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. | |
rocky |
1. adj. Unstable; easily rocked. | |
The table was rocky, so we put a book under one leg. | |
2. adj. In the style of rock and roll music. | |
His new album is quite rocky. | |
3. adj. (figuratively) Troubled; or difficult; in danger or distress. | |
Their relationship had weathered some rocky times, but they loved each other. | |
4. adj. Full of, or abounding in, rocks; consisting of rocks. | |
a rocky mountain | |
a rocky shore | |
5. adj. Like a rock. | |
the rocky orb of a shield | |
6. adj. (figuratively) Not easily impressed or affected; hard; unfeeling; obdurate | |
slope |
1. n. An area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward. | |
I had to climb a small slope to get to the site. | |
2. n. The degree to which a surface tends upward or downward. | |
The road has a very sharp downward slope at that point. | |
3. n. (mathematics) The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points on a line; zero if the line is horizontal, undefined if it is vertical. | |
The slope of this line is 0.5 | |
4. n. (mathematics) The slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point. | |
The slope of a parabola increases linearly with x. | |
5. n. The angle a roof surface makes with the horizontal, expressed as a ratio of the units of vertical rise to the units of horizontal length (sometimes referred to as run). | |
The slope of an asphalt shingle roof system should be 4:12 or greater. | |
6. n. (vulgar, highly offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Chinese or other East Asian descent. | |
7. v. (intransitive) To tend steadily upward or downward. | |
The road slopes sharply down at that point. | |
8. v. To form with a slope; to give an oblique or slanting direction to; to incline or slant. | |
to slope the ground in a garden; to slope a piece of cloth in cutting a garment | |
9. v. (colloquial usually followed by a preposition) To try to move surreptitiously. | |
I sloped in through the back door, hoping my boss wouldn't see me. | |
10. v. (military) To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder. | |
The order was given to "slope arms". | |
11. adj. (obsolete) Sloping. | |
12. adv. (obsolete) slopingly | |
especially |
1. adv. (manner) In a special manner; specially. | |
2. adv. (focus) Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal. | |
3. adv. (focus) Used to place greater emphasis upon someone or something. | |
Invite them all, especially Molly. | |
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. | |
area |
1. n. (mathematics) A measure of the extent of a surface; it is measured in square units. | |
2. n. A particular geographic region. | |
3. n. Any particular extent of surface, especially an empty or unused extent. | |
The photo is a little dark in that area. | |
4. n. The extent, scope, or range of an object or concept. | |
The plans are a bit vague in that area. | |
5. n. (British) An open space, below ground level, between the front of a house and the pavement. | |
6. n. (soccer) Penalty box; penalty area. | |
7. n. (slang) Genitals. | |
over |
1. adj. Discontinued; ended or concluded. | |
The show is over. | |
2. adv. Thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end. | |
Let's talk over the project at tomorrow's meeting. | |
Let me think that over. | |
I'm going to look over our department's expenses. | |
3. adv. To an excessive degree; overly. | |
4. adv. From an upright position to being horizontal. | |
He tipped the bottle over, and the water came gushing out. | |
That building just fell over! | |
He bent over to touch his toes. | |
5. adv. Horizontally; left to right or right to left. | |
Slide the toilet-paper dispenser's door over when one roll is empty in order to reveal the other. | |
I moved over to make room for him to sit down. | |
6. adv. From one position or state to another. | |
Please pass that over to me. | |
He came over to our way of thinking on the new project. | |
Come over and play! | |
I'll bring over a pizza. | |
7. adv. Overnight (throughout the night). | |
We stayed over at Grandma's. | |
Can I sleep over? | |
8. adv. (US, usually with do) Again; another time; once more; over again. | |
I lost my paper and I had to do the entire assignment over. | |
9. adv. (procedure word, military) a procedure word meaning that a station is finished transmitting and is expecting a response. | |
Bravo Six, this is Bravo Six Four. Stand by for ten mike report one dash three, over. | |
Bravo Six Four, this is Bravo Six Actual. Send your traffic, over. | |
10. n. (cricket) A set of six legal balls bowled. | |
11. n. Any surplus amount of money, goods delivered, etc. | |
12. prep. Physical positioning. | |
13. prep. On top of; above; higher than; further up. | |
Hold the sign up over your head. climb up the ladder and look over the roof | |
14. prep. Across or spanning. | |
There is a bridge over the river. | |
15. prep. In such a way as to cover. | |
drape the fabric over the table; there is a roof over the house | |
16. prep. From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards. | |
The dog jumped over the fence. | |
I'll go over the fence first and then help you. | |
Let's walk over the hill to get there. | |
17. prep. By comparison. | |
18. prep. More than; to a greater degree. | |
I prefer the purple over the pink. | |
19. prep. Beyond; past; exceeding; too much or too far. | |
I think I’m over my limit for calories for today. | |
20. prep. (in certain collocations) As compared to. | |
Sales are down this quarter over last. | |
21. prep. Indicating relative status, authority, or power | |
The owner's son lorded over the experienced managers. | |
The prince ruled over a portion of the kingdom. | |
22. prep. (mathematics) Divided by. | |
four over two equals two over one | |
23. prep. (poker) (Separates the three of a kind from the pair in a full house.) | |
9♦9♠9♣6♥6♠ = nines over sixes | |
24. prep. Finished with; done with; from one state to another via a hindrance that must be solved or defeated; or via a third state that represents a significant difference from the first two. | |
We got over the engineering problems and the prototype works great. | |
I am over my cold and feel great again. | |
I know the referee made a bad call, but you have to get over it your annoyance with the referee's decision. | |
She is finally over the distress of losing her job. | |
He is finally over his distress over the loss of the relationship with his ex-girlfriend. | |
25. prep. While using, especially while consuming. | |
26. prep. Concerning or regarding. | |
The two boys had a fight over whose girlfriend was the best. | |
27. prep. Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding. | |
We triumphed over difficulties. | |
The bill was passed over the veto. | |
It was a fine victory over their opponents. | |
28. interj. In radio communications: end of sentence, ready to receive reply. | |
How do you receive? Over! | |
29. n. (rare, dialectal, or obsolete) A shore, riverbank. | |
The sea's over. | |
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. | |
river |
1. n. A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, ending at an ocean or in an inland sea. | |
Occasionally rivers overflow their banks and cause floods. | |
2. n. Any large flow of a liquid in a single body. | |
a river of blood | |
3. n. (poker) The last card dealt in a hand. | |
4. n. (typography) A visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide. | |
5. v. (poker) To improve one’s hand to beat another player on the final card in a poker game. | |
Johnny rivered me by drawing that ace of spades. | |
6. n. One who rives or splits. | |
valley |
1. n. An elongated depression between hills or mountains, often with a river flowing through it. | |
2. n. The area which drains into a river. | |
3. n. Any structure resembling one, e.g., the meeting point of two pitched roofs. | |
4. n. The internal angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes. | |
specifically |
1. adv. in a specific manner, applying to or naming a particular thing or things, expressly, explicitly | |
2. adv. for a specific purpose or reason | |
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. | |
rand |
1. n. (obsolete except in dialects) the border of an area of land, especially marsh-land | |
2. n. (obsolete except in dialects) a strip of meat; a long fleshy piece of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak. | |
3. n. (regional) A border, edge or rim. | |
At the wald's rand. | |
4. n. a strip of leather used to fit the heels of a shoe | |
5. n. (basket-making) a single rod woven in and out of the stakes | |
6. n. a rocky slope, especially the area over a river valley; specifically, the Rand | |
7. n. The currency of South Africa, divided into 100 cents. | |
8. v. (obsolete) To rant; to storm. | |