then |
1. adv. (temporal location) At that time. | |
He was happy then. | |
2. adv. (temporal location) Soon afterward. | |
He fixed it, then left. | |
Turn left, then right, then right again, then keep going until you reach the service station. | |
3. adv. (sequence) Next in order; in addition. | |
There are three green ones, then a blue one. | |
4. adv. (conjunctive) In that case. | |
If it’s locked, then we’ll need the key. | |
Is it 12 o'clock already? Then it's time for me to leave. | |
You don't like potatoes? What do you want me to cook, then? | |
5. adv. (sequence) At the same time; on the other hand. | |
That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one. | |
6. adv. (dialect) Used to contradict an assertion. | |
7. adj. Being so at that time. | |
8. n. That time | |
It will be finished before then. | |
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. | |
End |
1. n. A key that when pressed causes the cursor to go to the last character of the current line. | |
2. n. The terminal point of something in space or time. | |
At the end of the road, turn left. | |
At the end of the story, the main characters fall in love. | |
3. n. (by extension) (euphemistic) The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion. | |
Is there no end to this madness? | |
4. n. (by extension) Death, especially miserable. | |
He met a terrible end in the jungle. | |
I hope the end comes quickly. | |
5. n. The most extreme point of an object, especially one that is longer than it is wide. | |
Hold the string at both ends. | |
My father always sat at the end of the table. | |
6. n. Result. | |
7. n. A purpose, goal, or aim. | |
8. n. (cricket) One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive name for half of the ground. | |
The Pavillion End | |
9. n. (American football) The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end. | |
10. n. (curling) A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks, two per player, in alternating fashion. | |
11. n. (mathematics) An ideal point of a graph or other complex. | |
12. n. That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap. | |
odds and ends | |
13. n. One of the yarns of the worsted warp in a Brussels carpet. | |
14. v. To finish, terminate. | |
Is this movie never going to end? | |
The lesson will end when the bell rings. | |
The referee blew the whistle to end the game. | |
shall |
1. v. (modal, auxiliary verb, defective) Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural. | |
I shall sing in the choir tomorrow. | |
I hope that we shall win the game. | |
2. v. Used similarly to indicate determination or obligation in the second and third persons singular or plural. | |
(determination): You shall go to the ball! | |
(obligation): Citizens shall provide proof of identity. | |
3. v. Used in questions with the first person singular or plural to suggest a possible future action. | |
Shall I help you with that? | |
Shall we go out later? | |
Let us examine that, shall we? | |
4. v. (obsolete) To owe. | |
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? | |
upon |
1. prep. Physically above and in contact with. | |
Place the book upon the table. | |
2. prep. Physically directly supported by. | |
The crew set sail upon the sea. | |
She balanced upon one foot. | |
3. prep. Being followed by another so as to form a series. | |
hours upon hours, years upon years, mile upon mile of desert | |
4. prep. At (a prescribed point in time). | |
The contract was rendered void upon his death. | |
5. prep. On. | |
6. adv. Being the target of an action. | |
He was set upon by the agitated dogs | |
Us |
1. n. plural of U | |
2. pron. (personal) Me and at least one other person; the objective case of we. | |
3. pron. (colloquial) Me. | |
Give us a look at your paper. | |
Give us your wallet! | |
4. pron. (Northern England) Our. | |
We'll have to throw us food out. | |
5. det. The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person. | |
It's not good enough for us teachers. | |
6. n. plural of u | |
at |
1. prep. In, near, or in the general vicinity of a particular place. | |
Caesar was at Rome; at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine; at Jim’s house | |
2. prep. (indicating time) (Indicating occurrence in an instant of time or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker's perspective.) | |
at six o’clock; at closing time; at night. | |
3. prep. In the direction of (often in an unfocused or uncaring manner). | |
He threw the ball at me. He shouted at her. | |
4. prep. Denotes a price. | |
3 apples at 2¢ (each) The offer was at $30,000 before negotiations. | |
5. prep. Occupied in (activity). | |
men at work | |
6. prep. In a state of. | |
She is at sixes and sevens with him. They are at loggerheads over how best to tackle the fiscal cliff. The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces. | |
7. prep. Indicates a position on a scale or in a series. | |
Sell at 90. Tiger finished the round at tenth, seven strokes behind the leaders. I'm offering it—just to select customers—at cost. | |
8. prep. Because of. | |
to laugh at a joke mad at their comments | |
9. prep. Indicates a means, method, or manner. | |
10. prep. Holding a given speed or rate. | |
It is growing at the rate of 3% a year. Cruising along at fifty miles per hour. | |
11. prep. (used for skills (including in activities) or areas of knowledge) On the subject of; regarding. | |
The twins were both bad at chemistry. | |
He slipped at marksmanship over his extended vacation. | |
12. prep. (Ireland, stressed pronunciation) Bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to | |
13. n. The at sign (@). | |
14. n. (alt form, att) (Laos currency unit) | |
last |
1. adj. Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. | |
“Eyes Wide Shut” was the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick. | |
2. adj. Most recent, latest, last so far. | |
The last time I saw him, he was married. | |
I have received your note dated the 17th last, and am responding to say that.... (archaic usage) | |
3. adj. Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable. | |
He is the last person to be accused of theft. | |
The last person I want to meet is Helen. | |
More rain is the last thing we need right now. | |
4. adj. Being the only one remaining of its class. | |
Japan is the last empire. | |
5. adj. Supreme; highest in degree; utmost. | |
6. adj. Lowest in rank or degree. | |
the last prize | |
7. det. The (one) immediately before the present. | |
We went there last year. | |
8. det. (of a day of the week) Closest to seven days (one week) ago. | |
It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago. | |
9. adv. Most recently. | |
When we last met, he was based in Toronto. | |
10. adv. (sequence) after everything else; finally | |
I'll go last. | |
last but not least | |
11. v. (transitive, obsolete) To perform, carry out. | |
12. v. (intransitive) To endure, continue over time. | |
Summer seems to last longer each year. | |
They seem happy now, but that won't last long. | |
13. v. (intransitive) To hold out, continue undefeated or entire. | |
I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements. | |
14. n. A tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes. | |
15. v. To shape with a last; to fasten or fit to a last; to place smoothly on a last. | |
to last a boot | |
16. n. (obsolete) A burden; load; a cargo; freight. | |
17. n. (obsolete) A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned. | |
18. n. (obsolete) An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons. | |
19. n. A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value. | |