we |
1. pron. (personal) The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person (not the person being addressed). (This is the exclusive we.) | |
2. pron. (personal) The speaker(s)/writer(s) and the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.) | |
3. pron. (personal) The speaker/writer alone. (This use of we is the editorial we, used by writers and others, including royalty—the royal we—as a less personal substitute for I. The reflexive case of this sen | |
4. pron. (personal) The plural form of you, including everyone being addressed. | |
How are we all tonight? | |
5. pron. (personal, generally considered patronising) A second- or third-person pronoun for a person in the speaker's care. | |
How are we feeling this morning? | |
6. det. The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person. | |
We Canadians like to think of ourselves as different. | |
are |
1. v. second-person singular present of be | |
Mary, where are you going? | |
2. v. first-person plural present of be | |
We are not coming. | |
3. v. second-person plural present of be | |
Mary and John, are you listening? | |
4. v. third-person plural present of be | |
They are here somewhere. | |
5. v. (East Yorkshire, Midlands) present of be | |
6. n. (dialectal, or obsolete) grace, mercy | |
To bid God's are. | |
God's are is what children of God seech and seek. | |
7. n. (obsolete) honour, dignity | |
8. n. (rare) an accepted (but deprecated and rarely used) SI unit of area equal to 100 square metres, or a former unit of approximately the same extent. Symbol: a | |
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? | |
building |
1. n. The act or process by which something is built; construction. | |
The building of the bridge will be completed in a couple of weeks. | |
2. n. A closed structure with walls and a roof. | |
My sister lives in that apartment building. | |
3. v. present participle of build | |
build |
1. v. To form (something) by combining materials or parts. | |
2. v. To develop or give form to (something) according to a plan or process. | |
3. v. To increase or strengthen (something) by adding gradually to. | |
4. v. To establish a basis for (something). | |
5. v. (intransitive) To form by combining materials or parts. | |
6. v. (intransitive) To develop in magnitude or extent. | |
7. v. (transitive, computing) To construct (software) by compiling its source code. | |
8. v. (intransitive, computing, of source code) To be converted into software by compilation, usually with minimal human intervention. | |
This code won't build any more. Have you made any changes? | |
9. n. The physique of a human body; constitution or structure of a human body. | |
Rugby players are of sturdy build. | |
10. n. (computing) Any of various versions of a software product as it is being developed for release to users. | |
The computer company has introduced a new prototype build to beta testers. | |
11. n. (video games, slang) Any structure, such as a building, statue, pool or forest, created by the player. | |
I made a build that looked like the Parthenon in that game. | |
all |
1. adv. (degree) intensifier. | |
It suddenly went all quiet. | |
She was all, “Whatever.” | |
2. adv. (poetic) Entirely. | |
3. adv. Apiece; each. | |
The score was 30 all when the rain delay started. | |
4. adv. (degree) So much. | |
Don't want to go? All the better since I lost the tickets. | |
5. adv. (obsolete, poetic) even; just | |
6. det. Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or un). | |
All contestants must register at the scorer’s table. All flesh is originally grass. All my friends like classical music. | |
7. det. Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer). | |
The store is open all day and all night. (= through the whole of the day and the whole of the night.) | |
I’ve been working on this all year. (= from the beginning of the year until now.) | |
8. det. (obsolete) Any. | |
9. det. Only; alone; nothing but. | |
He's all talk; he never puts his ideas into practice. | |
10. pron. Everything. | |
some gave all they had; she knows all and sees all; Those who think they know it all are annoying to those of us who do. | |
11. pron. Everyone. | |
A good time was had by all. | |
12. n. (with a possessive pronoun) Everything that one is capable of. | |
She gave her all, and collapsed at the finish line. | |
13. n. The totality of one's possessions. | |
14. conj. (obsolete) although | |
15. adj. (dialect, Pennsylvania) All gone; dead. | |
The butter is all. | |
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. | |
time |
1. n. The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present events into the past. | |
Time stops for nobody. the ebb and flow of time | |
2. n. (physics, usually) A dimension of spacetime with the opposite metric signature to space dimensions; the fourth dimension. | |
Both science-fiction writers and physicists have written about travel through time. | |
3. n. (physics) Change associated with the second law of thermodynamics; the physical and psychological result of increasing entropy. | |
Time slows down when you approach the speed of light. | |
4. n. (physics, reductionistic definition) The property of a system which allows it to have more than one distinct configuration. | |
An essential definition of time should entail neither speed nor direction, just change. | |
5. n. A duration of time. | |
6. n. A quantity of availability of duration. | |
More time is needed to complete the project. You had plenty of time, but you waited until the last minute. Are you finish | |
7. n. A measurement of a quantity of time; a numerical or general indication of a length of progression. | |
a long time; Record the individual times for the processes in each batch. Only your best time is compared with the other compet | |
8. n. (slang) The serving of a prison sentence. | |
The judge leniently granted a sentence with no hard time. He is not living at home because he is doing time. | |
9. n. An experience. | |
We had a wonderful time at the party. | |
10. n. An era; (with the, sometimes in plural) the current era, the current state of affairs. | |
Roman times; the time of the dinosaurs | |
11. n. (with possessive) A person's youth or young adulthood, as opposed to the present day. | |
In my time, we respected our elders. | |
12. n. (only in singular, sports) Time out; temporary, limited suspension of play. | |
13. n. An instant of time. | |
14. n. How much of a day has passed; the moment, as indicated by a clock or similar device. | |
Excuse me, have you got the time? What time is it, do you guess? Ten o’clock? A computer keeps time using a clock battery | |
15. n. A particular moment or hour; the appropriate moment or hour for something (especially with prepositional phrase or imperfect subjunctive). | |
it’s time for bed; it’s time to sleep; we must wait for the right time; it's time we were going | |
16. n. A numerical indication of a particular moment. | |
at what times do the trains arrive?; these times were erroneously converted between zones | |
17. n. An instance or occurrence. | |
When was the last time we went out? I don’t remember. | |
see you another time; that’s three times he’s made the same mistake | |
Okay, but this is the last time. No more after that! | |
18. n. (of pubs) Closing time. | |
Last call: it's almost time. | |
19. n. The hour of childbirth. | |
20. n. (as someone's time) The end of someone's life, conceived by the speaker as having been predestined. | |
It was his time. | |
21. n. The measurement under some system of region of day or moment. | |
Let's synchronize our watches so we're not on different time. | |
22. n. Ratio of comparison. | |
your car runs three times faster than mine; that is four times as heavy as this | |
23. n. (grammar, dated) Tense. | |
the time of a verb | |
24. n. (music) The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division. | |
common or triple time; the musician keeps good time. | |
25. v. To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of. | |
I used a stopwatch to time myself running around the block. | |
26. v. To choose when something begins or how long it lasts. | |
The President timed his speech badly, coinciding with the Super Bowl. | |
The bomb was timed to explode at 9:20 p.m. | |
27. v. (obsolete) To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time. | |
28. v. (obsolete) To pass time; to delay. | |
29. v. To regulate as to time; to accompany, or agree with, in time of movement. | |
30. v. To measure, as in music or harmony. | |
31. interj. (tennis) Reminder by the umpire for the players to continue playing after their pause. | |
but |
1. prep. (obsolete, outside, Scotland) Outside of. | |
Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there. | |
2. prep. Apart from, except (for), excluding. | |
Everyone but Father left early. | |
I like everything but that. | |
Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave. | |
3. adv. Merely, only, just. | |
4. adv. (Australian, conjunctive) Though, however. | |
I'll have to go home early but. | |
5. adv. Used as an intensifier. | |
Nobody, but nobody, crosses me and gets away with it. | |
6. conj. (following a negative clause or sentence) On the contrary, but rather (introducing a word or clause that contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence without the negation). | |
I am not rich but (I am) poor; not John but Peter went there. | |
7. conj. However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (implies that the following clause is contrary to prior belief or contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence). | |
She is very old but still attractive. | |
You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not. | |
8. conj. Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "ex | |
I cannot but feel offended. | |
9. conj. (archaic) Without its also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant). | |
It never rains but it pours. | |
10. conj. (obsolete) Except with; unless with; without. | |
11. conj. (obsolete) Only; solely; merely. | |
12. conj. (obsolete) Until. | |
13. n. An instance or example of using the word "but". | |
It has to be done – no ifs or buts. | |
14. n. (Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage. | |
15. n. A limit; a boundary. | |
16. n. The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt. | |
17. v. (archaic) Use the word "but". | |
But me no buts. | |
So |
1. n. A Mon-Khmer-speaking people of Laos and Thailand. | |
2. conj. In order that. | |
Eat your broccoli so you can have dessert. | |
3. conj. With the result that; for that reason; therefore. | |
I was hungry so I asked if there was any more food. | |
He ate too much cake, so he fell ill. | |
He wanted a book, so he went to the library. | |
“I need to go to the bathroom.”―“So go!” | |
4. conj. (archaic) Provided that; on condition that, as long as. | |
5. adv. To the (explicitly stated) extent that. | |
It was so hot outside that all the plants died. He was so good, they hired him on the spot. | |
6. adv. (informal) To the (implied) extent. | |
I need a piece of cloth so long. = this long | |
7. adv. (informal) Very (positive clause). | |
He is so good! | |
8. adv. (informal) Very (negative clause). | |
It’s not so bad. i.e. it's acceptable | |
9. adv. (slang) Very much. | |
But I so want to see the Queen when she visits our town! That is so not true! | |
10. adv. In a particular manner. | |
Place the napkin on the table just so. If that's what you mean, then say so; (or do so). | |
11. adv. In the same manner or to the same extent as aforementioned; also. | |
Just as you have the right to your free speech, so I have the right to mine. Many people say she's the world's greatest athlete, but I don't think so. "I can count backwards from on | |
12. adv. (with as) To such an extent or degree; as. | |
so far as; so long as; so much as | |
13. adj. True, accurate. | |
That is so. You are responsible for this, is that not so? | |
14. adj. In that state or manner; with that attribute. A proadjective that replaces the aforementioned adjective phrase. | |
15. adj. (dated, UK, slang) Homosexual. | |
Is he so? | |
16. interj. Used after a pause for thought to introduce a new topic, question or story. | |
So, let's go home. | |
So, what'll you have? | |
So, there was this squirrel stuck in the chimney... | |
17. interj. (Short for) so what. | |
"You park your car in front of my house every morning." — "So?". | |
18. interj. Used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question. | |
So how does this story end? | |
So, everyone wants to know - did you win the contest or not? | |
19. interj. (archaic) Be as you are; stand still; (used especially to cows; also used by sailors.) | |
20. pron. abbreviation of someone | |
21. n. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the fifth note of a major scale. | |
22. n. (foods) A type of dairy product made in Japan between the seventh and 10th centuries. | |
are |
1. v. second-person singular present of be | |
Mary, where are you going? | |
2. v. first-person plural present of be | |
We are not coming. | |
3. v. second-person plural present of be | |
Mary and John, are you listening? | |
4. v. third-person plural present of be | |
They are here somewhere. | |
5. v. (East Yorkshire, Midlands) present of be | |
6. n. (dialectal, or obsolete) grace, mercy | |
To bid God's are. | |
God's are is what children of God seech and seek. | |
7. n. (obsolete) honour, dignity | |
8. n. (rare) an accepted (but deprecated and rarely used) SI unit of area equal to 100 square metres, or a former unit of approximately the same extent. Symbol: a | |
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? | |
they |
1. pron. (the third-person plural) A group of people, animals, plants or objects previously mentioned. | |
Fred and Jane? They just arrived. Dogs may bark if they want to be fed. Plants wilt if they are not watered. | |
I have a car and a truck, but they are both broken. | |
2. pron. (the third-person singular, sometimes proscribed) A single person, previously mentioned, especially if of unknown or non-binary gender, but not if previously named and identified as male or female. | |
3. pron. (indefinite pronoun, vague meaning) People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker. | |
They say it’s a good place to live. | |
They didn’t have computers in the old days. | |
They should do something about this. | |
They have a lot of snow in winter. | |
4. det. (now Southern England dialect, or nonstandard) The, those. | |
5. det. (US dialects including AAVE) Their. | |
6. pron. (US dialectal) There (especially as an expletive subject of be). | |