Questions tagged [meaning-in-context]
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a word or a phrase in a specific context, which a dictionary cannot answer. Please give as much context as possible.
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"I get holes in my jeans......" | "My jeans get holed in ........." | "My jeans get holes......."
A native english speaker is talking about his clothes. He says:
You can never have too many pairs of jeans, can you? because you know after a while, the jeans all chafe under here, and I end up ...
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"If you keep having this car with you, I will buy it from you next year"
1.Does "keep having" refer to continuous possession of something though I know "having" itself shows possession?
1.A "If you keep having this car with you, I will buy it from ...
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moments of limitless destiny?
And there in the dark among glowing fragrant cigarettes, watching the laborious approach of that low twisted figure with helplessly tossing legs, he felt moments of limitless destiny.
(From Fat City ...
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"Both our houses are big"
"Both our houses are big " whether it mean 1.They each have one house.
2.Collectively they are co-owner of two houses
3.They both have two houses/four in total
–i think only number 2 is ...
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What does "either" refer to in "We don't have to run to phone booths anymore, either"?
Before persuading Neo to discover the truth, Bugs reveals a rabbit
tattoo on her shoulder. They then enter a portal leading to the
interior of a moving train in Tokyo.
Here is the YouTube clip from ...
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What does it mean: " Don’t shop-order. "
On a caregiver forum, people are talking about their experiences and how to make life easier when they give caregiving to the elderly. One of those advices is like this:
Don’t shop-order.
Amazon lets ...
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Can I replace haven't with ain't or didn’t for present tense?
Example:
I still ain’t found a comfortable grip on my racket.
Or
I still didn’t found a comfortable grip on my racket.
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He gets to feeling or feel [duplicate]
He gets to feel ashamed.
He gets to feeling ashamed.
Generally, we use base form of the verb after 'to' but I have read the second sentence in which the writer has used 'feeling' instead of 'feel' ...
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Does 'compare' mean the same as 'synonym' in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary?
In sense 6 of the word "back" in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, I found the following line:
I'm not sure how to interpret the keyword "compare" here (following the link ...
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Is "Thank you" means "Yes" here?
Here is the conversation between Nettie and Reta in Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023):
Reta: Nettie?
Nettie: Yes.
Reta: Can you get my sister some toast, please?
Nettie: Of course. And a bit more ...
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"See how I feel"?
What I’d like to do is get a couple of fights and rent a nice house. You want to go to the gym sometime? Maybe we could work out again, see how I feel. I was in bad shape last time.
Does this mean &...
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"The same hated one"?
"And so Tully, relating the story of his marriage, crawled through the afternoon, separating nuts from clods until all nuts were the same hated one thrown forever into the bucket."
Does it ...
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Meaning of “Put itself in the wrong”
I would like to ask for help with understanding of “Put itself in the wrong”.
The whole sentence is “With propensity to put itself in the wrong, he only informed us very brifely.
What is the meaning ...
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Let ideas and beliefs emerge organically
What does "organically" mean in "let ideas and beliefs emerge organically"?
"Organic" basically means "of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic ...
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Is there any difference in what these sentences mean? Is there any reason to use one over the other? Are both sentences grammatically correct?
"His health problems can be attributed to not eating well."
"His health problems can be attributed to him not eating well."
Are both these sentences grammatically correct? Is ...
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Why can we say "Where is THERE?" but not "Where is HERE?" to find out about a place?
On TV, a woman who thinks she is sent from outer space is talking about how she exchanged souls with something from the space. Here is a part from the conversation:
Presenter: Where did your soul go ...
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Upscale crab shacks in Baltimore
What does "crab shack" mean in "Today, this harbor area offers shops, upscale crab shacks and attractions like the Civil War–era warship the USS Constellation and the National Aquarium, ...
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Though able enough? Compatible?
He was trying to be compatible. Though able enough, he felt he was a lover more from duty than from inclination. With his wife he had not had to try. From her he had met with reprimands for ...
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get yourself set up
On TV, someone is warning how to avoid scammers in buying concert tickets. She says:
"....but for this weekend get yourself set up, only buy from the registered official sites, and do not get ...
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What does "make" in the phrase "make + verb-ing" mean?
I found the following sentence in Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary:
a formal promise to be loyal to the US, which Americans make standing
in front of the flag with their right hand on their heart....
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'healthy' to mean 'working properly'
Is there an adjective in English which describes a device that works properly?
As opposed to 'broken: damaged not or working properly'.
Is it correct to use the adjective 'healthy'? As in
Is the ...
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" did" or "do"?
"What did you want to do that for?”
“You can count on me right down the line,” he said.
“You want to knock your brains out?”
“You can count on me. Don’t you believe me?"
"I get along ...
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What's the meaning of "running us off an embankment"?
I married white next time and all he was good for was running us off an embankment. Marrying him was the biggest mistake of my life. He had unnatural desires. (Fat City, Leonard Gardner · 2017)
Does ...
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What's the meaning of "right off" here?
“What did you say? Listen, I don’t have to take that. You’re liable to get backhanded right off that stool someday.”
“See if I care one bit. That's all I need. Go ahead if it'll make you happy. Knock ...
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Mine are a bit tight from when I did them this morning
A group of children on TV are playing with their shoelaces, learning how to tie etc. In a scene, they are trying to undo shoelaces quickly, and one of them says:
Mine are a bit tight from when I did ...
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What's the meaning of "he can score" here?
From the the novel "Fat City":
“That’s right, sure, they won’t go for just anybody.”
“If the right guy comes along he can score.”
“Everybody’s got a mate somewhere.”
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Use of the expression "to have free transit"
Can the expression "having free transit" found in the text below be used to refer to someone who has a good relationship in a certain place, including making it easier for them to solve ...
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What is the meaning of "readers of the interest"?
I was reading a mathematics books and found this sentence:
We believe that there is no better way to convince our readers of the interest and
applicability of certain mathematical ideas or techniques ...
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Why is this sentence incorrect: "This is because music has a special way of grabbing our attention and keeping engaging us"?
This is because music has a special way of keeping us engaged.
This is because music has a special way of keeping engaging us.
I'm tutoring a kid in English, and I don't know how to explain to her ...
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What does “formerly held to” mean?
What does "formerly held to" mean exactly? Does it mean it used to be a certain way, but it's no longer the case? Does "to hold" in this case mean "to maintain in a given ...
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Who does "she" refer to in this excerpt from "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam"?
This is an excerpt from The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam by Allama Muhammad Iqbal:
It cannot, however, be denied that Ghazali's mission was almost
apostolic like that of Kant in ...
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The meaning of “manage” in this context
What is the meaning of “manage” in this passage?
Tom and Ali, are arguing in a very angry way all the time. It started when Tom used Ali’s computer and managed to destroy some files. Now Ali won't ...
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Amazon delivery driver has PSA for customers who leave delivery instructions
What is PSA in "‘Yall got me messed up’: Amazon delivery driver has PSA for customers who leave delivery instructions".
I don't think it stands for Psoriatic arthritis, (PsA), a chronic, ...
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Using word mighty
We can say about God that he is almighty. How can I use this adjective (almighty) when I want to say that a person is not quite but some mighty. Can I say some mighty/little mighty?
Justyna Szulc
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I don't think he himself even knows which number the current one is
The man fires his carers because of small mistakes, too. So far, he has fired many. I don't think he even knows ........ the current one is.
What I want to say in the last sentence is to emphasize the ...
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Having problem understanding "a- occurs in words which have "not", "without", or "opposite to" as part of their meaning."
I just started to read the book "Word Formation" by "John Sinclair". The book explains the meaning of some prefixes and suffixes. It starts with:
a-
a- occurs in words which have &...
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I was totally off on you
On a TV show, the guests are shown 5 people and are listened to them with a short sentence, who could sound as UK or US accents, and the guests are expect to guess where they really are from. One of ...
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What does this mean if a person is about to take a drug test - "Applicant may be tested for illegal drugs including but not limited to marijuana"?
Could someone elaborate the exact meaning of the following:
The applicant may be tested for illegal drugs, including but not limited to marijuana.
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I don't think it's serving me right
On TV, some people are discussing about how students might change their minds about the department they chose in the beginning of uviversity. A man said about his daughter's case:
Dad I'm just not ...
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Is this headline ambiguous: "protests after doctor's rape and murder."
This is a headline from the BBC.
"Indian women lead night protests after doctor's rape and murder." BBC - india
When I read this headline, although it seemed ambiguous to me, I relied on ...
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the meaning of this phrase 'need not be disconnected'
I'm not english and i need someone to explain for me the significance of this phrase:
"In TN-S systems, the neutral need not be disconnected if the supply conditions are such that the neutral ...
bitzy
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Passenger to airline staff: "I meant that about dinner."
A passenger misses her flight, but the next one is full. So, she waits in case someone may cancel their ticket in the next flight. She says:
If you get a seat, it is dinner for everyone.
Then someone ...
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Meaning of "I opened the door and reached for the light switch just inside."
I read this sentence from the book "Let's Get Invisible" by R.L Stine:
I opened the door and reached for the light switch just inside.
I don't completely understand the meaning of "...
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"Not many can say that is there."
A 105 year old lady is telling about her feelings. She says:
I mean I have lived here 105 years. Not many can say that is there. No. 105 year.
BBC- elderly lived in the same house for 105 years (see:...
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Every time I see her, she said you've not been doing me again
On a TV show, a guest, who previously did an impression of Maggie Smith, says to the presenter:
Don't ask me to tell another Maggie Smith story. Every time I see her, she said you've not been doing ...
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meaning of ''pull'' in ''each force causes the lever to pull on the shaft in a different way.''
a force is applied to the end of a lever [Like the picture below], which is attached to a shaft at O (The axis of the shaft is perpendicular to the plane)
The force applied to the lever at point A ...
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Zero weight loss from zero calorie drinks? Say it ain’t so
Shouldn't the title of the article be "Zero weight GAIN from zero calorie drinks? Say it ain’t so" instead of "Zero weight loss from zero calorie drinks? Say it ain’t so" because ...
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"Seagulls are gulling away."
A British speaker is walking around Brighton and talking about the town. At one point, he says:
I am just walking through all these lovely houses, and seagulls are gulling away.
Brighton (see:17:32-...
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Can you say “get talking”?
Is it possible to say “send me a message and we’ll get talking”? In the sense that “send me a message and we might start a conversation”?
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What does " It was dark as night out, still storming." mean?
I found the following sentences while reading the book "Let's Get Invisible" by R.L Stine. The book describes a birthday party on a rainy day. Near the end of the party the main character ...
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