belong

Compare Australian Kriol blanga, Bislama blong, Tok Pisin bilong, and Torres Strait Creole blong.

Jim Campbell, Charlie, Dick, ... Fred, lubra b’longa him, me, thass all.

By an’ bye ’im grow ’m up make ’m good fella stockman b’longta you.

Those who had persevered with the course and had acquired some skill were now almost deferentially called ‘Maban (expert) belonga clay’.

Them two bin help’m too, and that father blung to this one old Frank.

There’s the bloke that’s kill that feller, uncle belong you an me.

Get that fire [wood] stacked up like that tree there, that high ... It wasn’t wood belong to that fire pile. Might be for station, or somebody else, you know.

(Australian Aboriginal, optionally followed by to) Of, belonging to.

Australian Aboriginal; optionally followed by to; Australian Aboriginal; optionally followed by to


longa

From Australian Kriol langa, from English along. Compare Bislama and Tok Pisin long.

This fella song all about the Aboriginal people, coloured people, black people longa Australia.

1991, Jimmy Chi, Bran Nue Dae, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 137

He wait longa river.

2000, Queensland Department of Justice, Aboriginal English in the courts: a handbook:

(Australian Aboriginal) Belonging to; of, in, at, to.


into

From Middle English in-to, from Old English intō, equivalent to in + to. Cognate with Scots intae.

enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

knock someone into the middle of next week

you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube

Mary danced into the house.

Pour the wine into the decanter.

The nomads shave intricate designs into their camels' fur.

He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

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, page 2:

This time Cudicini was left helpless when Natcho stepped up to expertly curl the ball into the top corner.

2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1-0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:

εἴσω (eísō) (postposition + genitive, accusative)

We left the house and walked into the street.

The eagle flew off into the wide blue sky.

The car crashed into the tree.

I wasn't careful, and walked into a wall.

Against, especially with force or violence.

I carved the piece of driftwood into a sculpture of a whale.

Right before our eyes, Jake turned into a wolf!

His English is still in its beginning stages, like my Creole, but he was able to translate some Creole songs that he's written into English—not the best English, but English nonetheless.

2002, Matt Cyr, Something to Teach Me: Journal of an American in the Mountains of Haiti, Educa Vision, Inc., →ISBN, page 25:

Indicates transition into another form or substance.

A cow's stomach is divided into four chambers.

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:

Indicates division or the creation of subgroups or sections.

About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot reported a fire on board.

"[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably." And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.

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

She's really into Shakespeare right now.

My date for tonight has black hair, and I'm into that.

I was into you, but I'm over it now / And I was trying to be nice / But nothing's getting through, so let me spell it out[…]

2021 August 13, Gayle, Sara Davis, David Pittenger, “abcdefu”, in A Study of the Human Experience Volume One, performed by Gayle:

(colloquial) Interested in or attracted to.

Three into two won't go.

24 goes into 48 how many times?

(mathematics) Expressing the operation of division, with the denominator given first. Usually with "goes".

Five into three is fifteen.

w:Oxford English Dictionary#Electronic versions

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(British, archaic, India, mathematics) Expressing the operation of multiplication.

do

taking distinct arguments to distinct values

There have been calls for research into the pesticides that are blamed for the decline in bee populations.


fer

“[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”

1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:

‘Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.’

1997, J.K. Rowling, chapter IV, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(dialectal, especially British) Pronunciation spelling of for.


ayont

How he escaped a broken neck in that dreadful place no human being will ever ken. The sweat, he has told me, stood in cold drops upon his forehead; he scarcely was aware of the saddle in which he sat, and his eyes were stelled in his head so that he saw nothing but the sky ayont him.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

Ayont the windows in the waning of the afternoon, Chris could see the frozen glister of night on the Grampians […].

1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 485:


ayen

Variant or relative of again, in its obsolete sense "against".


chez

Borrowed from French chez. Doublet of casa.

Even if I say so myself, Christmas chez the Forests is quite a heart-warming affair. For Ben, growing up, it was pure magic - a log fire in the grate, ...

2008 February 28, Lisa Forest, “Mind the gap: Empty house, empty nest, empty fridge”, in The Telegraph:


c.

In English law, in the sense of "chapter", a preservation of Latin capitulum or caput (“head; heading, chapter”).

The document was written in the Middle Ages, c. 1250.


below

above

antonym(s) of “lower in spatial position than”

From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).

One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

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

The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.

The marmalade is on the shelf below the bread.

one degree below kings

1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.

2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

The temperature is below zero.

Liverpool are below Manchester City in the Premier League.

Lower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.

The River Thames is tidal below Teddington Lock.

Sudan is below Egypt.

They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were.

1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:

who thinks no fact below his regard

1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

Such petty behavior is below me.

Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.

Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.

1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1


nigh

From Middle English neygh, nygh, nye, nyȝ, from Old English nēah, nēh, from Proto-West Germanic *nāhw, from Proto-Germanic *nēhw.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian nai (“near”), West Frisian nei (“near, close by”), Dutch na (“close, near”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”). See also near.

cog

When the Moon is horned […] is it not ever nigh the Sun?

1661-5, Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo Galilei, Dialogue concerning the Two Chief World Systems, 1632

The cottage stood nigh the burn, in a little garden, with lilyoaks and grosart bushes lining the pathway.


fur

A’most the moment as she lighted heer, all so desolate, she found (as she believed) a friend; a decent woman as spoke to her about the needle-work as she had been brought up to do, about finding plenty of it fur her, about a lodging fur the night, and making secret inquiration concerning of me and all at home, to-morrow.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “The Beginning of a Longer Journey”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 516:


par

paw (non-rhotic, cot–caught merger, father-bother merger)

Borrowed from French par (“through, by”), from Latin per (“through”). Doublet of per.


within

From Middle English withinne, withinnen, from Old English wiþinnan; equivalent to with + in.

within her studio

The Rat[…] lightly stepped into a little boat which the Mole had not observed. It was painted blue outside and white within, and was just the size for two animals; and the Mole's whole heart went out to it at once[…].

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:

In the inner part, spatially; physically inside.

within his hearing; her within five seconds of breaking the record; within an inch of falling overboard

England struck back with a fine try from Ben Foden and closed to within seven points with three minutes left when Mark Cueto capitalised on a break from replacement Matt Banahan.

2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France:

-nyira/-nyire (as in hajszálnyira, kőhajításnyira, karnyújtásnyira, köpésnyire, percnyire etc.)

Leave here within three days.

On October 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, the first sound-synched feature film, prompting a technological shift of unprecedented speed and unstoppable force. Within two years, nearly every studio release was a talkie.

2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 27:

And Netherlands, backed by a typically noisy and colourful travelling support, started the second period in blistering fashion and could have had four goals within 10 minutes

2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:


like

Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”)
Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”).
Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like.
Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).

der

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:

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:

It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

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

She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him.[…]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.

Popcorn costs something like $10 dollars at the movies.

He doesn't act like a president.

It's for websites like Wikipedia.

It looks like a hot summer in Europe.

I hear she has a new boyfriend. What's he like?

What's the weather like in Ürümqi today?

Used to ask for a description or opinion of someone or something


anent

From Middle English anent, anentes, anempt (“insofar as, inasmuch as, in comparison with, with respect to, as regards, concerning, in the opinion or judgment of; next to, close to, up to, near, adjoining, across from, over against, facing”), from Old English on efn (“by; near”), from on + efn. Compare Dutch neven, German neben.

Mr Bloom and Stephen entered the cabman’s shelter, an unpretentious wooden structure, where, prior to then, he had rarely, if ever, been before; the former having previously whispered to the latter a few hints anent the keeper of it […]

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

1937, L. Ron Hubbard, letter to Russell Hays, quoted in Literary Correspondence: Letters and Journals, p. 101,
I have just found out something with which to repay that very kind favor of yours anent the "lift" angle on stories.

The wings of the driver's Marlenesque nose shone, having shed or burned up their ration of powder, and she kept up an elegant monologue anent the local traffic, […]

1955, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 11, in Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 1, page 53:

This question remains a vital consideration anent the debate over the possibility of limiting nuclear war to military objectives, […]

The invasion of privacy anent banking and financial activities was mainly an outcome of the income tax and the Drug War

2015, LT Wolf, The World King (fiction), →ISBN:

(now rare) Concerning, with regard to, about, in respect to, as to, insofar as, inasmuch as, apropos.

(obsolete) In the opinion or judgment of.

[…] if Painter did ever abide in the old bark mill said to be anent his brother's freehold.

2005, R.T. Smith, “Ina Grove”, in The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 81, number 4, page 230:

(obsolete) Against, in front of, fronting; before; opposite; over against, on the other side.

ANENT, opposite. Usually "ovver-anent."

1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 4:

(obsolete) In a line with; side by side with; on a level with.


ala

Borrowed from French à la, by way of its English derivation a la.

The film is told in reverse ala Memento.

2006, WorstPreviews.com, archived from the original on 2020-06-07:

[…] interactive plasma screens with flashing digits and what not, ala “Minority Report,” […]

2008 November 14, admin, “Quantum of Solace”, in Film Threat:

[…] we might be getting to the point where Palin is a bona fide liability—ala Pelosi—for the GOP.

2011 March 11, Aaron Blake, Chris Cillizza, “Palin: The GOP's Pelosi?”, in The Fix, archived from the original on 2011-06-24:

[…] the NYSE didn't implode ala Merrill […]

2011 April 11, Charles Gasparino, “Duncan Niederauer Calling the Shots for NYSE Is Bad News for Shareholders”, in HuffPost:


past

From Middle English, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.

the room past mine

count past twenty

What's the time? - It's now quarter past twelve midday (or 12.15pm).

But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.

2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(time) Any number of minutes after the last hour

I'm past caring what he thinks of me.

Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).

Ignore them, we'll play past them.

Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there.

Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.


dot

From Middle English *dot, dotte, from Old English dott (“a dot, point”), from Proto-West Germanic *dott, from Proto-Germanic *duttaz (“wisp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte (“a clump”), Dutch dot (“lump, knot, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”), dialectal Swedish dott (“a little heap, bunch, clump”).

cog

The work is equal to F dot Δx.

Dot product of the previous vector and the following vector.


le

Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham near an old Roman road.

Witton-le-Wear, Dalton-le-Dale, Hetton-le-Hole

(obsolete) Next to, near (still used in some place names).


v.

Brown v. Board of Education


upon

From Middle English upon, uppon, uppen, from Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up (“adverb”) + on (“preposition”). Cognate with Old Saxon uppan (“upon”), Old High German ūfan, ūffan (“upon”), Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish uppå (“up on, upon”) (thence Swedish på), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).

A vase of flowers stood upon the table. — The painting hangs upon the wall. — All of the responsibility is upon him. — She plays upon a violin (or piano). — The lighthouse that you can see is upon the mainland. — He rested upon his elbows. — Tug upon the rope; push hard upon the door! — I stubbed my toe upon an old tree stump. — He wore old shoes upon his feet. — Born upon the 4th of July. — I have no opinion upon this subject. — They proceeded to arrest someone upon suspicion of bribery. — Upon Jack's entry, William got up to leave. — Before we knew it, the forest was upon us, and the air grew colder and damper. — What will be the effect upon morale? — Have pity or compassion upon him. — They lived upon ten dollars a week. — We ate heaps upon heaps of food. — I depended upon them for assistance. — He affirmed or promised upon his word. — Upon my life, I am innocent. — A curse upon him!

Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …

No news of them? Why, so: and I know not what's spend in the search: why thou loss upon loss! the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge: nor no ill luck stirring but what lights on my shoulders; no sighs but of my breathing; no tears but of my shedding.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

The drums play on
The year of the dog is upon us.

2023, Patricia Taxxon (lyrics and music), “DEDGDEDCEGEOGCGHCOCTOHOTHTHT”, in TECHDOG:

Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

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:

Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.

1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), page 373, column 2:

A higher-register or more formal alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.


through

From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognate with Scots throch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), German durch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.

thorough

except in compounds such as thoroughfare

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

I went through the window.

A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.

2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

From one side of an opening to the other.

خِلَالَ

from one side of an opening to the other

I drove through the town at top speed without looking left or right.

Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. […] He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.

1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16:

Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:

Inf America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.

2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

We slogged through the mud for hours before turning back and giving up.

I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

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

Risk is everywhere.[…]For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.

2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:

This team believes in winning through intimidation.

But the home side were ahead in the eighth minute through 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain.

2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

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

Our minds and hearts are corrupted with the Adamic virus at birth, and through a lifetime of sin and tragedy, our hearts and thoughts get more evil and more corrupted as we experience life's tragedies.

2012, Dimitri Yanuli, You Might Be Right, but You Ain't Right with the Word of God:

He worked through the night.

from 1945 through 1991;  the numbers 1 through 9;  your membership is active through March 15, 2013

It includes patent requests in machine learning through 2016, the last year for which details are available.
Audio (US): (file)

2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 2019-02-07

(Canada, US) To (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values.


during

/ˈd(j)ʊəɹɪŋ/

From Middle English during, durynge, durinde, durand, durende, present participle of duren (“to last”), equivalent to dure + -ing. Compare Dutch gedurende (“during”). More at dure.

I lived with my parents during the 1970s.

The shop was one of the few able to stay open during the war.

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]

1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond:

They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 9:

Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

I lived with my parents at several points during the 1980s.

Many of the best examples were produced during the Restoration.

I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

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

These infamous little green men appeared during the decisive seizures or buildings and facilities, only to disappear when associated militias and local troops arrived to consolidate the gains. In this way they provided a measure of deniability—however superficial or implausible—for Moscow.⁴⁰

2014, “Little Green Men”: A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014, Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United States Army Special Operations Command, page 43:

At any time or period within a given time interval.


around

From Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- (“on, at”)) + Middle English round (“circle, round”) borrowed from French, equivalent to a- + round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon (“around”). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe (“around”) (from Old English ymbe (“around”)). See umbe.

throw nickels around like manhole covers

She wore a gold chain around her neck.

I planted a row of lilies around the statue.

The jackals began to gather around the carcass.

Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).

حَوْلَ

forming a circle or closed curve containing

We could use some clarification around the new rules.

There has been a lot of controversy around the handling of personal information.

The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.

2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:

(of abstract things) Centred upon; surrounding; regarding.

We walked around the football field.

She went around the track fifty times.

Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.

ympäri

following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point

The road took a brief detour around the large rock formation, then went straight on.

I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.

I left my keys somewhere around here.

I left the house around 10 this morning.

I don't want you around me.

The pages from the notebook were scattered around the room.

Those teenagers like to hang around the mall.

She went around the office and got everyone to sign the card.

Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.

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

-lla

e.g. vetelehtiä koululla ~ linger around the school


circa

Julius Caesar visited this area circa 50 BC.

Approximately, about, around (typically in relation to time)


wif

That's what I mo' wear wif my shoes.

1998, Ted Shine, Contributions, →ISBN, page 31:

I been at the gym gettin' down wif my peeps.

2000, Jan King, It'a A Girl Thing: The Hilarious Truth About Women, →ISBN, page 161:

If I don' have no problem wif my high school test?

2002, Stan Hayes, The Rough English Equivalent, →ISBN, page 324:


wid

“An’ wid all d’ bringin’ up she had, how could she?” moaningly she asked of her son. “Wid all d’ talkin’ wid her I did an’ d’ t’ings I tol’ her to remember. When a girl is bringed up d’ way I bringed up Maggie, how kin she go teh d’ devil?”

1893, Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=vQi_d7a7sZoC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&sig=N8UFY9cvyaBxRcr0Asm4JuLf9Y8

1922, Eugene O'Neill, The Hairy Ape, http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=Z2ZgNkU5r18C&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&sig=_ZQWa7a1p_C4jGCG0woMSdujZhw
Oh, there was fine beautiful ships them days—clippers wid tall masts touching the sky—fine strong men in them—men that was sons of the sea as if ’twas the mother that bore them.

1940, Shirley Graham, “It’s Morning,” in Black Female Playwrights, Kathy A Perkins ed. http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=ZV3afTMMSHsC&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&sig=32zaTsB-Xv0Yi-dHcTbtr-8rNCA
Cissie. But, when da saints ob God go marchin’ home
Mah gal will sing! Wid all da pure, bright stars,
Tuhgedder wid da mawnin’ stars—She’ll sing!

(regional) Pronunciation spelling of with.


afloat

early 1600s, John Webster and William Rowley, The Thracian Wonder, London: Thomas Johnson, 1661, Act I, Scene 1,
But Huswife, as for you, / You with your Brat, wee’l send afloat the Main,

[…] great wee see must be the art and cunning of that man, that keeps him afloat the streame of Soveraigne favour,

1642, Robert Cotton, The Troublesome Life and Raigne of King Henry the Third, London: George Lindsey, page 5:


15 items @ $10

@ 80 km/h ― at eighty kilometres per hour

@ 20°C ― at twenty degrees Celsius

Text message: “im @ school.”


beyond

From Middle English biyonde, from Old English beġeondan, from be- + ġeond; related to yonder.

No swimming beyond this point.

England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.

2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:

Your staff went beyond my expectations in refunding my parking ticket.

He was a painter who was trying to get beyond painting, to escape from purely visual experience and lead his art in a more conceptual direction with a systematic approach.

2006, Janis Mink, Joan Miró, →ISBN, page 55:

Greater than; so as to exceed or surpass.

She had no reason for the conviction beyond the very inadequate one that she had seen him around London.

You won't last beyond my first punch.

The patient was beyond medical help.

Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

The 1300 class (Nos. 1301-16), one of which was damaged beyond repair in an accident, are Co-Cos, weigh 111 tons and have a top speed of 85 m.p.h.

1962 March, J. M. Tolson, “The Netherlands Railways today—I”, in Modern Railways, page 172:

He understood geometry well, but algebraic topology was beyond him.

(figurative) Not within the comprehension of.


despite

The noun is from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”).
The preposition is from Middle English dispit, from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of).

Despite no arrests being made, investigators maintain that the suspects are fully identified.

So thou through windowes of thine age ſhalt ſee,
Diſpight of wrinkles this thy goulden time.

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 3”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

Yet doe thy worſt old Time diſpight thy wrong,
My loue ſhall in my verſe euer liue young.

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.

1995, Billy Corgan (lyrics and music), “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”, in Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, performed by Smashing Pumpkins:

Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film.

2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, →DOI, pages 219–257:


fro

From Middle English fro, fra, from Old English fra (“from”), from Old Norse frá (“from”), from Proto-Germanic *fram (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“forth, forward”). Cognate with Scots frae (“fro, from”), Icelandic frá (“from”). More at from.

der

The preest that hawkys so,
All grace is far hym fro.

c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 15–16:


ere

From Middle English er, from Old English ǣr (adverb, conjunction, and preposition), from Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, comparative of Proto-Germanic *airi (“early”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri (“day, morning”) (compare Avestan 𐬀𐬫𐬀𐬭 (ayar, “day”), Gk. ἠέριος (ēérios, “at daybreak”), see also era, Albanian herët (“early in the morning, at daybreak”) ). The adverb erstwhile retains the Old English superlative ǣrest (“earliest”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eer (“before”), Dutch eer (“before, sooner than”), German ehe (“before”).

inh

My ſelfe was ſtirring ere the breake of day, […]

1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature I3, verso:

The hill-tops rejoicing will ere long be at their ruddiest, and blush Good-night.

1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Old-Dragoon Drouet”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (Varennes), page 173:


dehors

(law) Out of; without; foreign to; out of the agreement, record, will, or other instrument.


toward

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English toward, from Old English tōweard, from Proto-West Germanic *tōward, equivalent to to + -ward. Cognate with Middle Low German tôwart, Middle Dutch toewaert (Modern Dutch toewaarts), Middle High German zuowart, zūwart (Modern German zuwärts). Compare also Middle English tilward, tillward (“toward”).

She moved toward the door.

[A]Nd when Balaam ſawe that it pleaſed the LORD to bleſſe Iſrael, hee went not, as at other times to ſeeke foꝛ inchantments, but hee ſet his face toward the wilderneſſe.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:1:

Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:

2019, Voice of America, Learning English (public domain), archived from the original on 2019-03-11:

China has claimed that South Korea's dust flies toward Shanghai.

What are your feelings toward him?

So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye ſhalbe euill toward his bꝛother, and toward the wife of his boſome, and towards the remnant of his childꝛen which he ſhall leaue:

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:54:

I'm saving money toward retirement.

Our place is over toward the station.

I am toward nine years older since I left you, yet that is the least of my alterations; […]

a. 1746 (date written), Jonathan Swift, “To Mr. Gay”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 92:

Located close to; near (a time or place).


behind

From Middle English behinde, behinden, from Old English behindan (“on the back side of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan, *bihindini (“on the back side of, in the rear of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bi- + *hindō (“the hind side, back part”), equivalent to be- + hind. Compare Old Saxon bihindan (“behind”, adverb), Middle High German behinter (“behind; back”).

noncog

behind every successful man there stands a woman

Behind the smile was a cruel intention.

(figuratively) Concealed by (something serving as a facade or disguise).

All my problems are behind me.

(figuratively) In the past, from the viewpoint of.

At or to the back or far side of.
In the past, from the viewpoint of.

The children were hiding behind the wall.

The sun went behind the clouds.

Look behind you!

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection.
[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.

2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:

Smith finished the race a lap behind the others.

About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed — I tethered by my rope[…].

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

Less forward or advanced than; after.
After in physical progress or distance.

I'm ranked sixth in the French class, behind five other pupils.

In the cricket match, England are 120 runs behind India.

For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 11:5:

After in developmental progress, score, grade, etc.; inferior to.

London is nine hours behind Tokyo.

Less forward or advanced than; after.
After in time.

Who is behind these terrorist attacks?

Mr Jones was the man behind the redevelopment plan.

Bud Light replaces Marketing VP behind Dylan Mulvaney partnership.

Responsible for, being the creator or controller of.

What is behind this unexpected decision?

Underlying, being the reason for or explanation of.

The republicans are fully behind their candidate.

He was like, 'Fuck the police! Fuck you! You know who I am, you gonna quit playing with me, bitch.' I'm like let's go. 'Cause I wasn't trying to go to jail behind that shit.

2012, DeShawn Dorsey, Longsuffering Through Emotional Wounds, page 40:

(sometimes regarded as nonstandard, US, informal) Following, subsequent to; as a result or consequence of.


regardless

/ɹɪˈɡɑɹd.lɪs/

/ɹɪˈɡɑːd.lɪs/

Tatiana ate the cauliflower regardless its colour.

(proscribed) Synonym of regardless of; paying no attention to.


except

Borrowed from Middle French excepter, from Latin exceptus.

There was nothing in the cupboard except a tin of beans.

Except that he is wearing polka-dot drawers, he is buck naked.

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

Used to introduce a noun or noun phrase forming an exception or qualification to something previously stated.

إِلَّا

introducing a noun or noun phrase forming an exception or qualification


syne

From Middle English syne, syn, sin, a contracted form of sithen (“since”). More at sithen.

I've niver set fute i' Gibb's Ha' syne his father's death.

Shoo's […] gitten fair pratty, syne Maister Allen gat wed.


o'

Gimme two o’ those ones.

from two o’clock until closing time

top o’ the mornin to ye

(unstressed form) Contraction of of, usually before vowels.

A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!

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 I, scene i]:

(obsolete, unstressed form) Contraction of on.


unlike

From Middle English unlic, unlich, from Old English unlīċ, unġelīċ (“unlike, different, dissimilar, diverse”), from Proto-Germanic *ungalīkaz. By surface analysis, un- + like. Cognate with Dutch ongelijk, German ungleich, Old Norse úlíkr (see there for North Germanic descendants).

The disgust I felt after watching last weekend's horror movie was unlike anything I had felt before.

Hal kept pace beside her in his ambling, arm-swinging way. He walked unlike other men she knew, like someone who had never carried a briefcase.

1995 Fall, Marcia Guthridge, “Henry V, Part 2”, in Paris Review, volume 37, number 136, page 176:

These drugs work unlike any medicine ever created.

1999 December, Joe Oldham, “Design & Engineering Awards 2000”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 176, number 12, page 67:

She goes to preschool, plays with dolls, and she loves to draw and paint. But Marla paints unlike any other four-year-old in the world.

2005 February 23, “Four-Year Old Abstract Artist Discussed, Jesse James Profiled”, in CBS Sixty Minutes:

Differently from; not in a like or similar manner.

Claudia hardly ever drinks beer or wine, unlike Phillip, for whom the bar is practically a second home.

Canadians can not bring a "national" piece of litigation, unlike what can be done in the United States.

1999, Philip Spencer with Glenn M. Zakaib[b], “Product liability aspects of the risks of technological change - a Canadian perspective.”, in Canada-United States Law Journal, volume 25, page 125:

Unlike the elbows-out jostling in New York, there will be no campaigning:

2009 February 10, Nelson Pressley, “Signature Laps The Field With 39 Hayes Noms”, in Washington Post, page C01:

But unlike many other tunnels that lay idle and decaying, Catesby has now found a new use as an aerodynamic wind tunnel for the motor industry.

2023 November 29, Peter Plisner, “The winds of change in Catesby Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 997, page 56:

Being late is unlike him.

Not typical of one's character or personality.


regarding

Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).

2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12:


concerning

/kənˈsɜːnɪŋ/

From concern + -ing. The adjective and preposition follow from the verb.

Physically, everything is perfect, but concerning your mental state, you have some problems.

The Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 10:29:


wi

Are-ta doin owt wi this?


fi

We shoulda try fi produce more and market the things we have better so we can buy the things we need fi buy

2004, Deborah A. Thomas, Irene Silverblatt, Sonia Saldívar-Hul, Modern Blackness Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica:

I got the right temperature fi shelter you from the storm

2005, Sean Paul (lyrics and music), “Temperature”:

After the funeral you need fi find somewhere else fi live

2021, Maisy Card, These Ghosts Are Family, page 76:


outwith

From Middle English outwith, outewith, a transposed variant of Middle English withoute (“without”). Cognate to Scots ootwi. By surface analysis, out + with.

All at once he’d wanted to buy a place there, but it had been too isolated for his wife – and outwith their means anyway.

1990, Ian Rankin, Dead Souls: An Inspector Rebus Novel, page 159:

2004, Official Journal of the European Union, 24.7.2004, C190/10, reporting on a judgment of the European Court of Justice.
Finally, the Court failed to examine, and thus to show, in what way such differentiated treatment is objectively justified. The fact that it is the result of circumstances outwith the control of the Communities does not constitute such justification […] .

It is not acceptable to have EU-US deals on extradition, information collection and exchange, and border controls which are cooked up in secret and outwith the democratic control of the European and national parliaments.

2009, Sarah Ludford MEP, Letters, The Guardian, 17 Jun 09

Although Burton’s work lies outwith the scope of the current book, Cockburn’s response reveals a great deal about how Hume and his works were received in Scotland in the half century after his death […].

2010, Mark Towsey, Reading the Scottish Enlightenment, Leiden: Brill, page 263:

These spent convictions for most purposes only fall outwith the scope of the exception of section 4(3)(b) if they are not included in a higher level disclosure sent in connection with the profession, office, type of employment, occupation, decision or proposed decision to which the exception would otherwise apply.

2018, The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2018

To others, it is an escape, a chance to think of ways of life outwith those we experience now […].

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page xix:

Trams are one of the easiest ways to get to and from the airport with fast and frequent services to Edinburgh city centre. Trams depart every 7 minutes, between 7am and 7pm, and every 15 minutes outwith these hours, with an end-to-end journey of just 30 minutes.

2023, Website of Edinburgh Airport, version dated 2023, accessed 12.04.2023

(now chiefly Scotland) Outside; beyond; outside of.


astride

The boy sat astride his father’s knee.

Chʻung-ming, an island astride the mouth of the Yangtze, had been captured against quite stiff opposition from the Chinese River Defense Force and was being developed into an advance naval and air base.

1937, Michael Calvert, “Shanghai”, in Jon E. Lewis, editor, The Giant Book of Battles, London: Magpie Books, published 2006, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 129:

The units have transverse seats, two and three astride the passageway with single or double longitudinal seats alongside the two entrance vestibules in each car.

1960 November, “New electric multiple-units for British Railways: Glasgow Suburban”, in Trains Illustrated, page 660:


forth

From Middle English forth, from Old English forþ, from Proto-West Germanic *forþ, from Proto-Germanic *furþą, from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥-to-, from *per-. Cognate with Dutch voort. See also ford.

Some forth their cabins peepe.


plus

Two plus two equals four.

A water molecule is made up of two hydrogen atoms plus one of oxygen.

And; sum of the previous one and the following one.

I've won a holiday to France plus five hundred euros in spending money!


beneath

From Middle English benethe, from Old English bineoþan (“beneath, under, below”), equivalent to be- + neath. Cognate with Low German benedden (“beneath”), Dutch beneden (“beneath, under, down”), obsolete German benieden (“below”).

inh

Our country sinks beneath the yoke.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

1718, Alexander Pope, epitaph to Nicholas Rowe
Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies.

Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

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

Their despicable behaviour is beneath contempt.

He will do nothing that is beneath his high station.

a.''' 1730, Francis Atterbury, in The Grub-Street Journal, Volume 1

In a position that is lower in rank, dignity, etc.


onto

From on + to, after into. Compare Saterland Frisian antou (“up to”).

My cat just jumped onto the keyboard.

Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

Arriving upon or on top of (speaking of a physical or metaphorical movement).

The thought-police were onto my plans of world domination.

The exponential function maps the set of real numbers onto the set of positive real numbers.

(mathematics) Being an onto function with a codomain of (see below).


versus

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-versus.wav

From Middle English versus, borrowed from Latin versus (“facing”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).

It is the Packers versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

If, for example, we select random people entering a workout gym, versus if we pick random people entering a hospital, we will get very different samples.

2005, Robert E. Weiss, Modeling Longitudinal Data, Springer, →ISBN, page 104:

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.

(law) Bringing a legal action against, as used in the title of a court case in which the first party indicates the plaintiff (or appellant or the like), and the second indicates the defendant (or respondent or the like).

Interacting with, especially to record reactions


times

Four times five is twenty.

One times one is one.


beside

From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”), equivalent to be- + side. Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“aside, to one side”). Compare also Dutch terzijde (“aside”).

A small table beside the bed

That is beside the point.


running

(colloquial) Approaching; about; roughly.


besides

From Middle English bisides (also bisiden), extension of biside, equivalent to beside + -s (adverbial suffix).

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

1661, John Fell, “The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond”, quoted in Ecclesiastical Biography by Christopher Wordsworth, fourth edition, volume IV, London: Francis & John Rivington (1853)

I don't want to go anywhere besides India.

I want to go with someone besides my father.

1561, Geneva Bible, Acts 16:13,
And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the citie, beſides a riuer, where they were wont to pray : and we ſate downe, and ſpake vnto the women, which were come together.

After this, was Edwin the Kings brother accuſed of ſome conſpiracie by him begun againſt the K. whervpõ he was baniſhed the land, and ſent out in an old rotten veſſell without rower or Marriner, onely accompanied with one Eſquire, ſo that beeing launched foorth from the ſhore, through very diſpaire Edwin lept into the Sea, and drowned himſelfe, but the Eſquire that was with him recouered his body, and broughte it to land at Withſand beſides Canterbury.

1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Englande”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 225:

Beſides them both, vpon the ſoiled gras / The dead corſe of an armed knight was ſpred, […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 198:


apud

From Latin apud (“at, by, in the presence of, in the writings of”).

bor

Jones apud Smith means that the original source is Jones, but that the author is relying on Smith for that reference.

Used in scholarly works to cite a reference at second hand

առ

used in scholarly works to cite a reference at second hand


anti

Conversion of the prefix anti- to an adjective.

I do not consider myself either a twitcher or an expert. Neither am I anti twitching.

2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 21:


post

One of the most appealing things for me about Barack Obama has always been that he comes post the post-60s generation.

2008, Michael Tomasky, “Obama cannot let the right cast him in that 60s show”, in The Guardian:

Lew reckons he had three options for the cash-cow which was Premier post the Coles sale.

2008, Matthew Stevens, “Lew pressured to reveal what he knows”, in The Australian:

After; especially after a significant event that has long-term ramifications.


The symbol resembles an arrowhead pointing upward.

its ^ in d attic luv — It's up in the attic love.

(text messaging) Replacing the letter sequence 'up' within a word.


betwixt

From Middle English bitwixe, from Old English betweox, from Proto-Germanic *twiskaz (“twofold, double”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“twice, doubly; in two”). By surface analysis, be- (“by, near, around”) + twixt (“between”). Compare Saterland Frisian twiske (“between”), Dutch tussen, German zwischen.

surf

There was some speech of marriage / Betwixt myself and her.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

The times have changed in nothing more (we follow as we were wont the manuscript of Peter Pattieson,) than in the rapid conveyance of intelligence and communication betwixt one part of Scotland and another.

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], “I. Being Introductory.”, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 13:

When I saw the coffin I knew that I was respited, for, as I judged, there was space between it and the wall behind enough to contain my little carcass; and in a second I had put out the candle, scrambled up the shelves, half-stunned my senses with dashing my head against the roof, and squeezed my body betwixt wall and coffin.

[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:


mid

From Middle English mid, midde, from Old English midd (“mid, middle, midway”), from Proto-West Germanic *midi, from Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with Dutch midden (“in the middle”), German Mitte (“center, middle, mean”), Icelandic miður (“middle”, adjective), Latin medius (“middle”, noun and adjective). See also middle. The slang sense may be influenced by terms such as middling and midwit.

cog

Mid the best.

mitjà

in linguistics, made with a somewhat elevated position of some part of the tongue relative to the palate


mid

From or representing German mit, and/or perhaps German Low German mid. Although Middle English had a native preposition mid with this same meaning ("with"), it had fallen out of use by the end of the 1300s and survived into the modern English period only in the compounds midwife and theremid.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:mid.

(in representations of German-accented English) With.


athwart

From Late Middle English athwert, athirt, from a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwert (“crosswise; (cooking) across the grain”, adverb). Thwert is derived from thwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate, stubborn”, adjective), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”). The English word is analysable as a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwart (“placed or situated across something else”).
cognates
* Scots athort (“athwart”)

prefix

The stars moved slowly athwart the sky.

Knit vvith a golden bauldricke, vvhich forelay / Athvvart her ſnovvy breſt, and did diuide / Her daintie paps; […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 29, page 226:

Did neuer Sonnet for her ſake compile, / Nor neuer lay his vvreathed armes athvvart / His louing boſome, to keepe dovvne his hart.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W[illiam] Griggs, […], [1880], →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Ye knovv the ſpheres and various taſks aſſign'd / By lavvs eternal to th' aërial kind. / […] / Some leſs refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light / Purſue the ſtars that ſhoot athvvart the night, […]

1736, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock […]”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton, H. Lintot, J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, and S. Draper, published 1751, →OCLC, canto II, page 142, lines 75–76 and 81–82:

But oh that deep romantic chasm which slanted / Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! / A savage place! as holy and inchanted / As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted / By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 56:

At eve the beetle boometh / Athwart the thicket lone.

1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Claribel. A Melody.”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 3:

Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168:

From one side to the other side of; across.

بِعَرْض

from one side to the other side of — see also across

For here our ſouls hath but one eye (the Apoſtle ſaith, vve knovv in part) be not proud if that chance to come athvvart thy ſeeing ſide, vvhich meets with the blind ſide of another.

1642, Thomas Fuller, “The True Church Antiquary”, in The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC, book II, paragraph 5, page 71:

O Years! the blest preeminence of Saints! / Ye sweep athwart my gaze, so heavenly-bright, […]

1794 December 24 (date written), S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Religious Musings. A Desultory Poem, Written on the Christmas Eve of 1794.”, in Poems, […], 2nd edition, London: […] N. Briggs, for J[oseph] Cottle, […], and Messrs. Robinsons, […], published 1797, →OCLC, page 145, lines 383–384:

Across the course or path of, so as to meet; hence (figuratively), to the attention of.

tielle

across the course or path of, so as to meet; (figuratively) to the attention of

VVhence and vvhat art thou, execrable ſhape, / That dar'ſt, though grim and terrible, advance / Thy miſcreated Front athvvart my vvay / To yonder Gates?

1667, John Milton, “Book II”, 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, lines 681–684:

Lookée, you lubberly ſon of a vv——e, if you come athvvart me, 'vvare your ginger-bread-vvork.

1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter III, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 14:

It is the voice of human experience within us, judging and condemning all gods that stand athwart the pathway along which it feels itself to be advancing.

1902, William James, “Lectures XIV and XV: The Value of Saintliness”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 330:

The new fashions were perforce addressed to the more prosperous young: the children of Europe’s white middle-class, who could afford records, concerts, shoes, clothes, make-up and modish hair-styling. But the presentation of these wares cut ostentatiously athwart conventional lines.

2005, Tony Judt, “The Spectre of Revolution”, in Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, New York, N.Y.: The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 395:

Across the course or path of, so as to oppose.

tielle

across the path or course of, so as to oppose

And novv, athvvart the Terrors that thy Vovv / Has planted round thee, thou appear'ſt more fair, / More amiable, and riſeſt in thy Charms.

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 37:

About three in the Afternoon he came up vvith us, and bringing too by Miſtake, juſt athvvart our Quarter, inſtead of athvvart our Stern, as he intended, vve brought 8 of our Guns to bear on that Side, and pour'd in a Broadſide upon him, vvhich made him ſheer off again, after returning our Fire, and pouring in alſo his ſmall Shot from near 200 Men vvhich he had on Board.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 19:

And should the moon happen to hit its ever-shifting orbital perigee at the same time that it lies athwart from the sun, we are treated to a so-called supermoon, a full moon that can seem close enough to embrace – as much as 12 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the average full moon.

2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, page 8]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-22:

I have ſeen this preſent vvork, and finde nothing athvvart the Catholick faith and good manners: […]

1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 8:

[S]he, athwart many impediments, An ardent rider, often on horseback, at paces furiously swift; her beautiful face tanned by the weather. Very devout too; honest to be bone, athwart all her prejudices.

1862, Thomas Carlyle, “Carnival Phenomena in War-time”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XIV, pages 645–646:

The damaged mainmast fell athwart the deck, destroying the ship’s boat.

[H]e [a boat] come right athwart the steamer's bows and she cut him in two.

1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “The Same Respected Friend in More Aspects than One”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, book the third (A Long Lane), page 19:

(nautical) Across the line of a ship's course, or across its deck.

poikittain

across the line of a ship’s course, or across its deck


minus

From Middle English mynus, from Latin minus, neuter form of minor, comparative form of parvus (“small, little”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (“few, small”).

Seven minus two is five.

(mathematics) Made less or reduced by (followed by an expression of number or quantity).

I walked out minus my coat.


WRT

就……而言

abbreviated forms of prepositions denoting with respect to

关于

abbreviated forms of prepositions denoting with regard to

with reference to
with reference to#English


on top of

There's a house on top of the mountain.

Living on top of one another in a refugee camp is stressful.

At peak times, a telephone operator must handle a number of calls, one on top of the next.

Very close to, in any orientation or in time.

[…] and on top of all that, I got a puncture!

No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the congregation of GOD, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children, ever. Those nations didn’t treat you with hospitality on your travels out of Egypt, and on top of that they also hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Mesopotamia to curse you.

2018, “Deuteronomy 23”, in Eugene H. Peterson, transl., The Message Deluxe Gift Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, →ISBN, page 195:

(idiomatic) In addition to something else.

I have sorted out the problems and am now on top of the situation.

You will need to get on top of your nutrition in addition to training for washboard abs.

(idiomatic) Fully informed about, and in control of, something; up to speed with.


on behalf of

On behalf of all those present, may I thank you for a well-executed presentation.


considering

/kənˈsɪdəɹɪŋ/

Considering the extent of his crimes, he was given a surprisingly short sentence.


thwart

Middle English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The adjective is derived from Early Middle English thwert, thwerte, thuart, thurt, thurte, thwart, thwarte, twart, twarte, twhart, twhert, twort, þuert, þwerrt, þwert, þwerte, ðwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate”), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍃 (þwairs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
The adverb is derived from Middle English thwert, ywerte (“crosswise; across the grain”); the Middle English Dictionary suggests the adverb was derived from the adjective, while the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the adverb is attested earlier than the adjective.
The verb is derived from Middle English thwerten, thwert, thwarten, þwerten (“to lie across; to oppose, to thwart”), and further from the adverb and perhaps also the adjective.
Noun sense 1 (“a seat across a boat on which a rower may sit”) may be derived from the adverb or adjective, from the position of the seat across the length of the boat, while noun sense 3 (“(rare) an act of thwarting”) is derived from the verb. Compare Middle English thwert (“in in thwert: crosswise”), from the adjective.


owing to

I gave up my job as a typist owing to repetitive strain injury.

It’s all owing to your precious caution that they got hold of it. If you had let me burn it, and taken my word that it was gone, it would have been a heap of ashes behind the fire, instead of being whole and sound, inside of my great-coat.

1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:

Owing to the TB I connected breathing with joy, and owing to the gloom of the ward I connected joy with light, and owing to my irrationality I related light on the walls to light inside me.

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 62:

"Owing to the ongoing conflict, all rail services are subject to change on a short notice," warns the European Rail Timetable at the end of its short entry on the general state of Ukraine's railways.

2024 September 4, Vitali Vitaliev, “A salute to Ukraine's 'Second Army'”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 49:


knowing

Knowing you, you would try not to be late for school.

Given my knowledge about someone or something.


wanting

From Middle English wantyng, wantynge, wantand, equivalent to want + -ing.


thru

American English
Merriam-Webster
Middle English

Modern use originated in American English as a phonetic and simplified spelling of through around 1839. The spelling had previously been one of several used in Middle English.

We wanted an overall treatment system that gave us optimum reliability and required a minimum of labor to operate - from primary clarifier thru sludge handling, …

1996 December, Joe Hastreiter, “Sludge Management Savings Found Among Reeds”, in Water Engineering & Management, volume 143, number 12, Scranton Gillette Communications, page 23:

… to respect human rights, then failing to explicitly define thru common understanding.

2003, Hasson Kevin J., “Religious Liberty and Human Dignity: A Tale of Two Declarations”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 27, number 1, Harvard, pages 81–92:

As the technology improves, there is a possibility to reprogram adult stem cells for therapeutic cloning without "passing it thru" the preimplantation embryo, thus negating current ethical challenges to such research.

2004 December 22, Fredericks, Marcel / Odiet, Jeff A. / Miller, Steven I. / Fredericks, Janet, “Toward an Understanding of "Genetic Sociology" and Its Relationships to Medical Sociology and Medical Genetics in the Educational Enterprise.”, in Education, volume 125, number 2, Project Innovation, Inc., →ISSN, pages 222–235:

Going thru a great crisis of self-analysis, especially in relation to job, school, work, students.

2006 December,, Roxanne Mills, “Leadership in Higher Education and the Second Half of Life”, in Education, volume 127, number 2, Project Innovation, Inc., →ISSN, pages 294–302:

Myths and Legends of the Pimas of Arizona as received by J. William Lloyd from Comalk-Hawk-Kih (Thin Buckskin) thru the interpretation of Edward Hubert Wood.

2010 January, David Martinez, “Pulling Down the Clouds: The O'odham Intellectual Tradition during the "Time of Famine"”, in American Indian Quarterly, volume 34, number 1, University of Nebraska Press, →ISSN, pages 1–32:

If you see thru my eyes, you'd wish you weren't here, because all you will feel sadness and fear. It loneliness and sorrow if you see thru my eyes sit and talk to before you say goodbye. […] See thru my eyes and a tear you will see, I wish you could cry and cry with me.

2011, Fancine N. D'Aprile, From Hell on Earth to the Foot of the Cross, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 157:

(Canada, US, informal) Nonstandard spelling of through.

(chiefly Canada, US) Abbreviation of through.

(UK, rare, regional or dialectal) Eye dialect spelling of through.


twixt

From Middle English twyx + -t (excrescent ending).

O! thou thrice happy Shire, confined so to bee
Twixt two so famous Floods, as Mersey is, and Dee.

1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 11 p. 172:

I then took a strait That gave myself, and some few more, receipt 'Twixt Scylla and Charybdis.

1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:

From all the dangers he foresees or fears; Yet every hour 'twixt Scylla and Charybdis steers.

c. 1700, John Pomfret, Upon the Divine Attributes:

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip


in spite of

No evening I had passed at Bly had the portentous quality of this one; in spite of which—and in spite also of the deeper depths of consternation that had opened beneath my feet—there was literally, in the ebbing actual, an extraordinarily sweet sadness.

1898, Henry James, The Turn of the Screw, Courier Dover Publications, published 1991, →ISBN, page 72:

(idiomatic) Despite, irrespective of, notwithstanding.


vor

Edgar: Ch'ill pick your teeth, zir: come; no matter vor your foins.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:

I zays enough to make thee grin: / Thee doesn't look vor much good out o'n.

1853, May 20, anonymous author, “Self-sustenance; or, the Lost Pet”, in Punch, page 209:


notwithstanding

From Middle English notwithstandinge, notwithstondyng, natwithstandyng, equivalent to not + withstanding. Compare Middle English notgainstonding, not aȝenstondynge, of similar meaning and formation.

notwithstanding personal preferences, the school district's rules on the topic govern our decision

Those on whom Christ bestowed miraculous cures were so transported that their gratitude made them, notwithstanding his prohibition, proclaim the wonders he had done.

1675, Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety:

Notwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye he fully comprehended all the difficulties and danger he was about to incur.

1826, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 26, in The Last of the Mohicans:

in accordance with school district rules on the topic, personal preferences notwithstanding

Van Gaal’s dismissal of his ability to play a central role notwithstanding, Shinji Kagawa began playing just behind the strikers Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernández.

2014 August 26, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian:

And be it declared and enacted by the authority aforesaid, that an Habeas Corpus, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, may be directed and seen in any county Palatine, the Cinque Ports, or other privileged places within the Kindgom of England, dominion of Wales, or town of Berwick upon Tweed, and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey; any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

(used postpositively) In spite of, despite.


thorough

From Middle English thoruȝ, þoruȝ, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when it was used as an adverb, adjective, or noun, and less commonly when used as a preposition.

Ye might haue ſeene the frothy billowes fry
 Vnder the ſhip, as thorough them ſhe went […]

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

You are contented to be led in triumph
 Thorough the streets of Rome?

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], line 109:


rising

a horse rising six years of age

(US, slang, dated) More than; exceeding; upwards of.


up for

Are you up for a trip to the library today?

Neither team were up for this third-round replay, their lack of enthusiasm betrayed by 16 changes from the line-ups they used in league combat at the weekend.

2011 January 18, Joe Lovejoy, “Cardiff City 0 Stoke City 2”, in Guardian Online:

(idiomatic) Willing to participate in; interested in.

He is up for reelection next year, so he will try to control his image.

He is up for second degree murder.

It's still up for debate.

She put her jewelry up for auction.

My car is up for sale.

(idiomatic) Being or due to be evaluated, inspected, judged, considered, sold, etc., in the stated circumstances or by the stated method.


affor

providid that if it happen one of theym to decesse affor sche be maried, her porcion to be disposed to th’use and behove of Robert my son […]

1501 Testamenta Eboracensia: A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York Vol. IV (1869, York District Probate Registry, England), page 196

prayed him to forgive her, for Lyford had overcome her, and defiled her body before mariage affor he had comended him onto her for a husband.

1630-1650, William Bradford, journal, as quoted by Janet Farrell Brodie, Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America (1994, Cornell University Press), page 38

I was in here four times, and went out to try to get on, but couldn't, affor I comed in sixteen years ago, and my old woman was in affor she died.

1881, John Matthias Weylland, Our Veterans: Life-stories of the London City Mission, page 168:

Obsolete spelling of afore (“before, in advance of the time of”).

She wold have putt in her bill of complant affor my Lord of Richmonde’s counsell.

16C, title unavailable, as quoted by Arthur Geoffrey Dickens, Clifford Letters of the Sixteenth Century (1962), volume [illegible], page 116

Theyn he and v other psons yᵗ ys to wytt Jħn Walker Wyllyā Haslű Thomas ffleccher Perys Holt ƿ Rog’ Leyu’ testefyed this mat’ for thrwe affor me lord the Justys of Lanchastʳ.

1856, the Rev. F. R. Raines, M.A., F.S.A., “Examynatyons Towcheynge Cokeye More”, in Remains Historical and Literary Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, volume 37 (Chetham Society), page 20

Obsolete spelling of afore (“before, geographically or metaphorically in front of”).


up to

From Middle English up to, from Old English up tō.

She went up to the third floor.

Go up to the counter and ask.

But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice, “You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins.[…]”

1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Council with The Munchkins”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC, page 21:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see up, to.

to feel up to it

Are you up to lifting something that heavy?

Are you up to the challenge?

Are you up to going to the beach?

Capable, ready or equipped, having sufficient material preconditions for, possibly willpower (at a particular moment).

You can make up to five copies.

Violators may face a fine of up to $300.

As much as; no more than. (also with of)

Up to that point, I liked her.

I've read up to chapter 5.

It’s up to you whether to get the blue one or the red one.

It's up to the prosecution to prove that the defendant is guilty.

Within the responsibility of, to be attributed to the sphere of influence of, having someone or something as authoritative in.

What are you up to today?

He looked like a man up to no good.

There’s only one rooted tree with two leaves, up to ordering.

(mathematics) Considering all members of an equivalence class the same.

op ... na

mathematics: considering all members of an equivalence class the same

“Oh,” said Mr. Pickwick. “My what, did you say?”
“Your chummage ticket,” replied Mr. Roker; “you’re up to that?”
“Not quite,” replied Mr. Pickwick, with a smile.
“Why,” said Mr. Roker, “it’s as plain as Salisbury. You’ll have a chummage ticket upon twenty-seven in the third, and them as is in the room will be your chums.”

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Illustrative, like the preceding one, of the old Proverb, that Adversity brings a Man acquainted with strange Bed-fellows. Likewise containing Mr. Pickwick’s extraordinary and startling announcement to Mr. Samuel Weller.”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 447:

(archaic, slang) Familiar with the meaning of; able to understand.


at the hands of

By 1859, D. Morier Evans was exhibiting [George] Hudson as the principal character in his rogues' gallery entitled "Facts, Failures and Frauds"; and at the hands of modern economic historians he has been written down as a common swindler.

1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800:

It also does not help that one of the main causes of Chelsea's current plight is the scattergun strategy and madcap transfer spree from their owners that has taken them to 11th in the Premier League and now out of the Champions League at the hands of the ruthless holders, who are always happy to apply brutal reality to any romantic notions.

2023 April 18, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea Champions League exit: Where do 'disjointed, broken' Blues go from here?”, in BBC Sport:


to the tune of

The lyrics were written to the tune of "Amazing Grace".

She wasn’t the only one pondering that question; it was a sentiment that would be echoed in a post by the TikTok musician Boy Jr in August, who – to the tune of Video Killed the Radio Star – told her 300,000 followers that the very platform she was posting from had, along with streaming services and algorithms, “killed the bridge in pop songs”.

2022 December 9, Hannah J. Davies, “Is TikTok killing off the pop music bridge?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The damage that he did to his car was to the tune of two grand.

It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot. […] Well, they got him in the same kind of jam, and soaked him to the tune of three hundred and eighty-six thousand.

It boasts Hollywood royalty such as Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, was backed to the tune of $200m by tech behemoth Apple and has earned the kind of reviews that generate Oscar buzz.

2023 November 3, David Smith, “‘Hollywood doesn’t change overnight’: Indigenous viewers on Killers of the Flower Moon”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(figurative) Roughly; about; to the approximate sum or extent of.


underneath

From Middle English undernethe, undernethen, from Old English underneoþan (“underneath”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *underniþer.

Underneath the water, all was calm.

We flew underneath the bridge.

We looked underneath the table.

There was little freedom underneath the jackboot.


care of

Short for in the care of or similar phrase.

Could you please send this package to Mr. John Smith, care of the Northwest Shelter?

(mail) For distribution by (the named intermediary).

عِنَايَة

for distribution by (the named intermediary) — see also c/o


neath

From Old English neoþan, from Proto-Germanic *niþanē.


c/o

1976-1977, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
Sunday I penned my letter, Monday I mailed it c/o the high school.

Anna c/o Bob ― Anna at Bob's address

Send your mail to me c/o Mr. John Smith.

“But he sent it to you, didn't he?” “No, he sent it to himself c/o me.”

(shipping) Abbreviation of care of, used to identify an intermediary who is responsible for transferring a piece of mail between the postal system and the final addressee.

p

(abbreviation) identifies intermediary in delivering mail — see also care of

She was admitted to the hospital 6 days ago with c/o nausea, vomiting, and RUQ [right upper quadrant of the abdomen] pain. Her diet has not advanced beyond clear liquids, which she failed to tolerate on two attempts. Roa continues to c/o nausea and RUQ pain.

2009, Carol J. Rollins, “Adult Enteral Nutrition”, in Terry L. Schinghammer, Julia M. Koehler, editors, Pharmacotherapy Casebook: A Patient-Focused Approach, 7th edition, McGraw Hill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 366:

(medicine) Abbreviation of complain of, used to identify symptoms described by a patient.


'neath

Have you ever been south of Monterey? / Barrancas carve the coastline / And the chaparral flows to the sea / ’Neath waves of golden sunshine

1973, Al Jardine (lyrics and music), “California Saga (California)”, in Holland, performed by The Beach Boys:

One land and one nation is our cry, / Dignity and peace 'neath Zambia's sky

1973, “Stand and Sing of Zambia, Strong and Free”:

And here in Spain I am a Spaniard / I will be buried with my marionettes / Countess and courtesan / Have fallen 'neath my tender hand / When their husbands were not around

2002, The Decemberists (lyrics and music), “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect”, in Castaways and Cutouts, performed by The Decemberists, track 1:


touching

From Middle English touchynge, equivalent to touch + -ing.

Now as touching things offered vnto idoles, wee know that wee all haue knowledge.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 8:1:

Every time I ascended to the deck from my watches below, I instantly gazed aft to mark if any strange face were visible ; for my first vague disquietude touching the unknown captain, now in the seclusion of the sea, became almost a perturbation.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 28, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 134:


meets

The taste of an eggplant could be described as pepper meets tomato.

The concept of the movie was Fantastic Voyage meets The Devil Wears Prada.


in lieu of

From Middle English in liue of, a partial calque of Old French au leu de (modern French au lieu de).

They gave him a cash award, in lieu of the promised prize package.

بَدَلًا مِن

instead; in place of; as a substitute for

In lieu of recent events, more caution is needed.


vis-a-vis

Nixon confirmed that the Chinese Communists at first demanded that throughout the communique Taiwan be referred to as "a province of China." He said he had demurred, insisting that the U.S. side could refer to Taiwan only as "a part of China." Nixon's reasoning was that being dubbed "a province of China" would place Taiwan immediately in a subordinate position vis-a-vis the People's Republic of China; whereas being labeled "a part of China" would give Taiwan, despite its smaller size, a higher status vis-a-vis the mainland. I could tell by listening to Nixon that he was very pleased with himself on this matter.

1983, James C. H. Shen, “A Round of Calls”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 109:


failing

A large proportion of the females employed in other firms are said to have signified their intention of going on strike, failing a settlement.

If what follows is not possible; without.


saving

And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 2:17:

I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving your reverence, is the devil himself.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

Saving your presence.

a. 1796, Robert Burns, The Carle of Kellyburn Braes:


vis-à-vis

Borrowed from French vis-à-vis (“face-to-face”).

Canada's role vis-à-vis the United States' in Afghanistan

He was seated vis-à-vis the president.

Opposite; across from; set so as to be facing.


overhead

From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede (adverb), from Old English oferhēafod (adverb), equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt.

Cigarette smoke was sucked out through the cracks in the glass of the glazed panes overhead the side street and the parking lot.

1976 August 14, Matthew Wolfe, “Cruising a Tea Room or; Does Gertrude Stein Really Drink Coffee”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 7, page 15:


aslope

From Middle English aslope, probably from or akin to Old English āslopen, past participle of Old English āslūpan (“to slip away”), from a- + slupan (“to slip”).

1616, Thomas Middleton, Civitas Amor, London: Thomas Archer, “Prince Charles his Creation,”
[…] the King […] puts the Belt ouer the necke of the Knight, aslope his breast, placing the Sword vnder his left Arme:

A lute, aslope
The curious baldric of his tunic, glints
With pearl-reflections of the moon,

1899, Madison Cawein, “The Last Song”, in Myth and Romance, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, pages 29–30:


ISO

SO's affection for cats is important, but not nearly as important as not being allergic! It's really irritating to date a person who stops breathing whenever he's in your apartment. "GWM, 26, ISO G/BiM, must be kind to animals and have no allergies to pets..."

1992 November 23, Joseph E. Beason, “Re: gayfolk and cats”, in soc.motss (Usenet):

(in personal ads) Initialism of in search of.


V

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of over, prefix over-.


U

An abbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letter U. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article, and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).

In 1992 Susan Lockhart was Captain of the England U16 Hockey Squad.

2013, Pam Mansell, The Girls of Southend High School 1913-2013: A Century for Women:

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of under, prefix under-.


barring

/ˈbɑːɹɪŋ(ɡ)/

Barring any further red tape, we will finally be able to open the restaurant.

Barring any sudden storms, the plane should arrive on time.

Unless something happens; excepting; in the absence of.


O

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of out, letter/sound sequence out.


après

2002, Jorge Ramos, The Other Face of America, Patricia J Duncan tr. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0060938242&id=D_xrZF1gTi8C&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&sig=ERHjCVnyrDm_50Up1nULZ7JeH2s
How about an après ski massage? Well, it’ll cost you $80 for fifty minutes at the Aspen Club, tip included. Thank goodness.