that

From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *þat, from Proto-Germanic *þat. Cognate to Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat, German dass and das, Danish det, Swedish det, Icelandic það, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata). Further from Proto-Indo-European *tód; compare Ancient Greek τό (tó), Sanskrit तद् (tád), Waigali ta.

inh

Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.

(degree) To a given extent or degree.
Denoting an equal degree.

She said we waited for three hours, but I'm sure it wasn't that long.

It didn't seem like ten miles, but actually it was that far.

(degree) To a given extent or degree.
Denoting 'as much', 'no less'.

I was seen quite quickly — I didn't have to wait that long.

I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult.

(degree, in negative constructions) To a great extent or degree; very, particularly.

Ooh, I was that happy I nearly kissed her.

This was carried with that little noise that for a good space the vigilant Bishop was not awak'd with it.

1693, John Hacket, “Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams”, in Archbishop Williams:

(informal, British, Australia, in positive constructions) To such an extent; so.


sic

Learned borrowing from Latin sīc (“thus, so”).

sic pro

used to note the error and supply the supposed intended phrasing

sic passim

used to indicate that the preceding word, phrase, or term is used in the same manner (or form) throughout the remainder of a text

sic transit gloria mundi

so passes the glory of the world; fame is temporary; lit.

sic semper tyrannis

thus always to tyrants; and shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln

When it is all over they merge and go in a body to visit [...] the Telegraph Office – with plausible expressions of regret and excuses for the mob ‘which’ they say ‘is deplorably ignorant and will not be restrained when its feelings are strongly moved’ – sic, the fact being that the mob’s feelings will never be ‘moved’ unless it is by one of them.

1909 January 28, H. E. Wilkie Young, “Notes on the City of Mosul” (despatch No. 4), in Foreign Office, volume 195, number 2308; quoted in Elie Khadouri[e], “Mosul in 1909”, in Middle Eastern Studies, volume 7, number 2, 1971, →JSTOR, page 229:

Bolinger, Dwight (1977) ‘Pronoun and repeated nouns.’ Lingua18:1-34 [Quoted sic in Toolan 1990. Neither in Lingua 18, nor in the 1977 volume of that journal.]

2003, Monika Fludernik, The Fictions of Language and the Languages of Fiction, Routledge, →ISBN, page 468:

Joseph Wright, his predecessor in the chair, called him ‘a firstrate Scholar and a kind of man who will easily make friends’ at Oxford (quoted, sic, in E.M. Wright, The Life of Joseph Wright (1932), p. 483).

2006, Christina Scull with Wayne G. Hammond, JRR Tolkien companion & guide, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

Jim’s Interests: General: Working out, hanging out at the local bars, expanding my mind, eating Tuna Sandwhiches...or so I’m told and poker... Television: ... this show that’s on Thuresday nights at 8 :30pm... I can’t place the name of it but it has this crazy interview style thing...[all sic]

2010, Paul Booth, Digital Fandom: New Media Studies, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 127:

whole bussiness: Quoted sic in George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1945)

2012, Milton J. Bates, The Bark River Chronicles: Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed, Wisconsin Historical Society, →ISBN, page 271:

Thus; as written; used to indicate, for example, that text is being quoted as it is from the source.

In the past few months, we in Upstate N.Y. have been subjected to fire bombings, firings, verbal and physical harassment, etc. The list goes on and on. These (sic) Christians are calling for a million marchers and may very well get that many.

1979 December 29, Vern Hall-Smith, “Fundamentalists March”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 5:

(by extension) Used in the manner of scare quotes


bad

en-adv

bad (comparative worse, superlative worst)

From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (for loss of -el compare Middle English muche from Old English myċel, and Middle English wenche from Old English wenċel), or at least related to it and/or to bǣ̆dan (“to defile”), compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”).
Alternatively, perhaps a loan from Old Norse into Middle English, compare Norwegian bad (“effort, trouble, fear”, neuter noun), East Danish bad (“damage, destruction, fight”, neuter noun), from the Proto-Germanic noun *badą, whence also Proto-Germanic *badōną (“to frighten”), Old Saxon undarbadōn (“to frighten”), Norwegian Nynorsk bada (“to weigh down, press”).

unk

uncertain

cog

æ-tensing, New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

I didn't do too bad in the last exam.

He is quite bad off now that both his parents lost their jobs.

I want you / I want you so bad, it's driving me mad

1969, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, in Abbey Road, performed by The Beatles:

(intensifier) Badly; severely, extremely, passionately, eagerly.


sound

en-adv

sound (comparative more sound, superlative most sound)

more sound (comparative)
most sound (superlative)

From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund, ġesund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz, *sundaz (“healthy”), from Proto-Indo-European *sunt-, *swent- (“vigorous, active, healthy”).
Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.

cog

So ſound he ſlept, that nought mought him awake.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:


e.g.

/fɔːɹ‿ɪɡˈzɑːmpəl/

/fɔɹ‿ɪɡˈzæmpəl/

The adverb is a terser form of ex. gr., both abbreviating Latin exemplī grātiā (“for the sake of an example”); e.g. was also used as an abbreviation in Latin.
The noun is derived from the adverb.

der

Continents (e.g., Asia) contain many large bodies of water (e.g., lakes and inland seas) and many large flowing streams of water (i.e., rivers).

For though all is not to be done that is to be believed, yet all muſt be believed to be lavvful and duty vvhich muſt be done as ſuch: e. g. VVe cannot love God, vvorſhip him, hear and read his VVord, &c. as by Divine obedience, unleſs vve believe it to be our duty by a Divine command.

1682, Richard Baxter, “Mr. [Henry] Dodwell’s Leviathan, or Absolute Destructive Prelacy, […]. Chapter III. The Consequence of Mr. Dodwell’s foresaid Doctrine.”, in An Answer to Mr. Dodwell and Dr. Sherlocke; Confuting an Universal Humane Church— […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, § 14, page 23:

Stated in technical linguistic terms, in this treatise pœcilonymy is avoided; e. g., instead of tænia hippocampi in one place, corpus fimbriatum in another, and fimbria in a third, the last is consistently employed and the others given as synonyms.

1889 July 18, The Nation; quoted in “Dr. [Joseph] Leidy’s Anatomy”, in William Pepper [et al.], editors, The University Medical Magazine, volume II, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: A. L. Hummel, October 1889, →OCLC, page 45:

Might he become a gentleman farmer of field produce and live stock? Not impossibly, with 1 or 2 stripper cows, 1 pike of upland hay and requisite farming implements, e. g., an end-to-end churn, a turnip pulper etc.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 668:

The social status of the husband devolved on his wife, as implied in Pāṇini’s sūtra (Puṁyogād ākhyāyām, IV. 1. 48), i. e. a designation derived from her husband; e. g. mahāmātrī (ministrix), wife of a mahāmātra, a high government official, and gaṇakī, wife of a gaṇaka (accountant).

1963, V[asudeva] S[harana] Agrawala, “Social Life”, in India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī, 2nd edition, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Prithvi Kumar, Prithivi Prakashan, →OCLC, section 3 (Marriage), page 88:

Cities were not infrequently named after the era name in which they were founded (e.g., Shaoxing 紹興 in Zhejiang, after the Shaoxing era, 1131–62).

2000, Endymion Wilkinson, “Geography”, in Chinese History: A New Manual (Harvard–Yenching Institute Monograph Series; 52), revised edition, Cambridge, Mass., London: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard–Yenching Institute, →ISBN, page 135:

An initialism used to introduce an illustrative example or short list of examples: for the sake of an example; for example.


OK

en-adv

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)

more OK (comparative)
most OK (superlative)

Origin disputed. Wikipedia lists many possible etymologies, of which the most widely accepted is that it is an abbreviation of oll/orl korrect, a comical spelling of all correct, which first appeared in print in The Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, as part of a fad for similar fanciful abbreviations in the United States during the late 1830s. The expression became popular through its use in the presidential campaign of Martin Van Buren in 1840, who was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and then slowly acquired other meanings.
The Choctaw word oke, okeh (“it is so”), common in Choctaw translations of the Bible, could also explain OK's variety of affirmative definitions. Additionally, okeh was the most common etymology of okay in dictionaries until the 1960s, and linguistically predates Boston's O.K.. However, this theory suffers from the fact that the Choctaw language was relatively obscure and generally spoken (sometimes in a pidgin form) mainly with African-American slaves.

unk

disputed

The team did OK in the playoffs.


hard

en-adv

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

harder (comparative)
hardest (superlative)

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognate with German hart, Swedish hård, Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).

He hit the puck hard up the ice.

They worked hard all week.

The recession hit them especially hard.

Think hard about your choices.

The couple were fucking each other hard.

Be nought diſmayd that her vnmoued mind, / doth ſtill perſiſt in her rebellious pride: / ſuch loue not lyke to luſts of baſer kynd, / the harder vvonne, the firmer vvill abide.

1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet VI”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature A4, verso:

[…] My father / Is hard at study. Pray now, rest yourself; […]

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

prayed so hard for mercy from the prince

1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bath's Tale”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

I played hard, I drank hard, I rode hard, and did everything much on the same pattern.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 164:

What, then, of the voluntarist's sense that one often has to think long and hard before making agonizing choices?

1985, Michael A. Arbib, In search of the person: philosophical explorations in cognitive science, page 119:

трудно

with much force or effort (related to act of think)

His degree was hard earned.

The question is hard set.

1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:

The lake had finally frozen hard.

At the intersection, bear hard left.

The King your brother is now hard at hand, / Meete with the foole, and rid your royall ſhoulders / Of ſuch a burden, as outweighs the ſands / And all the craggie rockes of Caſpea.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

[…]whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 18:7:

It was another long day's march before they glimpsed the towers of Harrenhal in the distance, hard beside the blue waters of the lake.

1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 418:


feel

(dialectal or obsolete) Alternative form of fele


all

From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“beyond, other”). Cognate with West Frisian al (“all”), Dutch al (“all”), Scots a' (“all”), German all (“all”), Swedish all (“all”), Norwegian all (“all”), Icelandic allur (“all”), Welsh holl (“all”), Irish uile (“all”), Lithuanian aliái (“all, each, every”).
The dialectal sense “all gone” is a calque of German alle. The use in who all, where all etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).

der

She was sitting all alone.
It suddenly went all quiet.
I'm all done, Mommy! I did it all by myself.

'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies

1738, Charles Wesley, “And can it be that I should gain”, in John Wesley, editor, A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, Charlestown: Lewis Timothy, →OCLC:

The parson, all unaware, dully pursued his calling, perched above the exquisite derision of their glances.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 127:

(intensifier, sometimes childish) Wholly; entirely; completely; totally.

The score was 30 all when the rain delay started.

Don't want to go? All the better since I lost the tickets.

All as his straying flock he fed.

1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender, London: Hugh Singleton, →OCLC:

A damsel lay deploring / All on a rock reclined.

1715, John Gay, What D’ye Call It?, London: Bernard Lintott, →OCLC:

She was all, “Whatever.”


though

From Middle English thaugh, thagh, from Old English þēah (“though, although, even if, that, however, nevertheless, yet, still; whether”), later superseded in many dialects by Middle English though, thogh, from Old Norse *þóh (later þó); both from Proto-Germanic *þauh (“though”), from Proto-Indo-European *to-, suffixed with Proto-Germanic *-hw < Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe (“and”).
Akin to Scots thoch (“though”), Saterland Frisian dach (“though”), West Frisian dôch, dochs (“though”), Dutch doch (“though”), German doch (“though”), Swedish dock (“however, still”), Icelandic þó (“though”). More at that.

inh

I'm not paid to do all this paperwork for you. I will do it this once, though.

Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

"Man, it's hot in here." — "Isn't it, though?"

(degree) Used to intensify statements or questions; indeed.


sweet

en-adv

sweet (comparative more sweet, superlative most sweet)

more sweet (comparative)
most sweet (superlative)

From Middle English swete, from Old English swēte (“sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).
Cognate and synonymous with Scots sweit (“sweet”), North Frisian sweete (“sweet”), Saterland Frisian swäit (“sweet”), West Frisian swiet (“sweet”), Dutch zoet (“sweet”), German Low German sööt (“sweet”), German süß (“sweet”), Danish sød (“sweet”), Swedish söt (“sweet”), Norwegian søt (“sweet”), Icelandic sætur (“sweet”), Latin suāvis, Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús). Doublet of suave.

Go down beside thy native rill,
On thy Parnassus set thy feet,
And hear thy laurel whisper sweet
About the ledges of the hill.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXVII, page 57:


brief

brief (comparative more brief, superlative most brief)

more brief (comparative)
most brief (superlative)

From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short, brief”). Doublet of merry.

der

Whence Adam faultring long, thus anſwer’d brief.

1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 115:

But that a ioy paſt ioy, calls out on me, / It were a griefe, to briefe to part with thee : / Farewell.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], lines 173–175:


dogged

From Middle English dogged, doggid, doggyd (“characteristics similar to that of a dog”), equivalent to dog + -ed.

"I'm afraid I've given him a heap of trouble. You see," he explained, looking at Paul critically, "I never thought of eating before I left town, and one gets so dogged hungry, you know walking. I say it is a long tramp, isn't it?"

1918, Ethel Penman Hope, Dr. Paul, page 127:


together

/tʊˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)/

/təˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)/

From Late Middle English together, from earlier togedere, togadere, from Old English tōgædere (“together”), from Proto-West Germanic *tōgadura, *tegadura, from Proto-Germanic *tō (“to”) + *gadar (“together”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, keep”), equivalent to to-₂ + gather. Cognate with Scots thegither (“together”), Old Frisian togadera (whence West Frisian togearre (“together”)), Dutch tegader (“together”), Middle Low German tōgāder (“together”), Middle High German zegater (“together”). Compare also Old English ætgædere (“together”), Old English ġeador (“together”). More at gather.

put two and two together and come up with five

the family that lays together stays together

the family that prays together stays together

the family that sleeps together keeps together

We went to school together.

[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee being the ſtronger perſwader, and ſhe (belike) too credulous in beleeuing or elſe ouer-feeble in reſiſting, from priuate imparlance, they fell to action; and continued their cloſe fight a long while together, vnſeene and vvithout ſuſpition, no doubt to their equall ioy and contentment.

1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, translated by John Florio, The Decameron, Containing an Hundred Pleaſant Nouels: Wittily Diſcourſed, Betweene Seuen Honourable Ladies, and Three Noble Gentlemen, Isaac Iaggard, Nouell 8, The Eighth Day:

“[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

At the same time, in the same place; in close association or proximity.

ܐܟܚܕܐ

Eastern vocalization:ܐܲܟܚܕܵܐ ʔaxəðā Western vocalization: ܐܱܟܚܕܳܐ ʔaxħəðo

ܗܝܕܝܢ ܟܕ ܗܝܕܝܢ

Eastern vocalization:ܗܵܝܕܹܝܢ ܟܲܕ ܗܵܝܕܹܝܢ hājdε̄n kað hājdε̄n Western vocalization: ܗܳܝܕܶܝܢ ܟܰܕ ܗܳܝܕܶܝܢ hojden kað hojden

He put all the parts together.

Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.

a1420, The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056, “Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone”, in Robert von Fleischhacker, editor, Lanfranc's "Science of cirurgie.", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, translation of original by Lanfranc of Milan, published 1894, →ISBN, page 63:

Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Into one place; into a single thing; combined.

ܐܟܚܕ

Eastern vocalization:ܐܲܟܚܲܕ ʔaxað Western vocalization: ܐܱܟܚܰܕ ʔaxħað

Bob and Andy went into business together.  Jenny and Mark have been together since they went on holiday to Mexico.

A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

In a relationship or partnership, for example a business relationship or a romantic partnership.

It has been raining four days together

He would weep for hours together, and I verily believe that to the very end this spoilt child of life thought his weak tears in some way efficacious.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 218:

Without intermission or interruption; continuously; uninterruptedly.


ipso facto

/ˌɪpsəʊ ˈfæktəʊ/

Borrowed from Latin ipsō factō (“by the same fact”).

bor+

Coordinate term: eo ipso

Cope was not long in feeling him as operating on the unconscious assumption—unconscious, and therefore all the more damnable—that the young man in business constituted, ipso facto, a kind of norm by which other young men in other fields of endeavor were to be gauged: […]

1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope at His House Party”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 94:

For [Ludwig von] Mises or [Murray] Rothbard, it is simply confused to posit latent preferences; if two individuals fail to make an exchange, then this ipso facto demonstrates that at that moment at least one of them would not have benefited from the exchange.

1999 April, Bryan Caplan, “The Austrian Search for Realistic Foundations”, in Southern Economic Journal, volume 65, number 4, page 833:

Intellectually, Ibanez had understood that there would be a lot of caverns. She'd once read that the Great Lakes, the largest freshwater bodies in the world, had a surface area of something like a quarter of a million square kilometres. The Mishepeshu were said to have used their tunnels to travel between the lakes and their islands. Ipso facto, there would be a lot of interior space down here. She'd patrolled some of it before. She'd seen it mapped by drones like the ones Nascimbeni had used. She should have been prepared.

2023 October 10, HarryBlank, “The Cruelest Fight”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-08-31:


bright

en-adv

bright (comparative more bright, superlative most bright)

more bright (comparative)
most bright (superlative)

From Middle English brighte (“brightly; (figuratively) brilliantly, lustrously; of colour: boldly, vividly; clearly, distinctly; of voice: loudly”) [and other forms], from Old English breohte, beorhte (West Saxon) [and other forms], ultimately from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”); see further at etymology 1.

nb...

brighte, briȝt, briȝte, bryght, bryghte, bryht, bryȝt, bryȝte, bryȝth, (Early Middle English) brigt, brigte, brihhte, brihte, brith, briȝhte, briȝtte, bryhte, bryte, bryth,

(Late Old English) brihte, (Old English) beorte (rare), biorhte

inh

(often literary) In a bright manner; brightly, glowingly, luminously, lustrously.

Referring to colour: with bold or vivid colours; brightly, boldly, vividly.

(archaic) Referring to sight, sound, understanding, etc.: clearly, distinctly; brightly.


broadcast

en-adv

broadcast (comparative more broadcast, superlative most broadcast)

more broadcast (comparative)
most broadcast (superlative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-der.?
Proto-Germanic *braidaz
Proto-West Germanic *braid
Old English brād
Middle English brood
English broad
Proto-Germanic *kas-
Proto-Germanic *kastōną
Old Norse kastabor.
Middle English casten
English cast
English broadcastFrom broad + cast.

etymon

[O]n reporting to Captain Thrasher he informed me that his orders were to take a detachment of forty men across the French Broad River and turn them loose to wander broadcast over the country as a protection to foraging parties of quartermasters and commissaries, […]

1864 January 15, J[oseph] B[enjamin] Polley, “Some ‘Escape’ Stories”, in A Soldier’s Letters to Charming Nellie, New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, published 1908, →OCLC, page 195:

The commercial traveller, a personage unknown to antiquity, is one of the striking figures created by the manners and customs of our present epoch. […] Our century will bind the realm of isolated power, abounding as it does in creative genius, to the realm of universal but levelling might; equalizing all products, spreading them broadcast among the masses, and being itself controlled by the principle of unity,—the final expression of all societies.

1885, Honoré de Balzac, [Katherine Prescott Wormeley, transl.], “The Illustrious Gaudissart [Scenes from Provincial Life.]”, in The Duchesse de Langeais: With An Episode under the Terror, The Illustrious Gaudissart, A Passion in the Desert, and The Hidden Masterpiece (The Comedy of Human Life), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, 3 Somerset Street, →OCLC, chapter I, page 217:

A special letter of warning against the ravages of the potato-tuber moth in the shape of a press notice has been sent broadcast to newspapers, as well as to others, throughout the country.

1913, F[rank] H[urlbut] Chittenden, “Protection of the Fall Crop and Seed Potatoes”, in The Potato-tuber Moth (U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 557), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 6:

When [rape is] grown broadcast the superphosphate may be incorporated with the surface soil by the harrow when preparing the ground for the seed or in covering the same.

1893, Thomas Shaw, “Fertilizers for Rape”, in The Rape Plant: Its History, Culture, and Uses (U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 11), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office; published by authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 15:

(agriculture, horticulture, archaic) By having its seeds sown over a wide area.


cruel

From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude.

"But I've served 'im ten years, and I'm fond of 'im, and, mind you, 'e's a great man, when all's said an' done, and it's an honor to serve 'im. But 'e does try one cruel at times."

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

'I've never got arthritis, though my old dad had it something cruel.'

2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 219:

(nonstandard) To a great degree; terribly.


acoustically

From acoustic + -ally or acoustical + -ly.

(manner) In an acoustic manner, or using an acoustic musical instrument.

(domain) From the perspective of acoustics.


down

en-adv

down (not generally comparable, comparative farther down, superlative farthest down)

farther down (comparative)
farthest down (superlative)

up

antonym(s) of “from a higher position to a lower one”

up

antonym(s) of “into a state of non-operation”

up

From Middle English doun, from Old English dūne, aphetic form of adūne, from ofdūne (“off the hill”). For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Middle Low German dāle (“(in/to the) valley”), i.e. "down(wards)".

noncog

The cat jumped down from the table.

She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

To her humiliation Jessamy found there were tears trickling down her cheeks.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, year_published edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 48:

Through the open front door ran Jessamy, down the steps to where Kitto was sitting at the bottom with the pram beside him.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:

(comparable) From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.

تَحْتَ

from a high to a low position, downwards

Go down to the bottom of the page.

As I lay on my back, a pain shot down from my neck to my waist.

To or towards what is considered the bottom of something, irrespective of whether this is presently physically lower.

His place is farther down the road.

The company was well down the path to bankruptcy.

It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.

1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:

(comparable) At a lower or further place or position along a set path.

I went down to Miami for a conference.

To the south (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).

He went down to Cavan.

down on the farm

down country

1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt et al., p. 12,
But then my Servant who I had intended to take down with me [i.e. from London to Bedfordshire], deceiv’d me;

Away from the city (regardless of direction).

Coordinate term: over

She lives down by the park.

At or towards any place that is visualised as 'down' by virtue of local features or local convention, or arbitrarily, irrespective of direction or elevation change.

At the first intersection turn left and walk down, then turn right.

(rail transport) In the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.

下りの

away from principal terminus in railroads

He's gone back down to Newcastle for Christmas.

(UK, academia, dated) Away from Oxford or Cambridge.

Smith was sent down to the minors to work on his batting.

After the incident, Kelly went down to Second Lieutenant.

To a subordinate or less prestigious position or rank.

The charity match, played Sunday afternoon at Cirencester Park Polo Club in Gloucestershire, reached a dramatic climax when Prince Harry tore down the pitch but failed to score what was described as an “open goal”.

2015 May 25, “Frustrated Prince Harry howls as he misses open goal”, in Daily Telegraph:

By moving further down the pitch, the batsman lengthens the distance between the ball and the stumps.

2005 September 5, “LBW explained”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(sports) Towards the opponent's side (in ball-sports).

You need to tone down the rhetoric.

Please turn the music down!

So as to lessen quantity, level or intensity.

Trim the stick down to a length of about twelve inches.

Thanks to my strict diet, I've slimmed down to eleven stone.

Boil the mixture down to a syrupy consistency.

ſtew it gently till quite tender, then take it up and boil down the gravy in the pan to a quart

1788, Mary Cole (cook), The Lady's Complete Guide; or, Cookery in all its Branches, London: G. Kearsley, →OCLC, page 92:

At that point I perhaps should have gone back through the interview and changed what I said — slightly re-worded it to better reflect my feelings about the two resolutions. But I did not think to do that. I was caught up in the crunch of trying to get it all ready for publication, and edit it down, not add more explanations to it.

1981 August 29, Nancy Wechsler, “Pornography and the Lawyers Guild”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 7, page 4:

This spreadsheet lets you drill down to daily or even hourly sales figures.

Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

These traditions have been handed down over generations.

Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.

1825 June 17, Daniel Webster, An address delivered at the laying of the corner stone of the Bunker Hill monument, Boston: Cummings, Hilliard, and Co., →OCLC, page 12:

The computer has been shut down.

They closed the shop down.

alas (only in some contexts, otherwise no translation)

We need to nail down this carpet so people don't keep tripping over it.

So as to secure or compress something to the floor, ground, or other (usually horizontal) surface.

You need to write down what happened while it's still fresh in your mind.

We put £100 down on a new sofa.

You can have it, no money down.

I'm stuck on 11 down.

(crosswords, in relation to a numbered clued word) In a downwards direction; vertically.

He closed operations. / He closed down operations.

He chased answers. / He chased down answers.

Used with verbs to indicate that the action of the verb was carried to some state of completion, permanence, or success rather than being of indefinite duration.

Down, boy! (such as to direct a dog to stand on four legs from two, or to sit from standing on four legs.)

(sentence substitute, imperative) Get down.


what

wot (all only in British, Australian, New Zealand, New York City accents with the wine–whine merger)

From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”). Cognate with Scots whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”).

What does it matter?

What do you care?

(interrogative) In what way; to what extent.

In short; what by the indiscretion of people here, what by the rebound which came often back from London, what by the private interests and ambitious views of persons in the French court, and what by other causes unnecessary to be examined now, the most private transactions came to light [...]

1787, Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Letters on the Study and Use of History: A Letter to Sir William Windham, page 83:

The Chinese of all ranks, and in every place, received my books gladly, and listened with patience to what I had to say about the true God.—So that what from opportunities of attending to the object of my Mission among the Chinese—what from seasons of religious instruction to Dutch and English—what from intercourse with gentlemen of education and knowledge of the world—what from occasions of stating clearly the object of Missions, and of endeavouring to remove prejudices against them—and what from the view of a highly cultivated country, happy under an enlightened and liberal government, I have much reason to be satisfied with this journey …

1815, Rev. Mr. Milne, letter reprinted in The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Volume 23, page 82. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EPE6AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA82&dq=%22what+from%22

Used before a prepositional phrase to emphasise that something is taken into consideration as a cause or reason; usually used in combination with 'with' (see what with), and much less commonly with other prepositions.


swell

From the noun "swell" (a person dressed in an elegant manner).

“That lousy ring wasn’t worth no grand. I did swell to get two centuries for it.”

1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 12, in Red Harvest:

“[…] Last August, when I left The Walls, I figured I had every chance to start new. I got a job in Olathe, lived with my family, and stayed home nights. I was doing swell—”

1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, published 2013, Part 3, p. 251:


with

From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward, with”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþi, a shortened form of Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against”). In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid (“with”), from Old English mid (“with”), from Proto-Germanic *midi; an earlier model of this meaning shift exists in cognate Old Norse við; elsewhere, the converse meaning shift is exemplified by Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩺𐩬 (byn, “between, amid”) spawning Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “against”) and even likewise frequent reverse meaning 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “from”). The adverb sense is probably a semantic loan from various other Germanic languages, such as Norwegian med, Swedish med, and German mit.

inh

Do you want to come with?

(regional US, chiefly Midwest and West, informal) Along, together with others, in a group, etc.


chance

From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.


stiff

en-adverb

stiff (comparative more stiff, superlative most stiff)

more stiff (comparative)
most stiff (superlative)

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós.
See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore.
The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.

At Feversham was a very High Tide in the Afternoon, tho' the Wind was Southerly, and blew very stiff, which the Seamen there wondered at.

1731, John Lowthorp, Philosophical Transactions and Collections to the End of the Year MDCC, 4th edition, volume II, page 282:

It soon blew stiff, & we scudded before it under double-reefed topsails, & mainsail hauled up.

1849 October 23, Herman Melville, edited by Howard C. Horsforth and Lynn Horth, The Writings of Herman Melville: Journals, volume 15, published 1989, page 9:

At about 11.30 am it rained tremendously and blew very stiff.

1871 September 16, W.A. Crowther, Diary:

(nautical) Of the wind, with great force; strongly.


stay

en-adv

stay (comparative stayer or more stay, superlative stayest or most stay)

stayer (comparative)
more stay (comparative)
stayest (superlative)
most stay (superlative)

From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of stǣġel (“steep, abrupt”), from Proto-West Germanic *staigil (“steep”), see sty.


straight

straight (comparative more straight, superlative most straight)

more straight (comparative)
most straight (superlative)

From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Doublet of straught.

der

The door will be straight ahead of you.

Go straight back.

Of a direction relative to the subject, precisely; as if following a direct line.

On arriving at work, he went straight to his office.

Tartarian theeues,
That lie in ambuſh, waiting for a pray:
What ſhould we doe but bid them battel ſtraight,
And rid the world of thoſe deteſted troopes?

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

I know thy generous temper well; / Fling but the appearance of dishonour on it, / It straight takes fire, and mounts into a blaze.

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

en:directly; without pause, delay or detour

Directly; without pause, delay or detour.

пряко

He claims he can hold his breath for three minutes straight.

Continuously; without interruption or pause.

"By ginger, Mudgy, you do go off the handle over nothing. I tell you straight, I was damned annoyed with you this afternoon, going pop like that at a man over nothing."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC:

Of speech or information, without prevarication or holding back; directly; straightforwardly; plainly.


why

From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷis (“who”), *kʷid (“what”).
Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.

cog

Why is the sky blue?

Why did you do that?

I don’t know why he did that

Tell me why the moon changes phase.

Why do you have a map of the world?
Audio (US): (file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(interrogative) For what cause, reason, or purpose.

For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a complete question.

Why don't you ask her out for dinner?

With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.

Why spend money on something you already get for free?

Why not tell him how you feel?

Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).

Why him? Why not someone taller?

For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a noun or other phrase.

That's the reason why I did that.

(relative) For which cause, reason, or purpose.

That is why the sky is blue.

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(fused relative) The cause, reason, or purpose for which.


then

From Middle English then(ne), than(ne), from Old English þonne, þanne, þænne (“then, at that time”), from Proto-West Germanic *þan, from Proto-Germanic *þan (“at that (time), then”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“demonstrative pronoun, that”).
Cognate with Dutch dan (“then”), German dann (“then”), Icelandic þá (“then”). Doublet of than.

inh

He was happy then.

And the Canaanite was then in the land.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 12:6:

In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

He fixed it, then left.

Turn left, then right, then right again, then keep going until you reach the service station.

First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:24:

Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

There are three green ones, then a blue one.

Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:

Another legend says that now and again in the world's history a monarch appears who conquers and rules every nation under the sun. […] Then many of the Siamese believe that the animal is inhabited by the soul of some great man of the past […]

1908, E Young, “Chapter 17 White elephants”, in Peeps at Many Lands: Siam, London: Adam and Charles Black, page 75:

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?

And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted — "Open then the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more."

1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 1:

That happy minute would elate me, / End all my sorrow, grief, and cares; / Then do not frown, altho' you hate me, / But smile and dissipate my fears: […]

1749, The Universal Magazine, volume 4, page 321:

That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one.

(sequence) At the same time; on the other hand.

‘She says Indian elephants are tidgy little things.’
 ‘They're not then.’ Emma was getting heated. ‘They're –’
 ‘Emma!’ said Jenny sharply. The child subsided.

2001, Eric Malpass, At the Height of the Moon, page 28:

(UK, dialect, affirmation) Used to contradict an assertion.


before

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

Inherited from Middle English before／bifore, from Old English beforan, from be- + foran (“before”), from fore, from Proto-Germanic *furai, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“front”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian befoar (“before”), German Low German bevör (“before”), German bevor (“before”).

inh+

I've never done this before.

This achievement far exceeded anything that had come before.

All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

We walked behind while they went before.

(chiefly literary or poetic) In advance in position or sequence; ahead.

When people call this beast to mind,
They marvel more and more
At such a little tail behind,
So LARGE a trunk before.

1896, Hilaire Belloc, “The Elephant”, in The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts:


else

From Middle English ells, elles, from Old English elles (“other, otherwise, different”), from Proto-West Germanic *alljas, from Proto-Germanic *aljas (“of another, of something else”), genitive of *aljaz (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos, from *h₂el- (“other”).
Cognate with Old Frisian elles (“other”), Old High German elles, ellies (“other”), Danish eller (“or”), Danish ellers (“otherwise”), Swedish eljes, eljest (“or else, otherwise”), Norwegian elles (“else, otherwise”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (aljis, “other”), Latin alius (“other, another”), Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), Arcadocypriot αἶλος (aîlos), modern Greek αλλιώς (alliós, “otherwise, else”).

cog

How else (= in what other way) can it be done?

I'm busy Friday; when else (= what other time) works for you?

The crust of ice on the else rippling brook was so transparent, and so thin in texture, that the lively water might of its own free will have stopped—in Tom’s glad mind it had—to look upon the lovely morning.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

(usually follows interrogative adverbs) Otherwise, if not.

иначе

word that implies any result with the exception of the one being referred to


cheap

en-adv

cheap (comparative more cheap, superlative most cheap)

more cheap (comparative)
most cheap (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English cheep, chepe/chepen, chep, cheap/cheapien, chapien, from Old English cēap (“cattle, purchase, sale”), ċēapian (“to bargain, chaffer, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaup (“trade, purchase”), *kaupōn (“to buy, trade”), from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną, *kaupijaną (“to buy, trade”), *kaupô (“inn-keeper, merchant”), from Latin caupō (“tradesman, innkeeper”). See also chapman. For sense evolution to "inexpensive," compare bargain or French bon marché.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots chepe (“to sell”), chape (“sale price”), North Frisian keap (“purchase”), West Frisian keap (“purchase, buy, acquisition”), Dutch koop (“buy, purchase, deal”), kopen (“to buy, purchase, shop”), Low German kopen (“to buy”), German Kauf (“trade, traffic, bargain, purchase, buy”), kaufen (“to buy”), Swedish köp (“bargain, purchase”), köpa (“to buy, purchase”), Norwegian Nynorsk kjøpa (“to buy, purchase”), Icelandic kaup (“purchase, bargain”), kaupa (“to purchase”); also borrowed as Finnish kauppa (“shop, trade”), Russian купить (kupitʹ, “to purchase”), Old Church Slavonic коупити (kupiti, “to purchase”), Bulgarian ку́пя (kúpja, “to purchase”), Serbo-Croatian купити (“to purchase”), Czech koupit (“to purchase”), Polish kupić (“to purchase”).

cog

I bought this cheap in a junk shop.

The pet shop has some budgerigars going cheap.

March 24 1658, John Milton, letter to Emeric Bigot
I need not request you to purchase them as cheap as possible


act

en-adv

act (comparative more act, superlative most act)

more act (comparative)
most act (superlative)

james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl


tomorrow

From Middle English tomorwe, tomorwen, from Old English tō morgne (“tomorrow”, adverb), from tō (“at, on”) + morgne (dative of morgen (“morning”)), from Proto-Germanic *murganaz (“morning”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mergʰ- (“to blink, to twinkle”), equivalent to to- + morrow.

der

He has vamp'd an old speech, and the court to their sorrow, / Shall hear him harangue against Prior to morrow.

1711 [December?] (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Excellent New Song. Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator against Peace [i.e., Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham].”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 72:

It was eight o'clock to-morrow evening when I buckled up my travelling writing-desk in its leather case, paid my Bill, and got on my warm coats and wrappers.

1855, Charles Dickens, “The Holly-tree. Third Branch—The Bill”, in Christmas Stories […] (The Works of Charles Dickens; XV), de luxe edition, London: Chapman and Hall, published 1881, →OCLC, page 63:

কালি

may refer to yesterday, depending on the context

ꠇꠣꠁꠟ

may also refer to yesterday, depending on context

If you don’t get your life on track today, you’re going to be very sorry tomorrow.

Resolved, &c. That the House be Called over again on Tomorrow Month, being the Six-and-twentieth Day of April next.

1664 March 28, debate in Great Britain's House of Commons, printed in 1803 in the Journals of the House of Commons, page 538

'You shall go to it on to-morrow week, so make haste and get well!'

1840, “Melancholy Death of Amelia V”, in The Christian Guardian (and Church of England magazine), page 60:

(possibly obsolete) On next (period of time other than a day, such as a week or a month), following the present (period of time).

To prevent this, a committee for peace was proposed for to-morrow, who heard the ministers and Mr. Anderson upon the heads of the affair, but in vain; when their complaint was given in in Synod, and referred to the next Synod […]

1717 October 8, Robert Wodrow, in a letter to Mr. James Hart, printed in 1828, Robert Wodrow, The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, page xxii

[…] after he hade drunk liberally in the Advocate's house that same day, went to bed in health, but was taken up stark dead to-morrow morning; and such was the testimony of honour heaven was pleased to allow Montrose's pompuous funerals.

1817, James Kirkton, The Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland, page 126:

(obsolete) On the next day (following some date in the past).


there

From Middle English there, ther, thare, thar, thore, from Old English þēr, þǣr, þār (“there; at that place”), from Proto-West Germanic *þār, from Proto-Germanic *þar (“at that place; there”), from Proto-Indo-European *tó-r (“there”), from demonstrative pronominal base *to- (“the, that”) + adverbial suffix *-r̥.
Cognate with Scots thar, thair (“there”), North Frisian dear, deer, där (“there”), Saterland Frisian deer (“there”), West Frisian dêr (“there”), Dutch daar (“there”), Low German dar (“there”), German da, dar- (“there”), Danish der (“there”), Norwegian der (“there”), Swedish där (“there”), Icelandic þar (“in that place, there”).

duman

far from both the speaker and the listener

diyan

away from the speaker, but close to the listener

tuolla

the place, which is pointed at, which is more distant or less accurately confined

tuossa

the place, which is pointed at, which is less distant or more accurately confined

siellä

the place, which is not pointed at, which is more distant or less accurately confined

siinä

the place, which is not pointed at, which is less distant or more accurately confined

And in a dark and dankish vault at home / There left me and my man, both bound together;

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Genesis, 2, viii,
The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

To veil the heav'n, tho' darkneſs there might well / Seem twilight here.

1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

(Phone rings)
MAN: Hello. Philosophy Department.
CALLER: Is Jack there?
MAN: Well, what do we mean when we say, "Jack"? Is there really such an entity? Or is Jack simply a description? A label. There are countless people who call themselves Jack. Can they all be doing so accurately? And by the way, where is this "there" you speak of? As I listen to you, I experience your voice as a physical sensation within my head. Certainly Jack isn't in there. Wherever your entity called Jack is, it's probably safe to say that that is where he is. At least for the moment.

2004, George Carlin, “IS ANYONE THERE?”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 117:

(location) In a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) at some distance from the speaker (compare here).

He did not stop there, but continued his speech.

They patched up their differences, but matters did not end there.

The law, that threaten’d death, becomes thy friend / And turns it to exile; there art thou happy.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

(figuratively) In that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc., regarded as a distinct place.

atje

in that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc.

A knight there was, and that a worthy man / […]

1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

And the rarest that e’er came there.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

So that wherever there is sense or perception, there some idea is actually produced, and present in the understanding.

1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter IX, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Job, 28, vii,
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

(location) To or into that place; thither.

(obsolete) Where, there where, in which place.

These firms do not want the truth to get out and are financing these flights in the hope of dazzling the public. Yet the record of the gas engine is there for all to see.

1928 January, Captain Ferdinand Tuohy, “Why Don't We Fly?”, in Popular Science, page 144:

In this world, used to say that someone or something exists; see pronoun section below.


different

en-adv

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

more different (comparative)
most different (superlative)

From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“I differ”); see differ.
Broadly ousted the native Old English ungelic.


boiling

He was boiling mad.

(of adjectives associated with heat) Extremely


street

Belizean Creole: schreet

From Anglian Old English strēt (“street”) (cognate West Saxon form strǣt) from Proto-West Germanic *strātu (“street”), an early borrowing from Late Latin (via) strāta (“paved (road)”), from Latin strātus, past participle of sternō (“stretch out, spread, bestrew with, cover, pave”), from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- (“to stretch out, extend, spread”).
Cognate with Scots stret, strete, streit (“street”), Saterland Frisian Sträite (“street”), West Frisian strjitte (“street”), Dutch straat (“street”), German Low German Straat (“street”), German Straße (“street”), Swedish stråt (“way, path”), Icelandic stræti (“street”) (Scandinavian forms are borrowed from Old English), Portuguese estrada (“road, way, drive”), Italian strada (“road, street”). Related to Old English strēowian, strewian (“to strew, scatter”), Latin sternō, Ancient Greek στορνύναι (stornýnai). More at strew.
The /aː/ vowel of the Latin form shifted by Anglo-Frisian brightening to /æː/ in West Saxon and /eː/ in Anglian Old English; these developed respectively to /ɛː/ and /eː/ in Middle English, /eː/ and /iː/ in Early Modern English, and finally /iː/ in Modern English by the Great Vowel Shift. The modern spelling reflects the Anglian form, as in sleep, greedy, sheep.

амҩа

paved part of road in a village or a town

زَنَقَة

"alley" or regionally in the sense of "street"

downstreet
midstreet
streetwards
upstreet


piano

(music) softly, as a musical direction (abbreviated to p. in sheet music)


From Middle English none, noon, non (“not one”), from Old English nān (“not one, not any, none”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“none, nought, nothing”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + one. (Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.)
Cognate with Scots nane (“none”), Saterland Frisian naan, neen (“no, not any, none”), West Frisian neen & gjin (“no, none”), Dutch neen & geen (“no, none”), Low German nēn, neen (“none, no one”), German nein & kein (“no, none”), Latin nōn (“not”).

inh

I felt none the worse for my recent illness.

my lack of education hasn't hurt me none

1973, Paul Simon (lyrics and music), “Kodachrome”:

He was none too pleased with the delays in the program that was supposed to be his legacy.

We could hear none too well from the back.


de jure

/deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊɹi/

/dɪ ˈd͡ʒʊəɹi/

/deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊəɹeɪ/

/-ˈd͡ʒʊ(ə)ɹ/

/deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊəɹeɪ/

/deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊəɹɪ/

/diː ˈd͡ʒʊəɹi/

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē jūre (literally “according to law”).

ubor

I used to spend my Sundays playing pinball despite it being de jure illegal under an unenforced bylaw.

By right; in accordance with or as deemed by the statute of the law; legally, particularly as opposed to actual practice.


rotten

en-adv

rotten (comparative more rotten, superlative most rotten)

more rotten (comparative)
most rotten (superlative)

From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). More at rot.
Morphologically rot + -en.

That kid is spoilt rotten.

The girls fancy him something rotten.

"It's old man Challenger's show and we are here by his good will, so it would be rotten bad form if we didn't follow his instructions to the letter."

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

"You're not only crazy," Oscar said bitterly, "you're rotten jealous. You can go to hell." He stomped away.

1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, page 53:


round

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

The invitations were sent round accordingly.

1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:

They travelled for thirteen hours down-hill, whilst the streams broadened and the mountains shrank, and the vegetation changed, and the people ceased being ugly and drinking beer, and began instead to drink wine and to be beautiful. And the train which had picked them at sunrise out of a waste of glaciers and hotels was waltzing at sunset round the walls of Verona.

1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 6


solid

solid (comparative more solid, superlative most solid)

more solid (comparative)
most solid (superlative)

From Middle English solide, borrowed from Old French solide, from Latin solidus (“solid”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-i-dʰ-o-s (“entire”), suffixed form of root *solh₂- (“integrate, whole”). Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solidus, sou, and xu.

doublet

True, not ten of these mines were yielding rock worth hauling to a mill, but everybody said, "Wait till the shaft gets down where the ledge comes in solid, and then you will see!"

1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XLIV, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 306:

Hm-m-—These papers are complete—They make Mortimer and Matilda the legal guardians of Babs—ought to put me in more solid than ever with Miss Effie—and that home is good graft.

1937 March 7, Marsh, “Dan Dunn-Secret Operative 48”, in Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune:

Suppose, then, a whole family got sick with this flu, and no help around, and winter setting in solid and cold three weeks early?

1943, Wallace Stegner, The Big Rock Candy Mountain, →ISBN, page 246:

set a new high in baseball for the year, not only ending speculation as to when Durocher would be fired but putting him in more solid than ever before.

1943 July 16, “Dodger Rebellion Is Settled With One Dramatic Flourish”, in Youngstown (OH) Vindicator:

She was telling Bobbie about the time when Boko Fittleworth was trying to ingratiate himself with your Uncle Percy, and you very sportingly offered to go and call your Uncle Percy a lot of offensive names, so that Boko, hovering outside the door, could come in and stick up for him, thus putting himself in solid with him.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

If true, that means he deliberately risked American and French lives, and maybe the battle, in order to get in solid with Lafayette.

1997, David Ambrose, Superstition, →ISBN, page 239:

Then he drew a long-barreled revolver from under a coat that he had thrown aside and examined it carefully to see that the powder and ball were in solid and that none of the caps was missing

2008, James Oliver Curwood, The Courage of Captain Plum, →ISBN, page 3:

Soichi Yamazaki, chief analyst at Fukoku Capital Management said Nidec Corp's (6594.OS) earnings came in more solid than expected on Friday

2009 July 26, Rika Otsuka, “Nikkei hits 6-wk high on earnings hopes, Hitachi jumps”, in Reuters.com:

Many long-established compounds are set solid.

(not comparable, typography) Without spaces or hyphens.


flat

en-adv

flat (comparative more flat, superlative most flat)

more flat (comparative)
most flat (superlative)

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.

I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat.

теүәл

with units of time, distance, etc: not exceeding

In the mile race, Smith's time was 3:58.56, and Brown's was four minutes flat.

Dan Patch clocked a scorching 1:55.5 flat.

1996, Jon Byrell, Lairs, Urgers and Coat-Tuggers, Sydney: Ironbark, page 186:

I play doctor for five minutes flat
Before I cut my heart open and let the air out

1997, “Scissors”, performed by Slipknot:

(of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.

He can run a mile in four minutes flat.

Found my coat and grabbed my hat / Made the bus in seconds flat

1967, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “A Day in the Life”, in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:

(with units of time, distance, etc) Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.

I am flat broke this month.

Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty.

[1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:

The bonds are trading flat.

(finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.


back

en-adv

back (comparative further back, superlative furthest back)

further back (comparative)
furthest back (superlative)

From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.
Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).

He gave back the money.

I left my mobile phone back at the hotel. I’ll have to go back and get it.

We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

(not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.

Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.

The grandfather clock toppled back and crashed to the ground.

Her arm was bent back at an odd angle.

In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.

Wind the film back a few frames.

Don’t forget to put the clocks back by one hour tonight!

This mishap has set the project back considerably.

In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively.

These records go back years.

He built a time machine and travelled back to 1800.

Think back to how you felt last year.

Everything was simpler back in the old days.

Keep back! It could explode at any moment!

Away from someone or something; at a distance.

Sit all the way back in your chair.

Step back from the curb.

Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

This tree is dying back.

Clear back all this vegetation.

Draw back the curtains and let in some light.

So as to shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so.

Fear held him back.

If you hurt me, I’ll hurt you back.

The light bounces back off the mirror.

I was at Park Safari Africa in Canada on the Canadian border. This was years ago outside of Plattsburgh, New York. And I had a new car at the time, and I was driving through, going through the monkey area. And they said 'beware of the monkeys.' So about ten of them circled my car. And this one special one, like he was the leader of the pack, jumped up on the hood and came right up to the windshield and looked in. So I was like making faces at him. [garbled] 'don't do that!' And believe it or not, he made like a face back. He jumped off the car. He took his fingernails and he peeled all the chrome on both sides of my car off. Picked it up, jumped on the hood, dropped it and left- looked at me and left.

2006 May 9, Penn Jillette, Michael Goudeau, quoting Pat, 34:52 from the start, in Penn Radio:

(not comparable) In a reciprocal manner; in return.

We met many years back.

I last saw him a day or two back.

Our road was chiefly through woods, and part of it lay through the Hurricane-track, that is where a strong wind, some years back, opened a passage through the woods for a mile in breadth...

1822, John Woods, Two Years' Residence in the Settlement on the English Prairie, in the Illinois Country, United States, page 138:

The meeting has been moved back an hour. It was at 3 o’clock; now it's at 4 o’clock.

To a later point in time. See also put back.


temporarily

/ˌtɛmpəˈɹɛɹəli/

Necromancers were thought to have the power of restoring activity to the dead, either temporarily or permanently[.]

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 52:

The committee also decided that the remains of President Chiang will be entombed temporarily by Tzu Lake, at Tahsi township of Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan, and will be buried on the mainland after it is recovered.

1975 April 13, “Late President funeral service set for April 16”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVI, number 14, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 1:

For a limited period of time; not permanently.


rough

rough (comparative more rough, superlative most rough)

more rough (comparative)
most rough (superlative)

From Middle English rough, roughe, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz.
Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), German rau(h) (“rough”), Danish ru (“uneven on the surface, "rough", "rugged"”).

cog

I will warrant they prove such roaring boys as I knew when I served under Lumford and Goring, [...] —sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. Ah! those merry days are gone.

1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 93:


clear

From Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr (“clear, bright”)), Middle English skere (“clear, sheer”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr (“sheer, clear, pure”)), Middle English smolt (“clear (of mind), serene”) (from Old English smolt (“peaceful, serene”)). Cognate with Danish klar, Dutch klaar, French clair, German klar, Italian chiaro, Norwegian klar, Portuguese claro, Romanian clar, Spanish claro, and Swedish klar.

I threw it clear across the river to the other side.

Stand clear of the rails, a train is coming.

Much soul-searching is going on at the west London club who, just seven weeks ago, were five points clear at the top of the table and playing with the verve with which they won the title last season.

2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:

Now clear I understand
 What oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain

1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

I want you to know how he spoke: he spoke loud, and he spoke clear.

1988, Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses:

Can't they see for themselves? Course not. Looks like dust to them, so they can't see it clear at all

I would get very short with people and speak clear of my feelings without consideration of their feelings.

2005, Sammatha Crosby Scott, There's a War Inside of Me, page 111:

Then I heard clear your mother's voice, crying out in distress!

2009, Stephen James Shore, Annalea A Princess in Exile, page 160:

Now when God called him, Moses told God immediately that he could not speak clear enough to be this leader.

2010, Jack Mayatt, A Better Man: An Inspirational Book, page 20:


de facto

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē factō (literally “according to fact”), from dē (“according to”) + ablative of factum (“fact, deed, act”).

ubor

(modal) In practice; in actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status.


low

en-adv

low (comparative lower, superlative lowest)

lower (comparative)
lowest (superlative)

From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).
Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Low German leeg (“low, feeble, bad”), Danish lav (“low”), Icelandic lágur (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), North Frisian leeg, liig (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”). More at lie.

der

Can sing both high and low.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

to speak low

[T]he amorous, odorous wind, / Breathes low between the sunset and the moon, […]

1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “Eleanore”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 31:

With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.

He sold his wheat low.

Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.

But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.

2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):

In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.

In that part of the world which was first inhabited, […] even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.

1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC:

The moon runs low, i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.

(astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.


long

en-adv

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

longer (comparative)
longest (superlative)

From Middle English longe, lange, from Old English longe, lange, from the adjective (see above).

a creaking door hangs long on its hinges

Every golfer wants to hit the ball long and straight.

(chiefly sports) Over a great distance in space.

She hit her return long and lost the point.

Over too great a distance, beyond the target.

How long is it until the next bus arrives?

She has known us as long as you.

I’ve waited long enough.

He slept all day long.

I ſtay too long ; but here my Father comes : / A double bleſſing is a double grace; / Occaſion ſmiles vpon a ſecond leaue.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 156, column 1:

I answer by saying that I have worked too long and hard now against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern.

1991, James Melvin Washington, editor, A testament of hope: the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, page 636:

Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.

By eight o’clock, the food will be long gone.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 2:

The world was awake to the 2nd of May, but Mayfair is not the world, and even the menials of Mayfair lie long abed.

1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(as premodifier of a verb, participle, adjective, preposition, or adverb) For a long time.

It’s an earth song,—
And I’ve been waiting long for an earth song.
It’s a spring song,—
And I’ve been waiting long for a spring song.[…]
I have been waiting long for this spring song.

1925, Langston Hughes, “An Earth Song”, in Alain LeRoy Locke, editor, The New Negro: An Interpretation, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, page 142:

(rare, postposed to positive verb) For a long time.

Will this interview take long?

I haven’t got long to live.

They are in a hurry; they can’t wait for too long.

My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:

[Verse 1]:[…]Be there in five, man’s taking long. Are you still there? No fam, I’m already gone.

2021 August 19, “Drake”performed by Most Certi:


v

You were acting v rude to his boyfriend on New Year's.

I'm v tired. I slept v badly, awake from 3–6 a.m., so I've slept all afternoon.

2006, Cathy Wield, Life After Darkness: A Doctor's Journey Through Severe Depression, Seattle, WA: Radcliffe Publishing, →ISBN, page 109:

I said it wasn't a crush, I just thought he was v attractive.

2007, Dyan Sheldon, Deep and Meaningful Diaries from Planet Janet, Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, →ISBN, page 253:

Since becoming social media official, Cara Delevingne and Ashley Benson have been sashaying around town together and being v cute

2019 July 23, Matt Galea, “Punters Reckon Ashley Benson's New Tatt Is A Tribute To Girlfriend Cara Delevingne”, in Pedestrian, archived from the original on 2019-07-23:

(informal, text messaging) Clipping of very.


deep

deep (comparative more deep or deeper, superlative most deep or deepest)

more deep (comparative)
deeper (comparative)
most deep (superlative)
deepest (superlative)

From Middle English depe, deep, dep, deop, from Old English dēop (“deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great”), from Proto-West Germanic *deup, from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (“deep”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-nós, from *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots depe (“deep”), Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”), West Frisian djip (“deep”), Low German deep (“deep”), Dutch diep (“deep”), German tief (“deep”), Danish dyb (“deep”), Norwegian Bokmål dyp (“deep”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish djup (“deep”), Icelandic djúpur (“deep”), Lithuanian dubùs (“deep, hollow”), Albanian det (“sea”), Welsh dwfn (“deep”).

inh

The ogre lived in a cave deep underground.

We ventured deep into the forest.

His problems lie deep in the subconscious.

I am deep in debt.

Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

Far, especially far down through something or into something, physically or figuratively.

I thought long and deep.

Deep verſt in books and ſhallow in himſelf,

1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 95, line 324:

(also deeply) In a profound, not superficial, manner.

breathe deep, drink deep

A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing; / Drink deep, or taſte not the Pierian Spring:

1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 14:

He's normally a midfield player, but today he's playing deep.

(sports) Back towards one's own goal, baseline, or similar.


true

[t̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷu̠ː]

From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).

der

This gun shoots true.

Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.

I tel you true my hart is ſwolne with wrath,
On this ſame theeuish villain Tamburlain.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:


upcountry

Possibly a Calque of French Pays d’en Haut a designation from 1610 referring to the area of New France west of Montreal. By surface analysis, up + country.

According to Dr Christy in 1931, the authorities in Monrovia had deliberately banned all freelance travel upcountry by outsiders, …

2010 Oct, Tim Butcher, “Our Man in Liberia”, in History Today, volume 60, number 10, pages 10–17:

Towards the interior of the country and away from the seacoast.


light

en-adv

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)

lighter (comparative)
lightest (superlative)

From Old English lēoht, līht, from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄ht, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz or *līhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”).
Cognate with Dutch licht, German leicht, Swedish lätt, Norwegian lett, Albanian lehtë, Latin levis, Russian лёгкий (ljóxkij), Lithuanian lengvas, Sanskrit लघु (laghu), Persian لاغر (lāghar).

I prefer to travel light.


wide

wide (comparative wider, superlative widest)

wider (comparative)
widest (superlative)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English wid, wyd, from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, broad, long; distant, far”), from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate, divide”), a dissimilated univerbation from *dwi- (“apart, asunder, in two”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place”).
Cognate with Scots wyd, wid (“of great extent; vast”), West Frisian wiid (“broad; wide”), Dutch wijd (“wide; large; broad”), German weit (“far; wide; broad”), Danish vid (“wide”), Swedish vid (“wide”), Icelandic víður (“wide”), Latin dīvidō (“separate, sunder”), Latin vītō (“avoid, shun”). Related to widow.

compound

He travelled far and wide.

He was wide awake.

The arrow fell wide of the mark.

A few shots were fired but they all went wide.

The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards.

2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:

away from or to one side of a given goal

And with his knee the dore he opens wide

1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, line 359:

So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.


heavy

en-adv

heavy (comparative more heavy, superlative most heavy)

more heavy (comparative)
most heavy (superlative)

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to take, grasp, hold”).
Cognates:
Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), Middle Low German hēvich (“violent, fierce, intense”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

cog

heavy laden with their sins

In a heavy manner; weightily; heavily; gravely.

Olive: What was it - booze? Barney: Yeh. Been hitting it pretty heavy.

1957, Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 35:

(colloquial, nonstandard) To a great degree; greatly.


therefor

During the last fiscal year the Secretary purchased ... 54,355,748 ounces of silver and issued in payment therefor $51,106,608 in notes.

1892, Benjamin Harrison, Fourth State of the Union Address:

Welcoming people from all over the world, Honolulu has the glad heart behind the "glad hand," so to speak, when the welcomees give cause therefor, whether they come to teach, or to learn; to rest, or to work; to earn, or to spend.

1922, Paradise of the Pacific, volume 35:

If the action is adverse to the applicant law school, the action letter shall contain the Committee's specific reasons therefor.

1997 August, “Rules of procedure for approval of law schools by the American Bar Association.”, in ABA Journal, volume 83, number 8, pages 117–128:

We emphasize that, contrary to repeated assertions in defendant's briefing, the trial court did not strike the true findings on those three prison term allegations, but struck only the punishment therefor, which was a statutorily permitted method of handling them.

2016, Elena J. Duarte, People v. Garner, 244 Cal. App. 4th 1113 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. 2016):

(now chiefly in law) For that; in return for that.


therefor

-ɛə(ɹ)fɔː(ɹ)


far

en-adv

far (comparative farther or further, superlative farthest or furthest)

farther (comparative)
further (comparative)
farthest (superlative)
furthest (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English ferre, fer, Old English feor, feorr, from Proto-Germanic *ferrai.

You have all come far and you will go farther.

He built a time machine and travelled far into the future.

Over time, his views moved far away from mine.

To, from or over a great distance in space, time or other extent.

He was far richer than we'd thought.

The expense far exceeds what I expected.

I saw a tiny figure far below me.

The Reds were on the back foot early on when a catalogue of defensive errors led to Ramires giving Chelsea the lead. Jay Spearing conceded possession in midfield and Ramires escaped Jose Enrique far too easily before scoring at the near post with a shot Reina should have saved.

2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:


dirty

dirty (comparative more dirty, superlative most dirty)

more dirty (comparative)
most dirty (superlative)

From Middle English dirti, alteration of earlier dritti, equivalent to dirt + -y. Cognate with Middle Low German drēterich (“dirty”).
See also drite.

to play dirty


p

I'm doing p good, how are you?

There is no campaign, just a bunch of canned missions that have no relation to each other (and peole think SU27 is p bad!).

1995 November 8, Scott Morgan <s_morgandelphi.com>, "Re: F-18 Sim", message-ID <hZMk7Re.s_morgan@delphi.com>, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim, Usenet http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim/msg/8ebf7044a96c18e5

(Internet) Abbreviation of pretty (as an intensifier)

(chiefly US, stenoscript) Alternative spelling of p.m. (“post meridiem”) or pm


nominatively

nominatively (comparative more nominatively, superlative most nominatively)

more nominatively (comparative)
most nominatively (superlative)

In the manner of a nominative; as a nominative.


yon

From Middle English yon, from Old English ġeon, from Proto-Germanic *jainaz.


accusatorially

accusatorially (comparative more accusatorially, superlative most accusatorially)

more accusatorially (comparative)
most accusatorially (superlative)

By way of accusation; in an accusatorial manner.


datively

datively (comparative more datively, superlative most datively)

more datively (comparative)
most datively (superlative)


accusatively

accusatively (comparative more accusatively, superlative most accusatively)

more accusatively (comparative)
most accusatively (superlative)

(not comparable) In relation to the accusative case in grammar.


where

From Middle English wher, from Old English hwǣr (“where”, literally “at what place”), from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- (interrogative pronoun).

der

Where did you come from?

Where are you off to?

Where are you at? (informal)

Interrogative adverb, used in either a direct or indirect question: in, at or to what place.

waar

at what place; to what place; from what place

Where you at?

Where you going?

Where are you?

Where are you going?

He asked where I grew up.

Where would we be without our parents?

This is the place where we first met.

He is looking for a house where he can have a complete office.

That's the place where we went on holiday.

Here's a picture of York, where I was born. (non-defining)

He lives within five miles of where he was born.

This is a photo of where I went on holiday.

(fused relative) The place in, at or to which.


blooming

en-adv

blooming (comparative more blooming, superlative most blooming)

more blooming (comparative)
most blooming (superlative)

My train's late again. Blooming typical.

“Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”

1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 90:

It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. And results are all that concern me. […]”

1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court:

(British, Australia, often followed by well) A euphemism for the intensifier bloody.


by

From Middle English by, bi, from Old English bī (“by; near; around”), from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near; by; around; about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.
Cognate with West Frisian by (“by; near”), Afrikaans by (“at; by; near”), Saterland Frisian bie (“near; by”), Dutch bij (“near; by”), German Low German bi (“by; near; at”), German bei (“by; near; at”).

bye

archaic for preposition and adverb, not used for abbreviation, preferred for noun and interjection

I watched as it passed by.

Along a path which runs past the speaker.

There was a shepherd close by.

[The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk […]

1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part II:

I'll stop by on my way home from work.

We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.

To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.

The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.