Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a word, which a dictionary cannot answer. If the question is about the meaning of a word that can't be understood outside its phrase or sentence, the "meaning-in-context" tag should be also used; for the meaning of a phrase, use the "phrase-meaning" tag instead. Your question should normally include the dictionary definition of the word, and explain how the dictionary does not answer your question.
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"Within 7 working days upon arrival" vs. "of your arrival date"
Two questions
Is there any difference between the sentence "within 7 working days upon arrival" and "within 7 working of your arrival date"?
How do we count these 7 working days? ...
euciph
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2
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"How far back was the deer? - Does "how far back ...." make sense when the driver actually run into a deer in front of the car?
This is from a native speaker's telling about some of the things done by the officers after his car run into a deer which suddenly ran out onto the road. The man could not stop or swerve and had to ...
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Can you say someone "never [VERB]s" if they used to in the past?
If you say "never swears" as an example, can this include if someone has done it in the past but doesn’t do it consistently nor in recent time?
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More correct form to end on
In a sentence:
In situations like these, you will succeed, you always did.
vs
In situations like these, you will succeed, you always have.
Is one of these wrong/more correct than the other?
Or ...
CommunityBot
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While/When I was at the restaurant, I browsed the menu and ordered the food. - do they both mean the same?
Example 1
While I was at the restaurant, I browsed the menu and ordered the food.
Example 2
When I was at the restaurant, I browsed the menu and ordered the food.
Do they mean the same thing?
I ...
CommunityBot
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2
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What does 'orange software' in 'Bro got orange software' mean?
In this Reel titled Bro did him dirty, a (white) cat is concealed within a box by another, which closes the lid by sitting on it.
The top comment, which had been upvoted by more than 600 people, of ...
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What's the meaning of "skirt off into a corner"?
As part of my homework, I'm reading a paragraph from the book Objective Proficiency (workbook). The paragraph is about a man who coaches couples on correct behavior on corporate functions.
I'm ...
CommunityBot
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Why is there a "...being..." in this sentence: "There was little evidence from trials of it being of benefit."
This is about a new drug, which was approved in the US, but was rejected in the EU for not being safe enough.
At the time, many scientists said there was little evidence from trials of it being of ...
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Every father "behaved/behaves" very boldly before they "got/gets" married. - What are the nuances?
Example 1
Every father behaved very boldly before they got married.
Example 2
Every father behaves very boldly before they gets married.
What are the nuances between them?
My interpretation:
...
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Meaning of "As music rubber hosed the air" [closed]
"Irrational youths stop to stare, as music rubber hosed the air."
Music rubber? or rubber as music? Hosed the air - what may it mean?
It comes from the song Angry Again by Megadeth
CommunityBot
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Meaning of "keep left"
I would like to know the meaning of the following expression:
Keep left.
Does it mean "maintain on the left-hand-side of a road" or "do not enter"?
CommunityBot
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2
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1
answer
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Do I correctly understand difference between 'could hardly [v]' and 'hardly [v2]'
example:
he spoke very quickly, so I could hardly understand him. - (I
understood (0-25%) of all)
he spoke very quickly, so I hardly understood him. - (it was hard,
but I did(understood) it (75%-100%...
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Meaning of "to be responsible for being..."
The external safety unit is therefore responsible for the functions and applications being correct.
What is meant by the sentence above?
The external safety unit is therefore responsible for the ...
CommunityBot
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2
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the key to all the doors of knowledge
a. He has a key to all doors of knowledge.
b. He has a key to every door of knowledge.
c. He has a key to each door of knowledge.
d. He has a key to all the doors of knowledge.
============
a1. He has ...
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Do these sentences have the same meaning: "Such a pity your father can't be here." VS "I wish your father was here."
"Such a pity your father can't be here." A Dark Adapted Eye (1994 UK TV drama, part 1) (see:1:07:18-1:07:22)
"I wish your father was here."
These sentences, despite having ...
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Is "several prizes" a direct object or an indirect object in "There are thought likely to be awarded several prizes."?
From [Andrew Radford. (2004). English Syntax: An Introduction. p.155.]
There are thought likely to be awarded several prizes.
I can not figure out the meaning of the sentence because of not being ...
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Ice is melted in the water
Ice has melted, so there's just melted ice which is just water.
Can I describe the right picture as "ice is melted in the water" (without definite article "the") even though there'...
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things need more time to be worked/to work on/working on
1 Some things need more time to be worked on.
2 Some things need more time to work on.
3 Some things need more time working on.
It seems to me that all three mean the same, is it so?
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Difference between "cater to" and "cater for"
What is the difference between cater for and cater to? Not in the context of serving food.
Examples from Cambridge dictionary
cater for someone/something:
The college caters for deaf and visually-...
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there is the/a/this - are all valid?
1 There is the word "Hello". Have you heard it before?
2 There is a word "Hello". Have you heard it before?
3 There is this word "Hello". Have you heard it before?
Are ...
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Difference between "the number of people you would have thought" OR "the number of people you would think"?
This from the BBC website Lost wallet found 5 years on
It is about a story in which somebody lost his wallet 5 years ago after he watched a game in a rugby stadium, and it was found 5 years later. ...
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Meaning of a sentence about law
I wanted to know what the last sentence of this paragraph means, what does " know it to be " refer to ?
a person “is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was ...
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Why is it correct to say "to explode a bomb / fuel tank / star", but incorrect to say "to explode a car / bridge / building"?
cambridge.org:
(1) Black holes are left behind by exploding stars called supernovas.
collinsdictionary.com:
(2) A school bus was hit by gunfire which exploded the fuel tank.
Why is it correct to say &...
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1
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804
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The Usage of Will for Decisions
I was reading a grammar book called Essential Grammar in Use. As for the usage of "Will" it gives the examples bellow:
Sue travels a lot. Today she is in Madrid. Tomorrow she'll be in Rome. Next ...
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"What surprised him the most "is/was" how they emptied the box" - what is the difference in meaning?
Example 1
"What surprised him the most is how they emptied the box"
Example 2
"What surprised him the most was how they emptied the box"
What is the difference in meaning?
For ...
CommunityBot
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1
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352
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trust vs entrust
Could you explain to me please the difference between "trust" and "entrust" by the following examples?
thefreedictionary.com:
(1a) I entrusted this secret to her.
my variant:
(1b) ...
CommunityBot
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1
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"I was blown away by how good that movie was!" — If we took "by" away, would the sentence meaning remain the same?
thefreedictionary.com:
(1) I was blown away by how good that movie was!
As far as I understand, if we took "by" away, the sentence would also remain correct:
(2) I was blown away how good ...
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“the room whose door is broken” vs “the room which door is broken”? [duplicate]
Which exactly is the difference in meaning and usage between choosing whose versus choosing which in this first sentence?
He chose to live in the room [ which / whose ] door was broken.
How do these ...
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"I will go to the party *to* kiss her" vs. "I will go to the party *and* kiss her"
"I will go to the party to kiss her."
"I will go to the party and kiss her."
Which one is more "proper one? I'm thinking second one is more formal but I'm not sure.
CommunityBot
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1
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How to understand “of which” in this sentence?
I found a sentence in “Dubliners”, and was confused about its sentence structure.
we made at once for a sloping bank over the ridge of which we could see the Dodder.
I have seen two ...
CommunityBot
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meaning of draw from
What is the meaning of draw from in the following sentence
The BLA, which drew from an earlier version, was reborn in 2000 when it claimed a few attacks on Pakistan targets.
To Read Full Article
CommunityBot
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"was going to" and "was planning to" have a similar meaning?
I heard that "was going to" and "was planning to" have a similar meaning.
"Was/were going to" is often used to talk about an intention or plan that didn’t happen.
Is &...
CommunityBot
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4
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"James flicked a peanut at her." — What can "flicked" mean here?
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
to flick something — to hit something lightly with a sudden quick movement, especially using your finger and thumb together, or your hand:
(1) James flicked a peanut ...
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1
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Meaning of "A/B and C/D" -- clear or ambiguous?
I saw this sentence in Cypher, in which game you try to break various cyphers.
Swap columns 1/2 and 3/4 of each block.
I didn't know whether it meant "Swap the 1st column for the 2nd column and ...
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"The jumbo jet was blasted out of the sky." — If we took "out of the sky" away, would the sentence remain correct?
I'd like to know how to use the word "blast" when it means "explode".
For this purpose, I prepared some examples.
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1) The jumbo jet was blasted out ...
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2
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80
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"constitutes" vs. "is"
I feel that I am using the verb "to be" too much in my formal writing and hence I am trying to find a formal substitute that I can use from time to time. Could the verb "to constitute&...
CommunityBot
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the usage of “remain + of”
Here are two examples:
The front wall is all that remains of the fort.
... since no records will remain of
their phone conversations, emails, blogs, and text messages.
The sentences below have the ...
CommunityBot
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Is there any difference between "post under" and "post with"?
I was wondering if both meant the same thing, and if there's any difference between the two, what they were, because as I see it, it's pretty much the same thing. Saying "post under my real name" ...
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"What for" and "why"?
The thing is the tranlation of "what for" and "why" have completely the same meaning in my native language. I'm interested in is there any difference between them in English.
That is, coudl you ...
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Attribute as a verb [closed]
Attribute as a verb what does it mean? Give an example. As a noun it is similar to skill / characteristic
Thanks in advance.
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When does "quite" means 'rather' and when does it mean 'completely'?
When does "quite" means 'rather' and when does it mean 'completely'?
Here is its wordnet entry:
quite
adverb
1. to a degree (not used with a negative) (Freq. 57)
- quite tasty
- quite soon
- quite ...
- 5,861
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1
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Haven't spoken or haven't been speaking
Could you, please, provide me with an explanation as to why "haven't spoken" is an accepted answer instead of "haven't been speaking" in the following example:
My downstairs ...
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2
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How to make sense of "are precisely as the analysis in (80a/b/c) would lead us to expect"?
From [Andrew Radford. (2004). English Syntax: An Introduction. p.77.].
If we is a first person determiner, you is a second person determiner
and ø is a third person determiner, the grammaticality ...
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1
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What is the differences between using "was" or "is" or even others like "will be" in these conversations?
I found that in discourse, "that" or other pronouns can refer to many things. Sometimes it is an idea or it can involve specific elements in the discourse.
But because I am not a native ...
CommunityBot
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Is there any nuance between "is one island" and "is an island"?
Hainan is __ island, isn't it?
A. the
B. one
C. a
D. an
The answer is B. But I think D is also ok.
What is the nuance?
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Meaning of "So, too, may be the fate of his seed"
The Da Vinci Code (movie, 2006) has this:
Once the sarcophagus is destroyed, DNA testing will be impossible. There is no way to prove a living bloodline. But if you had to... would you do as councils ...
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Oncoming, outcoming and forward meaning
What are the meaning of the following three words in a context? (I know the meaning by themselves but I can't quite picture what they mean)
Oncoming lane
Forward lane
Outcoming lane
I am not really ...
CommunityBot
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2
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226
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What is the meaning of "I am glossing over a significant amount of spherical myalgia"?
Today I encountered a saying where I think the last part has been replaced with a euphemism.
I am glossing over a significant amount of spherical myalgia.
I could make out the meaning from the ...
- 20.7k
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Meanings of two specific phrases by Nabokov
Recently I am translating some letters written by Nabokov to his wife Vera. The great difficulty is that in those personal letters he created many words that are hard to understand by a third person. ...
- 20.7k
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3
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damaged by the storm
a. His house very much was damaged by the storm.
b. His house was very much damaged by the storm.
Could either of these be used to mean
His house was indeed damaged by the storm.
?
The sentence ...
- 20.7k