cinnamon showed, paying five dollars. | |
29. v. To remember where and when (an object or person) has been previously encountered. | |
I've seen him before, but I can't quite place where. | |
30. v. (transitive, in the passive) To achieve (a certain position, often followed by an ordinal) as in a horse race. | |
Run Ragged was placed fourth in the race. | |
31. v. To sing (a note) with the correct pitch. | |
32. v. To arrange for or to make (a bet). | |
I placed ten dollars on the Lakers beating the Bulls. | |
33. v. To recruit or match an appropriate person for a job. | |
They phoned hoping to place her in the management team. | |
34. v. (sports) To place-kick (a goal). | |
in |
1. prep. Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or other limits. | |
2. prep. Contained by. | |
The dog is in the kennel. | |
3. prep. Within. | |
4. prep. Surrounded by. | |
We are in the enemy camp. Her plane is in the air. | |
5. prep. Part of; a member of. | |
One in a million. She's in band and orchestra. | |
6. prep. Pertaining to; with regard to. | |
What grade did he get in English? | |
Military letters should be formal in tone, but not stilted. | |
7. prep. At the end of a period of time. | |
They said they would call us in a week. | |
8. prep. Within a certain elapsed time | |
Are you able to finish this in three hours? The massacre resulted in over 1000 deaths in three hours. | |
9. prep. During (said of periods of time). | |
in the first week of December; Easter falls in the fourth lunar month; The country reached a high level of prosperity in his fi | |
10. prep. (grammar, phonetics, of sounds and letters) Coming at the end of a word. | |
English nouns in -ce form their plurals in -s. | |
11. prep. Into. | |
Less water gets in your boots this way. | |
12. prep. Used to indicate limit, qualification, condition, or circumstance. | |
In replacing the faucet washers, he felt he was making his contribution to the environment. | |
13. prep. Indicating an order or arrangement. | |
My fat rolls around in folds. | |
14. prep. Denoting a state of the subject. | |
He stalked away in anger. John is in a coma. | |
15. prep. Indicates, connotatively, a place-like form of someone's (or something's) personality, as his, her or its psychic and physical characteristics. | |
You've got a friend in me. He's met his match in her. | |
16. prep. Wearing (an item of clothing). | |
I glanced over at the pretty girl in the red dress. | |
17. prep. Used to indicate means, medium, format, genre, or instrumentality. | |
18. prep. (of something offered or given in an exchange) In the form of, in the denomination of. | |
Please pay me in cash — preferably in tens and twenties. | |
The deposit can be in any legal tender, even in gold. | |
Her generosity was rewarded in the success of its recipients. | |
19. prep. Used to indicate a language, script, tone, etc. of a text, speech, etc. | |
Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" in C minor is among his most popular. | |
His speech was in French, but was simultaneously translated into eight languages. | |
When you write in cursive, it's illegible. | |
20. v. (obsolete, transitive) To enclose. | |
21. v. (obsolete, transitive) To take in; to harvest. | |
22. adv. (not comparable) Located indoors, especially at home or the office, or inside something. | |
Is Mr. Smith in? | |
23. adv. Moving to the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room. | |
Suddenly a strange man walked in. | |
24. adv. (sports) Still eligible to play, e.g. able to bat in cricket and baseball. | |
He went for the wild toss but wasn't able to stay in. | |
25. adv. (UK) Abbreviation of in aid of. | |
What's that in? | |
26. adv. After the beginning of something. | |
27. n. A position of power or a way to get it. | |
His parents got him an in with the company | |
28. n. (sport) The state of a batter/batsman who is currently batting – see innings | |
29. n. A re-entrant angle; a nook or corner. | |
30. adj. In fashion; popular. | |
Skirts are in this year. | |
31. adj. Incoming. | |
the in train | |
32. adj. (nautical, of the sails of a vessel) Furled or stowed. | |
33. adj. (legal) With privilege or possession; used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin. | |
in by descent; in by purchase; in of the seisin of her husband | |
34. adj. (cricket) Currently batting. | |
35. n. Inch. | |
a |
1. art. One; any indefinite example of; used to denote a singular item of a group. | |
There was a man here looking for you yesterday. | |
2. art. Used in conjunction with the adjectives score, dozen, hundred, thousand, and million, as a function word. | |
I've seen it happen a hundred times. | |
3. art. One certain or particular; any single.Brown, Lesley, (2003) | |
We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London. | |
4. art. The same; one. | |
We are of a mind on matters of morals. | |
5. art. Any, every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope; also used with a negative to indicate not a single one.Lindberg, Christine A. (2007) | |
A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties. | |
He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head? | |
6. art. Used before plural nouns modified by few, good many, couple, great many, etc. | |
7. art. Someone or something like; similar to; Used before a proper noun to create an example out of it. | |
The center of the village was becoming a Times Square. | |
8. prep. (archaic) To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto. | |
Stand a tiptoe. | |
9. prep. To do with separation; In, into. | |
Torn a pieces. | |
10. prep. To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by. | |
I brush my teeth twice a day. | |
11. prep. (obsolete) To do with method; In, with. | |
12. prep. (obsolete) To do with role or capacity; In. | |
A God’s name. | |
13. prep. To do with status; In. | |
King James Bible (II Chronicles 2:18) | |
To set the people a worke. | |
14. prep. (archaic) To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing. | |
1964, Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’ | |
The times, they are a-changin'. | |
15. prep. (archaic) To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in. | |
1611, King James Bible, Hebrews 11-21 | |
Jacob, when he was a dying | |
16. prep. (archaic) To do with an action/movement; To, into. | |
17. v. (archaic, or slang) Have. | |
I'd a come, if you'd a asked. | |
18. pron. (obsolete, outside, England, and Scotland dialects) He. | |
19. interj. A meaningless syllable; ah. | |
20. prep. (archaic, slang) Of. | |
The name of John a Gaunt. | |
21. adv. (chiefly Scotland) All. | |
22. adj. (chiefly Scotland) All. | |
bin |
1. n. A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container. | |
a corn bin; a wine bin; a coal bin | |
2. n. A container for rubbish or waste. | |
a rubbish bin; a wastepaper bin; an ashes bin | |
3. n. (statistics) Any of the discrete intervals in a histogram, etc | |
4. v. (chiefly British, informal) To dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin. | |
5. v. (UK, informal) To throw away, reject, give up. | |
6. v. (statistics) To convert continuous data into discrete groups. | |
7. v. To place into a bin for storage. | |
to bin wine | |
8. n. (in Arabic names) son of; equivalent to Hebrew בן. | |
9. v. (obsolete, dialectal, and text messaging) alternative form of been | |
10. n. (computing, informal) A short form of binary | |
for |
1. conj. (dated) Because. | |
2. prep. Towards. | |
The astronauts headed for the moon. | |
3. prep. Directed at, intended to belong to. | |
I have something for you. | |
4. prep. In honor of, or directed towards the celebration or event of. | |
We're having a birthday party for Janet. | |
The cake is for Tom and Helen's anniversary. | |
The mayor gave a speech for the charity gala. | |
5. prep. Supporting. | |
All those for the motion raise your hands. | |
6. prep. Because of. | |
He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him. | |
(UK usage) He looks better for having lost weight. | |
She was the worse for drink. | |
7. prep. Over a period of time. | |
I've lived here for three years. | |
They fought for days over a silly pencil. | |
8. prep. Throughout an extent of space. | |
9. prep. On behalf of. | |
I will stand in for him. | |
10. prep. Instead of, or in place of. | |
11. prep. In order to obtain or acquire. | |
I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday. | |
He's going for his doctorate. | |
Do you want to go for coffee? | |
People all over Greece looked to Delphi for answers. | |
Can you go to the store for some eggs? | |
I'm saving up for a car. | |
Don't wait for an answer. | |
What did he ask you for? | |
12. prep. In the direction of: marks a point one is going toward. | |
Run for the hills! | |
He was headed for the door when he remembered. | |
13. prep. By the standards of, usually with the implication of those standards being lower than one might otherwise expect. | |
Fair for its day. | |
She's spry for an old lady. | |
14. prep. Despite, in spite of. | |
15. prep. Used to indicate the subject of a to-infinitive. | |
For that to happen now is incredibly unlikely. (=It is incredibly unlikely that that will happen now.) | |
All I want is for you to be happy. (=All I want is that you be happy.) | |
16. prep. (chiefly US) Out of; used to indicate a fraction, a ratio | |
In term of base hits, Jones was three for four on the day | |
17. prep. (cricket) Used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen. | |
At close of play, England were 305 for 3. | |
18. prep. To be, or as being. | |
19. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.) | |
20. prep. Used to construe various verbs (see the entries for individual phrasal verbs). | |
recycling |
1. n. The practice of sorting and collecting waste materials for new use. | |
2. n. Those materials culled for recycling. | |
He plans to haul the recycling in on Saturday. | |
3. v. present participle of recycle | |
recycle |
1. v. To break down and reuse component materials. | |
Both paper and plastic can be recycled. | |
2. v. To reuse as a whole. | |
3. v. To collect or place in a bin for recycling. | |
4. v. (intransitive, ergative) To be recycled. | |
Sulfur recycles in the sulfur cycle. | |
5. n. An act of recycling. | |