when |
1. adv. (interrogative) Used to introduce questions about time. | |
When will they arrive? | |
2. adv. Used to introduce indirect questions about time. | |
Do you know when they arrived? | |
Do you know when they will arrive? | |
Do you know when they arrive? | |
3. adv. At an earlier and less prosperous time. | |
He's mister high and mighty now, but I remember him when. | |
4. adv. (indirect question) Used to refer to doubts about time. | |
5. adv. (relative) At which, on which, during which. Often omitted or replaced with that. | |
That was the day when the Twin Towers fell. | |
6. conj. At what time. | |
They were told when to sleep. | |
He doesn't know when to stop talking. | |
7. conj. At such time as. | |
I’m happiest when I’m working. | |
8. conj. At the time of the action of the following clause or participle phrase. | |
It was raining when I came yesterday. | |
The show will begin when I get there. | |
The game is over when the referee says it is. | |
Be careful when crossing the street. | |
Pay attention when spoken to. | |
When (you are) angry, count to ten before speaking or acting. | |
That time when the dog stole the turkey from the table. | |
9. conj. Since; given the fact that. | |
I don't see the point of putting up Christmas decorations when I am the only person who is going to see them. | |
10. pron. (interrogative) What time; which time. | |
Since when do I need your permission? | |
11. n. The time at which something happens. | |
A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how. | |
12. interj. That's enough, a command to stop adding something, especially an ingredient of food or drink. | |
confronted |
1. v. simple past tense and past participle of confront | |
confront |
1. v. To stand or meet facing, especially in competition, hostility or defiance; to come face to face with | |
We should confront him about the missing money. | |
2. v. To deal with. | |
3. v. To something bring face to face with. | |
4. v. To come up against; to encounter. | |
5. v. (intransitive) To engage in confrontation. | |
6. v. To set a thing side by side with; to compare. | |
7. v. To put a thing facing to; to set in contrast to. | |
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 | |
opposition |
1. n. The action of opposing or of being in conflict. | |
2. n. An opposite or contrasting position. | |
3. n. (astronomy) The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth. | |
4. n. (politics) A political party or movement opposed to the party or government in power. | |
5. n. (legal) In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent. | |
6. n. (chess) A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king. | |
7. n. (logic) The difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate. | |
His |
1. pron. honoraltcaps, his | |
2. det. Belonging to him. | |
3. det. (dated) Belonging to a person of unspecified gender. | |
4. det. (obsolete) Its; belonging to it. (Now only when implying personification.) | |
5. det. (archaic) Used as a genitive marker in place of ’s after a noun, especially a masculine noun ending in -s, to express the possessive case. | |
Ahab his mark for Ahab's mark. | |
Sejanus his Fall | |
6. pron. That which belongs to him; the possessive case of he, used without a following noun. | |
The decision was his to live with. | |
7. pron. alternative spelling of His | |
8. n. plural of hi | |
reaction |
1. n. An action or statement in response to a stimulus or other event | |
The announcement of the verdict brought a violent reaction. | |
You were in the courtroom. What is your reaction? | |
When I last tried to eat strawberries I had a terrible allergic reaction. | |
2. n. (chemistry) A transformation in which one or more substances is converted into another by combination or decomposition | |
In this reaction, the acid and base will neutralize each other, producing a salt. | |
3. n. (politics) Reactionary politics; a period in which reactionary thought or politics is resurgent or dominant. | |
was |
1. v. first-person singular past of be. | |
2. v. third-person singular past of be. | |
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? | |
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 | |
bluster |
1. n. Pompous, officious talk. | |
2. n. A gust of wind. | |
3. n. Fitful noise and violence. | |
4. v. To speak or protest loudly. | |
When confronted by opposition his reaction was to bluster, which often cowed the meek. | |
5. v. To act or speak in an unduly threatening manner. | |
6. v. To blow in strong or sudden gusts. | |
which |
1. det. (interrogative) What, of those mentioned or implied. | |
Which song made the charts? | |
2. det. (relative) The one or ones that. | |
Show me which one is bigger. | |
They couldn't decide which song to play. | |
3. det. (relative) The one or ones mentioned. | |
He once owned a painting of the house, which painting would later be stolen. | |
For several seconds he sat in silence, during which time the tea and sandwiches arrived. | |
I'm thinking of getting a new car, in which case I'd get a red one. | |
4. pron. (interrogative) What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied). | |
Which is bigger?; Which is which? | |
5. pron. (relative) Who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied). | |
He walked by a door with a sign, which read: PRIVATE OFFICE. | |
We've met some problems which are very difficult to handle. | |
He had to leave, which was very difficult. | |
No art can be properly understood apart from the culture of which it is a part. | |
6. pron. (relative, archaic) Used of people (now generally who, whom or that). | |
7. n. An occurrence of the word which. | |
often |
1. adv. Frequently, many times. | |
I often walk to work when the weather is nice. | |
I've been going to the movies more often since a new theatre opened near me. | |
2. adj. (archaic) Frequent. | |
cowed |
1. adj. Frightened into submission. | |
2. v. simple past tense and past participle of cow | |
cow |
1. n. (properly) An adult female of the species Bos taurus that has calved. | |
2. n. (formerly inexact but now common) Any member of the species Bos taurus regardless of sex or age, including bulls and calves. | |
3. n. (uncommon) Beef: the meat of cattle as food. | |
4. n. (uncommon) Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc. | |
5. n. (biology) A female member of other large species of mammal, including the bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants. | |
6. n. (derogatory, informal) A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult. | |
7. n. (mining) A chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car. | |
8. v. (transitive, mostly, in the passive voice) To intimidate; to daunt the spirits or courage of. | |
Con artists are not cowed by the law. | |
9. n. (dialect) A chimney cowl. | |
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. | |
meek |
1. adj. Humble, non-boastful, modest, meager, or self-effacing. | |
2. adj. Submissive, dispirited. | |
3. v. (US) (of horses) To tame; to break. | |