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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What does "Jealousy of someone" mean?
"Jealousy of someone". Does it mean?
"Someone's jealousy towards you" or
"You are jealous of them"
I have two sentence. "We should understand the jealousy of God&...
- 4,523
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Is it correct to say "Do all your friends tuck in like that?"?
My daughter's school uniform includes a school shirt and a school skirt. A schoolboy's uniform includes a school shirt and a pair of school shorts (the design of the shirt and shorts are different ...
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The meaning of "sharp" in "sharp sweetness"
Go for gold in the kitchen with our Olympic Games inspired menu! Tuck
into this Creamy Chicken à la Normande whilst you're watching Paris
2024 for a winning dinnertime. Cooking "à la Normande&...
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On using "time span"
Is this usage correct:
The short time span between the first and second experiment ...
I am using it as a synonym for (period or gap). Is this correct usage?
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He managed to look at ease "despite pigging/being pigging out on" the meat at an excess amount. - different meanings?
Example 1
He managed to look at ease despite pigging out on the meat at an excess amount.
Example 2
He managed to look at ease despite being pigging out on the meat at an excess amount.
Example 3
...
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"It is important to recognise the interdependence between individual, culturally formed actions and the state of cultural integration." meaning
It is important to recognise the interdependence between
individual, culturally formed actions and the state of cultural
integration. People work within the forms provided by the
cultural patterns ...
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Meaning of "I'm with the ..." construction
As a non-native speaker of English, the construction "I'm with the ..." sounds a bit strange to me. I understand that it has about the same meaning as "I'm from the ...", as in &...
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Understanding the Meaning of “No Thing”
In the lyric “It wasn’t no thing to give you up,” should it be understood as “It wasn’t difficult to give you up” or “It wasn’t easy to give you up”? I’m confused about the meaning of “no thing” here.
...
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condescension and can
We can talk about modal auxiliary verbs in terms of such logical notions as ‘permission’ and ‘necessity’ but, this done, we still have to consider ways in which these notions become remoulded by the ...
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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 ...
- 2,109
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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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What does equitable mean here?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/equality-vs-equity-difference
when opening up a print dictionary, regardless of how thick it is, you’ll have equal access to the pages and the definitions will ...
- 4,523
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Adversative sentences
What do the bold parts mean? Or rather, I should say that I'm confused by the bold parts, and I'd like to know what the sentences mean, and what kind of flavor they have to them. And what does win ...
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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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Go up/down the other end
What does "go up/down the other end" mean? I interpret it as "go up" as "go towards" and "the other end" as "the opponent pitch". "Other" ...
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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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meaning of "help"
The Cambridge Dictionary has the following definition of "help":
to do something for someone
And the example sentence:
Dad always helps me with my homework.
I'm wondering this sentence ...
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3
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What is the meaning of "just" here?
Let's say I arrive outside my friend's house. He's expexting me. I need a cigarette, so I smoke one outside. I see my friend in the window. He sees me. I finish smoking and walks up to the front door. ...
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The percentage of xxx vs. The proportion of xxx?
Which expression would be better in formal academic writing?
The percentage of incidence is approaching approximately 80%.
The proportion of incidence is approaching approximately 80%.
I believe ...
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3
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"The company receives millions of dollars in advertising revenue." — What specifically does "in" mean here?
britannica.com:
(1) The company receives millions of dollars in advertising revenue.
I can guess what, in (1), "in advertising revenue" means — it means "earning on advertising".
...
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Should I say (plants are grown) or(plants grow ) and what is the difference between blood donating and blood donation in meqning [closed]
I don't understand the difference between grow and are grown in the mentioned question, I mean I do not kno
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She's beautiful. She's gone to the market. How to differentiate "She is" and "She has"?
The contraction she's is defined as:
Ref. Cambridge dictionary
she's.
short form of she is:
She's a writer.
short form of she has:
She's been to Japan twice.
Though the dictionary cites two ...
- 28.3k
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3
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Is this place called passage or hallway or corridor or pathway?
Mary is just 6 and I need to show her where her class is in a school.
After Mary goes through the school gate, she has to go through a place (as shown in the picture below), then turn right to another ...
- 17.2k
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have something over someone
a) What do you have over Tom?
Could that mean
In what way are you better than Tom.
I think I can beat Tom tomorrow.
Really? What do you have over Tom? As far as I can see, he's better than you in ...
- 108k
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2
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53
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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 ...
- 8,071
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1
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Are games where you pretend to be something called by the name of the venue/building?
On TV, I heard when children are thinking of what game they should play, one of them said:
We will play hospitals.
From this sentence, I think that maybe the names of games in english -in which you ...
- 108k
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1
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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 ...
- 8,512
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Humankind Vs Mankind
I ran into the following context:
[humankind: human beings considered collectively (used as a neutral alternative to “mankind”)]
Also, I have read another article about it.
But still I am confused! ...
- 108k
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1
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young animal vs. baby animal
The word 'kid' to me means a goat that has not yet attained adulthood, and is not fully mature.
But does 'young goat' mean the same or could it mean a young fully mature goat?
And would 'baby goat' ...
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Idiom request : a very small amount compared with what is needed
I'm looking for an English equivalent to the Hindi phrase:
Feeding cumin seeds to a camel.
Cumin seeds would not sate a camel's hunger. In fact, it is as good as giving nothing.
This phrase can be ...
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What does "exercise" mean in this context?
This is a definition of the word "witchery" from the Oxford Languages dictionary.
witchery
compelling power exercised by beauty, eloquence, or other attractive or fascinating qualities
...
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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 ...
- 108k
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1
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When talking about the date of an event, what does 'net' mean in an expression like 'net September'
a wiki article gives a date in the form of 'NET September', what does 'net' mean?
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Can I say "fingers" when referring to toes?
In my native language, there is no word for toes. You just use the same word for both toes and fingers. In this context, I would say a human has 20 fingers.
Recently I've heard someone saying a ...
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why does the author write 'This makes sense and is a logical argument ~'?
I have a couple of questions.
Firstly, why does the author write This makes sense and is a logical argument ~ ? Does it mean that in the perspective of eastern folks, it is sensible to think that way ...
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What do the double negative and multiple uses of otherwise here mean?
"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess, "and the moral of that is
— 'Be what you would seem to be'— or, if you’d like it put more
simply—'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise ...
- 4,155
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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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Can "a tissue" be called a handkerchief or hanky?
In Cambridge dictionary,
hanky=a handkerchief (= square piece of cloth or paper used
for cleaning the nose and drying the eyes)
I thought a handkerchief was always made of cloth.
a tissue: [...
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It seems/seemed that he ate a lot yesterday - what are the differences?
Example 1
It seems that he ate a lot yesterday.
It seemed that he ate a lot yesterday.
What are the differences in meaning?
Example 2
It is unlikely that she said it.
It was unlikely that she ...
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3
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"Never been used but twice"
What is this sentence wording called never been used but twice. Please explain this in depth to me
I'm trying to break this sentence down. Would you describe it as an oxymoron or paradox? Is there ...
- 108k
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1
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“preliminary” usage
I’m writing an article and in the article I’m just talking about 4 general skills that people should learn ‘before’ they can work on the main specific skill for recovering from a loss. learning these ...
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Do you say "I will look/watch out for my friend that needs to be protected" or "I will look/watch out for the one that might hurt my friend"?
What is the meaning of the preposition "for" in "watch out for" and "watch out for"?
This are examples from dictionaries
You should look out for pickpockets. (in this ...
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it is worth doing somethin = something is worth doing?
Is there a real difference between:
1 It is worth buying this phone. – 2 This phone is worth buying.
I heard an opinion that 1 is wrong. However, this is what I found in a dictionary.
3 It's worth ...
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what is the meaning of "any scholar of the age" and "the shoemaker's bench"?
what is the meaning of "any scholar of the age" and "the shoemaker's bench"?
"any scholar of the age" does it mean any scholar in his age or an aged scholar?
and is "...
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1
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do we use "judgmental" for things that are not people?
The verb "judge" means "[intransitive, transitive] to form an opinion about somebody/something, based on the information you have" (the first meaning).
So, we use "judge" ...
- 76.5k
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1
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the meaning of modal auxiliary verb 'would'
He was very ill at that time, but he would go.
His income was still small, but she would marry him.
At last she put her arms round the top, as far as they would go.
Are these sentences all barely ...
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2
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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 ...
- 28.3k