you |
1. pron. (object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object. | |
2. pron. (reflexive pronoun, now US colloquial) (To) yourselves, (to) yourself. | |
3. pron. (object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.) | |
4. pron. (subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.) | |
Both of you should get ready now. | |
You are all supposed to do as I tell you. | |
5. pron. (subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.) | |
6. pron. (indefinite personal pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object). | |
7. det. The individual or group spoken or written to. | |
Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus? | |
8. det. Used before epithets for emphasis. | |
You idiot! | |
9. v. To address (a person) using the pronoun you, rather than thou, especially historically when you was more formal. | |
have |
Additional archaic forms are second-person singular present tense hast, third-person singular present tense hath, present participle haveing, and second-person singular past tense hadst. | |
1. v. To possess, own, hold. | |
I have a house and a car. | |
Look what I have here — a frog I found on the street! | |
2. v. To be related in some way to (with the object identifying the relationship). | |
I have two sisters. | |
I have a lot of work to do. | |
3. v. To partake of a particular substance (especially a food or drink) or action. | |
I have breakfast at six o'clock. | |
Can I have a look at that? | |
I'm going to have some pizza and a beer right now. | |
4. v. To be scheduled to attend or participate in. | |
What class do you have right now? I have English. | |
Fred won't be able to come to the party; he has a meeting that day. | |
5. v. (auxiliary verb, taking a past participle) (Used in forming the perfect aspect and the past perfect aspect.) | |
I have already eaten today. | |
I had already eaten. | |
6. v. (auxiliary verb, taking a to-infinitive) See have to. | |
I have to go. | |
7. v. To give birth to. | |
The couple always wanted to have children. | |
My wife is having the baby right now! | |
My mother had me when she was 25. | |
8. v. To engage in sexual intercourse with. | |
He's always bragging about how many women he's had. | |
9. v. To accept as a romantic partner. | |
Despite my protestations of love, she would not have me. | |
10. v. (transitive with bare infinitive) To cause to, by a command, request or invitation. | |
They had me feed their dog while they were out of town. | |
11. v. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To cause to be. | |
He had him arrested for trespassing. | |
The lecture's ending had the entire audience in tears. | |
12. v. (transitive with bare infinitive) To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is not a verb argument.) | |
The hospital had several patients contract pneumonia last week. | |
I've had three people today tell me my hair looks nice. | |
13. v. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To depict as being. | |
Their stories differed; he said he'd been at work when the incident occurred, but her statement had him at home that entire evening. | |
14. v. (Used as interrogative auxiliary verb with a following pronoun to form tag questions. (For further discussion, see "Usage notes" below.)) | |
We haven't eaten dinner yet, have we? | |
Your wife hasn't been reading that nonsense, has she? | |
(UK usage) He has some money, hasn't he? | |
15. v. (UK, slang) To defeat in a fight; take. | |
I could have him! | |
I'm gonna have you! | |
16. v. (dated) To be able to speak a language. | |
I have no German. | |
17. v. To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of. | |
Dan certainly has arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before. | |
18. v. To be afflicted with, suffer from. | |
He had a cold last week. | |
19. v. To experience, go through, undergo. | |
We had a hard year last year, with the locust swarms and all that. | |
He had surgery on his hip yesterday. | |
I'm having the time of my life! | |
20. v. To trick, to deceive. | |
You had me alright! I never would have thought that was just a joke. | |
21. v. (transitive, often with present participle) To allow; to tolerate. | |
The child screamed incessantly for his mother to buy him a toy, but she wasn't having any of it. | |
I asked my dad if I could go to the concert this Thursday, but he wouldn't have it since it's a school night. | |
22. v. (transitive, often used in the negative) To believe, buy, be taken in by. | |
I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn't having any of it. | |
23. v. To host someone; to take in as a guest. | |
Thank you for having me! | |
24. v. To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation. | |
What do you have for problem two? | |
I have two contacts on my scope. | |
25. v. (transitive, of a jury) To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case. | |
We'll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury will have the case by that afternoon. | |
26. n. A wealthy or privileged person. | |
27. n. (uncommon) One who has some (contextually specified) thing. | |
28. n. (AU, NZ, informal) A fraud or deception; something misleading. | |
They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have. | |
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 | |
work |
1. n. (heading) Employment. | |
2. n. Labour, occupation, job. | |
My work involves a lot of travel. | |
3. n. The place where one is employed. | |
He hasn’t come home yet, he’s still at work. | |
4. n. One's employer | |
“I want to go to the R.E.M. reunion concert but I'm not sure if my work will let me off.” | |
5. n. (heading) Effort. | |
6. n. Effort expended on a particular task. | |
Holding a brick over your head is hard work. It takes a lot of work to write a dictionary. | |
7. n. Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result. | |
We know what we must do. Let's go to work. | |
8. n. Something on which effort is expended. | |
There's lots of work waiting for me at the office. | |
9. n. (physics) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move. | |
Work is done against friction to drag a bag along the ground. | |
10. n. (physics, more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process. | |
11. n. Sustained effort to achieve a goal or result, especially overcoming obstacles. | |
We don't have much time. Let's get to work piling up those sandbags. | |
12. n. Product; the result of effort.: | |
13. n. (often, in combination) The result of a particular manner of production. | |
There's a lot of guesswork involved. | |
14. n. (often, in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool. | |
We've got some paperwork to do before we can get started. The piece was decorated with intricate filigree work. | |
15. n. A literary, artistic, or intellectual production. | |
It is a work of art. | |
the poetic works of Alexander Pope | |
16. n. A fortification. | |
William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works. | |
17. n. (slang) The staging of events to appear as real. | |
18. n. (mining) Ore before it is dressed. | |
19. n. The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.) | |
Tell me you're using clean works at least. | |
20. v. (intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers. | |
He’s working in a bar. | |
21. v. Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business). | |
I work in a national park | |
she works in the human resources department | |
he mostly works in logging, but sometimes works in carpentry | |
22. v. Followed by as. Said of one's job title | |
I work as a cleaner. | |
23. v. Followed by for. Said of a company or individual who employs. | |
she works for Microsoft | |
he works for the president | |
24. v. Followed by with. General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients. | |
I work closely with my Canadian counterparts | |
you work with computers | |
she works with the homeless people from the suburbs | |
25. v. To effect by gradual degrees. | |
he worked his way through the crowd | |
the dye worked its way through | |
using some tweezers, she worked the bee sting out of her hand | |
26. v. To embroider with thread. | |
27. v. To set into action. | |
He worked the levers. | |
28. v. To cause to ferment. | |
29. v. (intransitive) To ferment. | |
30. v. To exhaust, by working. | |
The mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted. | |
31. v. To shape, form, or improve a material. | |
He used pliers to work the wire into shape. | |
32. v. To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality. | |
she works the night clubs | |
the salesman works the Midwest | |
this artist works mostly in acrylics | |
33. v. To operate in or through; as, to work the phones. | |
34. v. To provoke or excite; to influence. | |
The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy. | |
35. v. To use or manipulate to one’s advantage. | |
She knows how to work the system. | |
36. v. To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence. | |
I cannot work a miracle. | |
37. v. To cause to work. | |
He is working his servants hard. | |
38. v. (intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for. | |
he pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work"?; he looked at the bottle of pain pills, wondering if they would work; my plan didn’t work | |
39. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To influence. | |
They worked on her to join the group. | |
40. v. (intransitive) To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth. | |
41. v. (intransitive) To move in an agitated manner. | |
His fingers worked with tension. | |
A ship works in a heavy sea. | |
42. v. (intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled | |
this dough does not work easily; the soft metal works well | |
43. v. (transitive, with two objects, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad). | |
44. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache. | |
hard |
1. adj. (of material or fluid) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. | |
2. adj. Resistant to pressure. | |
This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it. | |
3. adj. (of drink or drugs) Strong. | |
4. adj. (of water) High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium. | |
5. adj. (physics, of a ferromagnetic material) Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare sof | |
6. adj. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. | |
7. adj. Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand. | |
a hard problem | |
8. adj. Demanding a lot of effort to endure. | |
a hard life | |
9. adj. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal. | |
a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character | |
don't be so hard on yourself | |
10. adj. (dated) Difficult to resist or control; powerful. | |
11. adj. Unquestionable. | |
hard evidence | |
12. adj. (of a road intersection) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle. | |
At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left. | |
13. adj. (slang) Sexually aroused. | |
I got so hard watching two hot guys wrestle each other on the beach. | |
14. adj. (bodybuilding) Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise. | |
15. adj. phonetics, uncomparable | |
16. adj. Plosive. | |
There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre". | |
17. adj. Unvoiced | |
Hard k, t, s, ch, as distinguished from soft, g, d, z, j. | |
18. adj. Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized | |
The letter m - ru in Russian is always hard. | |
19. adj. (arts) Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment. | |
20. adj. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition. | |
21. adj. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading. | |
22. adj. (uncomparable) In the form of a hard copy. | |
We need both a digital archive and a hard archive. | |
23. adv. (manner) With much force or effort. | |
He hit the puck hard up the ice. | |
They worked hard all week. | |
At the intersection, bear hard left. | |
The recession hit them especially hard. | |
Think hard about your choices. | |
24. adv. (manner) With difficulty. | |
His degree was hard earned. | |
The vehicle moves hard. | |
25. adv. (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties. | |
26. adv. (manner) Compactly. | |
The lake had finally frozen hard. | |
27. adv. (now archaic) Near, close. | |
28. n. (nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water. | |
29. n. (drugs, colloquial, slang) crack cocaine. | |
30. n. (motorsports) (ellipsis of hard tyre) (A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.) | |
with |
1. prep. Against. | |
He picked a fight with the class bully. | |
2. prep. In the company of; alongside, close to; near to. | |
He went with his friends. | |
3. prep. In addition to; as an accessory to. | |
She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar. | |
4. prep. Used to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence. | |
5. prep. In support of. | |
We are with you all the way. | |
6. prep. (obsolete) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by. | |
slain with robbers | |
7. prep. Using as an instrument; by means of. | |
cut with a knife | |
8. prep. (obsolete) Using as nourishment; more recently replaced by on. | |
9. prep. Having, owning. | |
10. adv. Along, together with others, in a group, etc. | |
Do you want to come with? | |
11. adv. --> | |
12. n. alternative form of withe | |
them |
1. pron. Objective case of they: third personal plural pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb. | |
Give it to them. (after preposition) | |
She wrote them a letter. (indirect object) | |
She treated them for a cold. (direct object) | |
2. pron. Objective case of they: third-person singular pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb. | |
If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them. (after preposition) | |
If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner. (indirect object) | |
If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them. (direct object) | |
3. det. (dialectal) Those. | |
Them kids need to grow up. | |
for |
1. conj. (dated) Because. | |
2. prep. Towards. | |
The astronauts headed for the moon. | |
3. prep. Directed at, intended to belong to. | |
I have something for you. | |
4. prep. In honor of, or directed towards the celebration or event of. | |
We're having a birthday party for Janet. | |
The cake is for Tom and Helen's anniversary. | |
The mayor gave a speech for the charity gala. | |
5. prep. Supporting. | |
All those for the motion raise your hands. | |
6. prep. Because of. | |
He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him. | |
(UK usage) He looks better for having lost weight. | |
She was the worse for drink. | |
7. prep. Over a period of time. | |
I've lived here for three years. | |
They fought for days over a silly pencil. | |
8. prep. Throughout an extent of space. | |
9. prep. On behalf of. | |
I will stand in for him. | |
10. prep. Instead of, or in place of. | |
11. prep. In order to obtain or acquire. | |
I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday. | |
He's going for his doctorate. | |
Do you want to go for coffee? | |
People all over Greece looked to Delphi for answers. | |
Can you go to the store for some eggs? | |
I'm saving up for a car. | |
Don't wait for an answer. | |
What did he ask you for? | |
12. prep. In the direction of: marks a point one is going toward. | |
Run for the hills! | |
He was headed for the door when he remembered. | |
13. prep. By the standards of, usually with the implication of those standards being lower than one might otherwise expect. | |
Fair for its day. | |
She's spry for an old lady. | |
14. prep. Despite, in spite of. | |
15. prep. Used to indicate the subject of a to-infinitive. | |
For that to happen now is incredibly unlikely. (=It is incredibly unlikely that that will happen now.) | |
All I want is for you to be happy. (=All I want is that you be happy.) | |
16. prep. (chiefly US) Out of; used to indicate a fraction, a ratio | |
In term of base hits, Jones was three for four on the day | |
17. prep. (cricket) Used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen. | |
At close of play, England were 305 for 3. | |
18. prep. To be, or as being. | |
19. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.) | |
20. prep. Used to construe various verbs (see the entries for individual phrasal verbs). | |
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. | |
first |
1. adj. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. | |
The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday. | |
I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race. | |
2. adj. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest. | |
Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. | |
3. adv. Before anything else; firstly. | |
Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook. | |
4. n. The person or thing in the first position. | |
He was the first to complete the course. | |
5. n. The first gear of an engine. | |
6. n. Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence. | |
This is a first. For once he has nothing to say. | |
7. n. (baseball) first base | |
There was a close play at first. | |
8. n. (UK, colloquial) A first-class honours degree. | |
9. n. (colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication. | |
10. n. A fraction of an integer ending in one. | |
one forty-first of the estate | |
11. n. (obsolete) Time; time granted; respite. | |
few |
1. det. (preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of. | |
I was expecting lots of people at the party, but very few (=almost none) turned up. Quite a few of them (=many of them) were pleasantly surprised. I don't know how | |
2. det. (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of. | |
There are few people who understand quantum theory. Many are called, but few are chosen. | |
3. det. (meteorology of clouds) (US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky. | |
Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight. | |
NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring p | |
4. det. (meteorology of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated. | |
5. pron. Few people, few things. | |
Many are called, but few are chosen. | |
weeks |
1. n. plural of week | |
week |
1. n. Any period of seven consecutive days. | |
2. n. A period of seven days beginning with Sunday or Monday. | |
3. n. A period of five days beginning with Monday. | |
4. n. A subdivision of the month into longer periods of work days punctuated by shorter weekend periods of days for markets, rest, or religious observation such as a sabbath. | |
A 4-day week consists of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. | |
5. n. Seven days after (sometimes before) a specified date. | |
I'll see you Thursday week. | |
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 | |
make |
1. v. To create. | |
2. v. To build, construct, or produce. | |
We made a bird feeder for our yard. | |
I'll make a man out of him yet. | |
3. v. To write or compose. | |
I made a poem for her wedding. | |
He made a will. | |
4. v. To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action. | |
make war | |
They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men. | |
5. v. (religious) To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing. | |
God made earth and heaven. | |
6. v. (intransitive, now mostly colloquial) To behave, to act. | |
To make like a deer caught in the headlights. | |
They made nice together, as if their fight never happened. | |
He made as if to punch him, but they both laughed and shook hands. | |
7. v. (intransitive) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against. | |
8. v. To constitute. | |
They make a cute couple. | |
This makes the third infraction. | |
One swallow does not a summer make. | |
9. v. 1995, Harriette Simpson Arnow: Critical Essays on Her Work, p.46: | |
10. v. To add up to, have a sum of. | |
Two and four make six. | |
11. v. (intransitive, construed with of typically interrogative) To interpret. | |
I don’t know what to make of it. | |
12. v. (transitive, usually stressed) To bring into success. | |
This company is what made you. | |
She married into wealth and so has it made. | |
13. v. (ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle) To cause to be. | |
The citizens made their objections clear. | |
This might make you a bit woozy. | |
Did I make myself heard? | |
Scotch will make you a man. | |
14. v. To cause to appear to be; to represent as. | |
15. v. (ditransitive, second object is a verb) To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something). | |
You're making her cry. | |
I was made to feel like a criminal. | |
16. v. (ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity) To force to do. | |
The teacher made the student study. | |
Don’t let them make you suffer. | |
17. v. (ditransitive, of a fact) To indicate or suggest to be. | |
His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person. | |
18. v. (transitive, of a bed) To cover neatly with bedclothes. | |
19. v. (transitive, US slang) To recognise, identify. | |
20. v. (transitive, colloquial) To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time. | |
We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight. | |
21. v. (intransitive, colloquial) To proceed (in a direction). | |
They made westward over the snowy mountains. | |
Make for the hills! It's a wildfire! | |
They made away from the fire toward the river. | |
22. v. To cover (a given distance) by travelling. | |
23. v. To move at (a speed). | |
The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas. | |
This baby can make 220 miles an hour. | |
24. v. To appoint; to name. | |
25. v. (transitive, slang) To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man). | |
26. v. (intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) To defecate or urinate. | |
27. v. To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status). | |
They hope to make a bigger profit. | |
He didn't make the choir after his voice changed. | |
She made ten points in that game. | |
28. v. To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability. | |
29. v. (obsolete, intransitive) To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify. | |
30. v. To enact; to establish. | |
31. v. To develop into; to prove to be. | |
She'll make a fine president. | |
32. v. To form or formulate in the mind. | |
make plans | |
made a questionable decision | |
33. v. To perform a feat. | |
make a leap | |
make a pass | |
make a u-turn | |
34. v. (obsolete) To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make. | |
35. v. (obsolete) To increase; to augment; to accrue. | |
36. v. (obsolete) To be engaged or concerned in. | |
37. v. (now archaic) To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what. | |
38. v. (transitive, euphemism) To take the virginity of. | |
39. v. To have sexual intercourse with. | |
40. n. (often of a car) Brand or kind; often paired with model. | |
What make of car do you drive? | |
41. n. How a thing is made; construction. | |
42. n. Origin of a manufactured article; manufacture. | |
The camera was of German make. | |
43. n. Quantity produced, especially of materials. | |
44. n. (dated) The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing. | |
45. n. A person's character or disposition. | |
46. n. (bridge) The declaration of the trump for a hand. | |
47. n. (physics) The closing of an electrical circuit. | |
48. n. (computing) A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility. | |
49. n. (slang) Recognition or identification, especially from police records or evidence. | |
50. n. (slang) Past or future target of seduction (usually female). | |
51. n. (slang) A promotion. | |
52. n. A home-made project | |
53. n. (basketball) A made basket. | |
54. n. (dialectal) Mate; a spouse or companion. | |
55. n. (Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, now rare) A halfpenny. | |
sure |
1. adj. Physically secure and certain, non-failing, reliable. | |
This investment is a sure thing. The bailiff had a sure grip on the prisoner's arm. | |
2. adj. Certain in one's knowledge or belief. | |
He was sure she was lying. I am sure of my eventual death. John was acting sure of himself but in truth had doubts. | |
3. adj. Certain to act or be a specified way. | |
Be sure to lock the door when you leave. | |
4. adj. (obsolete) Free from danger; safe; secure. | |
5. adj. (obsolete) Betrothed; engaged to marry. | |
6. adv. (modal adverb) Without doubt, certainly. | |
Sure he's coming! Why wouldn't he? | |
"Did you kill that bear yourself? ―"I sure did!". | |
7. interj. Yes. (Expresses noncommittal agreement or consent.) | |
"Do you want me to put this in the garage?" "Sure, go ahead.". | |
8. interj. Yes; of course. | |
"Could you tell me where the washrooms are?" "Sure, they're in the corner over there.". | |
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). | |
know |
1. v. To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of or that. | |
I know that I’m right and you’re wrong. | |
He knew something terrible was going to happen. | |
2. v. To be aware of; to be cognizant of. | |
Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew. | |
She knows where I live. | |
I knew he was upset, but I didn't understand why. | |
3. v. To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered. | |
I know your mother, but I’ve never met your father. | |
4. v. To experience. | |
Their relationship knew ups and downs. | |
5. v. To distinguish, to discern, particularly by contrast or comparison; to recognize the nature of. | |
to know a person's face or figure | |
to know right from wrong | |
I wouldn't know one from the other. | |
6. v. To recognize as the same (as someone or something previously encountered) after an absence or change. | |
7. v. To understand or have a grasp of through experience or study. | |
Let me do it. I know how it works. | |
She knows how to swim. | |
His mother tongue is Italian, but he also knows French and English. | |
She knows chemistry better than anybody else. | |
Know your enemy and know yourself. | |
8. v. (transitive, archaic, Biblical) To have sexual relations with. | |
9. v. (intransitive) To have knowledge; to have information, be informed. | |
It is vital that he not know. | |
She knew of our plan. | |
He knows about 19th century politics. | |
10. v. (intransitive) To be or become aware or cognizant. | |
Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew. | |
11. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To be acquainted (with another person). | |
12. v. To be able to play or perform (a song or other piece of music). | |
Do you know "Blueberry Hill"? | |
13. n. (rare) Knowledge; the state of knowing. | |
how |
1. adv. To what degree. | |
How often do you practice? | |
2. adv. In what manner. | |
How do you solve this puzzle? How else can we get this finished? | |
3. adj. In what state. | |
How are you? | |
How was your vacation? | |
4. adj. Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation. | |
How very interesting! How wonderful it was to receive your invitation. | |
5. n. The means by which something is accomplished. | |
I am not interested in the why, but in the how. | |
6. conj. In which way; in such way. | |
I remember how to solve this puzzle. | |
7. conj. That, the fact that, the way that. | |
8. n. (dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus. | |
9. n. (dialectal) A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.) | |
10. interj. A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech. | |
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 | |
use |
1. n. The act of using. | |
the use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations; there is no use for your invention | |
2. n. (followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit. | |
What's the use of a law that nobody follows? | |
3. n. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed. | |
This tool has many uses. | |
4. n. Occasion or need to employ; necessity. | |
I have no further use for these textbooks. | |
5. n. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury. | |
6. n. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit. | |
7. n. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience. | |
8. n. (religion) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese. | |
the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford use; the York use; the Roman use; etc. | |
9. n. (forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging. | |
10. v. To utilize or employ. | |
11. v. To employ; to apply; to utilize. | |
Use this knife to slice the bread. | |
We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem. | |
12. v. (transitive, often with up) To expend; to consume by employing. | |
I used the money they allotted me. | |
We should use up most of the fuel. | |
She used all the time allotted to complete the test. | |
13. v. To exploit. | |
You never cared about me; you just used me! | |
14. v. To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly. | |
He uses cocaine. I have never used drugs. | |
15. v. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted. | |
Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day. | |
16. v. (transitive, with auxiliary "could") To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand. | |
I could use a drink. My car could use a new coat of paint. | |
17. v. To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Note: This usage uses the nounal pronunciation of the word rather than the typically verbal one.) | |
soldiers who are used to hardships and danger (still common) | |
to use the soldiers to hardships and danger (now rare) | |
18. v. (reflexive, obsolete, with "to") To become accustomed, to accustom oneself. | |
19. v. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually do; to be wont to do. | |
20. v. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually employ; to be wont to employ. | |
21. v. (intransitive, past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to. | |
I used to get things done. | |
22. v. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat. | |
to use an animal cruelly | |
23. v. (reflexive, obsolete) To behave, act, comport oneself. | |
domestic |
1. adj. Of or relating to the home. | |
2. adj. Of or relating to activities normally associated with the home, wherever they actually occur. | |
domestic violence; domestic hot water | |
3. adj. (of an animal) Kept by someone, for example as a farm animal or a pet. | |
4. adj. Internal to a specific country. | |
5. adj. Tending to stay at home; not outgoing. | |
6. n. A house servant; a maid; a household worker. | |
7. n. A domestic dispute, whether verbal or violent | |
appliances |
1. n. plural of appliance | |
appliance |
1. n. An implement, an instrument or apparatus designed (or at least used) as a means to a specific end (often specified), especially: | |
2. n. A non-manual apparatus or device, powered electrically or by another small motor, used in homes to perform domestic functions (household appliance) and | |
Many house fires are caused by faulty appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines and dryers. | |
3. n. An attachment, a piece of equipment to adapt another tool or machine to a specific purpose. | |
4. n. (obsolete) The act of applying. | |
5. n. (obsolete) A means of eliminating or counteracting something undesirable, especially an illness. | |
6. n. (obsolete, rare) Willing service, willingness to act as someone wishes. | |
otherwise |
1. adv. (manner) Differently, in another way. | |
You may have a point, but I think otherwise. | |
2. adv. (conjunctive) In different circumstances; or else. | |
I’m not well today, otherwise I would have helped. You have to open your umbrella, otherwise you'll get wet. | |
3. adv. (conjunctive) In all other respects. | |
He lost his temper once in a while. Otherwise he behaved rationally. | |
4. adj. Other than supposed; different. | |
He said he didn’t do it, but the evidence was otherwise. | |
you |
1. pron. (object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object. | |
2. pron. (reflexive pronoun, now US colloquial) (To) yourselves, (to) yourself. | |
3. pron. (object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.) | |
4. pron. (subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.) | |
Both of you should get ready now. | |
You are all supposed to do as I tell you. | |
5. pron. (subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.) | |
6. pron. (indefinite personal pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object). | |
7. det. The individual or group spoken or written to. | |
Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus? | |
8. det. Used before epithets for emphasis. | |
You idiot! | |
9. v. To address (a person) using the pronoun you, rather than thou, especially historically when you was more formal. | |
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. | |
up |
1. adv. Away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of gravity. | |
I looked up and saw the airplane overhead. | |
2. adv. (intensifier) Used as an aspect marker to indicate a completed action or state Thoroughly, completely. | |
I will mix up the puzzle pieces. | |
Tear up the contract. | |
He really messed up. | |
Please type up our monthly report. | |
3. adv. To or from one's possession or consideration. | |
I picked up some milk on the way home. | |
The committee will take up your request. | |
She had to give up her driver's license after the accident. | |
4. adv. North. | |
I will go up to New York to visit my family this weekend. | |
5. adv. To a higher level of some quantity or notional quantity, such as price, volume, pitch, happiness, etc. | |
Gold has gone up with the uncertainty in the world markets. | |
Turn it up, I can barely hear it. | |
Listen to your voice go up at the end of a question. | |
Cheer up, the weekend's almost here. | |
6. adv. (rail transport) Traditional term for the direction leading to the principal terminus, towards milepost zero. | |
7. adv. (sailing) Against the wind or current. | |
8. adv. (Cartesian graph) In a positive vertical direction. | |
9. adv. (cricket) Relatively close to the batsman. | |
The bowler pitched the ball up. | |
10. adv. (hospitality, US) Without additional ice. | |
Would you like that drink up or on ice? | |
11. adv. (academia) Towards Cambridge or Oxford. | |
She's going up to read Classics this September. | |
12. adv. To or in a position of equal advance or equality; not short of, back of, less advanced than, away from, etc.; usually followed by to or with. | |
I was up to my chin in water. | |
A stranger came up and asked me for directions. | |
13. adv. To or in a state of completion; completely; wholly; quite. | |
Drink up. The pub is closing. | |
Can you sum up your research? | |
The comet burned up in the atmosphere. | |
I need to sew up the hole in this shirt. | |
14. adv. Aside, so as not to be in use. | |
to lay up riches; put up your weapons | |
15. prep. Toward the top of. | |
The cat went up the tree. They walk up the steps. | |
16. prep. Toward the center, source, or main point of reference; toward the end at which something is attached. | |
The information made its way up the chain of command to the general. I felt something crawling up my arm. | |
17. prep. Further along (in any direction). | |
Go up the street until you see the sign. | |
18. prep. From south to north of | |
19. prep. From the mouth towards the source (of a river or waterway). | |
20. prep. (vulgar slang) Of a man: having sex with. | |
Phwoar, look at that bird. I'd love to be up her. | |
21. prep. (colloquial) At (a given place, especially one imagined to be higher or more remote from a central location). | |
22. adj. Awake. | |
I can’t believe it’s 3 a.m. and you’re still up. | |
23. adj. Finished, to an end | |
Time is up! | |
24. adj. In a good mood. | |
I’m feeling up today. | |
25. adj. Willing; ready. | |
If you are up for a trip, let’s go. | |
26. adj. Next in a sequence. | |
Smith is up to bat. | |
27. adj. Happening; new. | |
What is up with that project at headquarters? | |
28. adj. Facing upwards; facing toward the top. | |
Put the notebook face up on the table. | |
Take a break and put your feet up. | |
29. adj. Larger; greater in quantity. | |
Sales are up from last quarter. | |
30. adj. Ahead; leading; winning. | |
The home team were up by two goals at half-time. | |
31. adj. Standing. | |
Get up and give her your seat. | |
32. adj. On a higher level. | |
The new ground is up. | |
33. adj. Available; made public. | |
The new notices are up as of last Tuesday. | |
34. adj. (poker, postnominal) Said of the higher-ranking pair in a two pair. | |
AAKK = aces up | |
QQ33 = queens up | |
35. adj. Well-informed; current. | |
I’m not up on the latest news. What’s going on? | |
36. adj. (computing) Functional; working. | |
Is the server back up? | |
37. adj. (anchor, Adj_railway)(of a railway line or train) Traveling towards a major terminus. | |
The London train is on the up line. | |
38. adj. Headed, or designated to go, upward, as an escalator, stairway, elevator etc. | |
39. adj. (bar tending) Chilled and strained into a stemmed glass. | |
A Cosmopolitan is typically served up. | |
40. adj. (slang) Erect. | |
41. adj. (of the Sun or Moon) Above the horizon, in the sky (i.e. during daytime or night-time) | |
42. adj. (slang) well-known; renowned | |
43. n. The direction opposed to the pull of gravity. | |
Up is a good way to go. | |
44. n. A positive thing. | |
I hate almost everything about my job. The only up is that it's so close to home. | |
45. n. An upstairs room of a two story house. | |
She lives in a two-up two-down. | |
46. v. (transitive, colloquial) To increase or raise. | |
If we up the volume, we'll be able to make out the details. | |
We upped anchor and sailed away. | |
47. v. (transitive, colloquial) To promote. | |
It wasn’t long before they upped him to Vice President. | |
48. v. (intransitive) To act suddenly, usually with another verb. | |
with |
1. prep. Against. | |
He picked a fight with the class bully. | |
2. prep. In the company of; alongside, close to; near to. | |
He went with his friends. | |
3. prep. In addition to; as an accessory to. | |
She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar. | |
4. prep. Used to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence. | |
5. prep. In support of. | |
We are with you all the way. | |
6. prep. (obsolete) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by. | |
slain with robbers | |
7. prep. Using as an instrument; by means of. | |
cut with a knife | |
8. prep. (obsolete) Using as nourishment; more recently replaced by on. | |
9. prep. Having, owning. | |
10. adv. Along, together with others, in a group, etc. | |
Do you want to come with? | |
11. adv. --> | |
12. n. alternative form of withe | |
everything |
1. pron. (literally) All the things under discussion. | |
I checked the list again and everything is done. | |
Thank you for everything you've done for us. | |
2. pron. (colloquial, hyperbole) Many or most things. | |
upright - A:What do you want to do at the amusement park?upright, B:Everything! | |
I did everything today - washed the dishes, cut the lawn, did the laundry. | |
3. pron. (colloquial) A state of well-being (from all parts of the whole). | |
She wasn't feeling well this morning but now everything is fine. | |
Since the company lost its best customer everything has gotten worse. | |
4. pron. (colloquial) The most important thing. | |
I can't believe I made it in time - timing is everything! | |
broken |
1. v. past participle of break | |
2. adj. Fragmented, in separate pieces. | |
3. adj. (of a bone or body part) Fractured; having the bone in pieces. | |
My arm is broken! | |
the ground was littered with broken bones | |
One recent morning the team had to replace a broken weather research station. | |
4. adj. (of skin) Split or ruptured. | |
A dog bit my leg and now the skin is broken. | |
5. adj. (of a line) Dashed, made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next. | |
6. adj. (of sleep) Interrupted; not continuous. | |
7. adj. (meteorology, of the sky) Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds. | |
Tomorrow: broken skies. | |
8. adj. (of a promise, etc) Breached; violated; not kept. | |
broken promises of neutrality | |
broken vows | |
the broken covenant | |
9. adj. Non-functional; not functioning properly. | |
I think my doorbell is broken. | |
10. adj. (of an, electronic connection) Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic. | |
11. adj. (software, informal) Badly designed or implemented. | |
This is the most broken application I've seen in a long time. | |
12. adj. (pejorative, of language) Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of being a non-native speaker. | |
13. adj. (colloquial, US, of a situation) Not having gone in the way intended; saddening. | |
Oh man! That is just broken! | |
14. adj. (of a person) Completely defeated and dispirited; shattered; destroyed. | |
The bankruptcy and divorce, together with the death of his son, left him completely broken. | |
15. adj. Having no money; bankrupt, broke. | |
16. adj. (of land) Uneven. | |
17. adj. (sports) Overpowered; overly powerful; too powerful. | |
break |
1. v. (transitive, intransitive) To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. | |
If the vase falls to the floor, it might break. | |
In order to tend to the accident victim, he will break the window of the car. | |
2. v. (transitive, intransitive) To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain. | |
His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest. | |
She broke her neck. | |
He slipped on the ice and broke his leg. | |
3. v. To divide (something, often money) into smaller units. | |
Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me? | |
The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers. | |
4. v. To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of. | |
Her child's death broke Angela. | |
Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war. | |
The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices. | |
5. v. To turn an animal into a beast of burden. | |
You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden. | |
6. v. (intransitive) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief. | |
My heart is breaking. | |
7. v. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate. | |
I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails. | |
to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey | |
I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck. | |
8. v. To ruin financially. | |
The recession broke some small businesses. | |
9. v. To violate, to not adhere to. | |
When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law. | |
He broke his vows by cheating on his wife. | |
break one's word | |
Time travel would break the laws of physics. | |
10. v. (intransitive, of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, in terms of temperature. | |
Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over. | |
11. v. (intransitive, of a spell of settled weather) To end. | |
The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek. | |
12. v. (intransitive, of a storm) To begin; to end. | |
We ran to find shelter before the storm broke. | |
Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny. | |
13. v. (intransitive, of morning, dawn, day etc.) To arrive. | |
Morning has broken. | |
The day broke crisp and clear. | |
14. v. (transitive, gaming slang) To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage. | |
Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess. | |
I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords. | |
15. v. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether. | |
On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke. | |
Did you two break the trolley by racing with it? | |
16. v. (specifically, in programming) To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression. | |
Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions. | |
17. v. To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. | |
break a seal | |
18. v. (specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible. | |
19. v. (specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination or the like. | |
20. v. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce. | |
The cavalry were not able to break the British squares. | |
21. v. (intransitive) To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view. | |
22. v. (intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily. | |
Let's break for lunch. | |
23. v. To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath. | |
He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall. | |
24. v. (transitive, ergative) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc. | |
The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous. | |
I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back. | |
In the latest breaking news... | |
When news of their divorce broke, ... | |
25. v. (intransitive, of a sound) To become audible suddenly. | |
26. v. To change a steady state abruptly. | |
His coughing broke the silence. | |
His turning on the lights broke the enchantment. | |
With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly. | |
27. v. (copulative, informal) To suddenly become. | |
Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died. | |
The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly. | |
28. v. (intransitive) Of a male voice, to become deeper at puberty. | |
29. v. (intransitive) Of a voice, to alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack. | |
His voice breaks when he gets emotional. | |
30. v. To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record. | |
He broke the men's 100-meter record. | |
I can't believe she broke 3 under par! | |
The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief. | |
31. v. (sports): | |
32. v. (transitive, tennis) To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver. | |
He needs to break serve to win the match. | |
33. v. (intransitive, billiards, snooker, pool) To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement. | |
Is it your or my turn to break? | |
34. v. (transitive, backgammon) To remove one of the two men on (a point). | |
35. v. (transitive military, most often in the passive tense) To demote, to reduce the military rank of. | |
36. v. To end (a connection), to disconnect. | |
The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch. | |
The referee broke the boxers' clinch. | |
I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back. | |
37. v. (intransitive, of an emulsion) To demulsify. | |
38. v. (intransitive, sports) To counter-attack | |
39. v. (transitive, obsolete) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate. | |
40. v. (intransitive) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength. | |
41. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To fail in business; to become bankrupt. | |
42. v. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of. | |
to break flax | |
43. v. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss. | |
44. v. (intransitive) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait. | |
to break into a run or gallop | |
45. v. (intransitive, archaic) To fall out; to terminate friendship. | |