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 | |
perform |
1. v. To do something; to execute. | |
The scientists performed several experiments. | |
It took him only twenty minutes to perform the task. | |
2. v. To do (something) in front of an audience, such as acting or music, often in order to entertain. | |
She will perform in the play. | |
The magician performed badly – none of his tricks worked. | |
The string quartet performed three pieces by Haydn. | |
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. | |
bow |
1. n. A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows. | |
2. n. A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow). | |
3. n. A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments. | |
4. n. A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking. | |
5. n. A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping. | |
6. n. Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow. | |
7. n. The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke. | |
8. n. Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters. | |
9. n. (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea. | |
10. n. (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree. | |
11. n. The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key. | |
12. v. To play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow. | |
The musician bowed his violin expertly. | |
13. v. (intransitive) To become bent or curved. | |
The shelf bowed under the weight of the books. | |
14. v. To make something bend or curve. | |
15. v. (transitive, figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline. | |
16. v. (intransitive) To premiere. | |
Cronenberg’s "Cosmopolis" bows in Cannes this week. | |
17. v. (intransitive) To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference. | |
That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason. | |
18. v. (transitive, and intransitive) To debut. | |
19. v. (intransitive) To defer (to something). | |
I bow to your better judgement in the matter. | |
20. v. To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing. | |
21. n. A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist; a reverence | |
He made a polite bow as he entered the room. | |
22. n. (nautical) The front of a boat or ship. | |
23. n. (rowing) The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat. | |
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. | |
curtsey |
1. n. A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a girl, where she crosses one calf of her leg behind the other and briefly bends her knees and lowers her body in deference. | |
I refused to make so much as a curtsey for the passing nobles, as I am a staunch egalitarian. | |
2. v. To make a curtsey. | |
The hotel's staff variously curtsied, nodded, and bowed to the owner as she passed. | |
by |
1. prep. Near or next to. | |
The mailbox is by the bus stop. | |
2. prep. At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval. | |
Be back by ten o'clock! We will send it by the first week of July. | |
3. prep. Indicates the actor in a clause with its verb in the passive voice: Through the action or presence of. | |
The matter was decided by the chairman. The boat was swamped by the water. He was protected by his body armour. | |
4. prep. Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of. | |
There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare | |
5. prep. Indicates the cause of a condition or event: Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of. | |
6. prep. Indicates a means: Involving/using the means of. | |
I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking. | |
7. prep. Indicates a source of light used as illumination. | |
The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight. | |
8. prep. Indicates an authority, rule, or permission followed. | |
I sorted the items by category. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. | |
9. prep. Indicates the amount of some progression: With a change of. | |
Our stock is up by ten percent. | |
10. prep. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another. | |
We went through the book page by page. We crawled forward by inches. | |
11. prep. Indicates a referenced source: According to. | |
He cheated by his own admission. | |
12. prep. Indicates an oath: With the authority of. | |
By Jove! I think she's got it! By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this. | |
13. prep. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something. | |
It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix. The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot. The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm. | |
14. prep. (horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of. | |
She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress. | |
15. adv. Along a path which runs by the speaker. | |
I watched as it passed by. | |
16. adv. In the vicinity, near. | |
There was a shepherd close by. | |
The shop is hard by the High Street. | |
17. adv. To or at a place, as a residence or place of business. | |
I'll stop by on my way home from work. | |
We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave. | |
18. adv. Aside, away. | |
The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring. | |
19. adj. Out of the way, subsidiary. | |
20. n. (card games) A pass | |
21. interj. alternative spelling of bye | |
inclining |
1. v. present participle of incline | |
2. n. inclination | |
incline |
1. v. To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical. | |
He had to incline his body against the gusts to avoid being blown down in the storm. | |
The people following the coffin inclined their heads in grief. | |
2. v. (intransitive) To slope. | |
Over the centuries the wind made the walls of the farmhouse incline. | |
3. v. (mostly, intransitive, mostly, in the passive) To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc. | |
He inclines to believe anything he reads in the newspapers. | |
I'm inclined to give up smoking after hearing of the risks to my health. | |
4. n. A slope. | |
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. | |
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. | |