Questions tagged [phrase-meaning]
Use this tag for questions about the meaning and usage of a particular phrase, for which a dictionary cannot answer.
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0answers
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Feed sb sth VS feed sb on sth
Sentences:
I feed the dog biscuits.
I feed the dog on biscuits.
Does feed on mean to give as a regular food, and feed mean simply to give food?
Explain.
Thank you.
0
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1answer
19 views
Meaning of 'ends meet'
What is the meaning of ends meet in this context
Hi,
This email is to inform you that your application has been rejected.
As the Test scores were not enough. However, we wish you all success
...
1
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1answer
27 views
What does mean “to get {somebody} {something}”
Could you say if I'm correct translating the following sentence:
And I'd like to see about getting Harry some contacts.
like
And I'd like to see about providing Harry with some contacts.
I'm ...
-1
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2answers
19 views
“taking their lead from him” in this context
He(Neville) had not once mentioned his meeting with Harry, Ron and Hermione on the closed ward in St Mungo's and, taking their lead from him, they had kept quiet about it too.
Harry Potter and ...
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2answers
37 views
Charles Dickens bleak house interpretation
It's from Bleak-House. Chapter Down in Lincolnshire ( LXVI)
Some of her old friends, principally to be found among the peachy-cheeked charmers with the skeleton throats, did once occasionally say, ...
2
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1answer
24 views
Do “usually never” and “usually always” make sense?
When visiting the lunch buffet:
"I usually never take the spicy dressing"
When waiting for Tom:
"Tom usually always comes on time"
It seems like a bit of colloquial exaggeration - but is it ...
1
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1answer
29 views
“Kick your ass on the road” meaning
I heard "Kick your ass on the road" in a movie. The context is that there were two people in a truck. One guy said it to the driver. From the context, I guess it probably means he had asked the driver ...
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2answers
20 views
How to understand the phrase “the unwilling objects of a gruesome sort of reflected fame”
There were relatives of their victims among the Hogwarts students, who now found themselves the unwilling objects of a gruesome sort of reflected fame as they walked the corridors: Susan Bones, whose ...
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2answers
37 views
What does “reintegrate into the labour market” mean?
A: XYZ helps unemployed individuals prepare for, find, and maintain suitable employment.
B: XYZ offers programs and services that help unemployed workers reintegrate into the labour market and ...
1
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2answers
39 views
What does “tippy top” mean here?
And except for those at the tippy top, shareholder value isn’t a
meaningful goal that excites and engages them.
I searched online dictionaries but I didn't find a good definition for"tippy top" ...
0
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1answer
16 views
How is “over-the-top” related to online streaming? [closed]
I know OTT means online content business, but why is "over the top" linguistically used? Literally I don't see much connection.
1
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1answer
28 views
What does “at stake” mean in this emboldened sentence?
For the past two weeks Chinese and American negotiators have been locked in talks in Beijing and Washington to end their trade conflict before the deadline of March 1st......Don't be distracted by ...
1
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2answers
16 views
“clunked into place” meaning
She walked away. Harry stood staring after her, his brain working frantically. Then something clunked into place.
"Cho! Hey - Cho!"
He ran after her, catching her halfway up the marble ...
0
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1answer
13 views
alive once alive forever?
doubt
Is it correct to say
alive once alive forever
meaning one who feels alive once lives forever?
7
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2answers
237 views
Does the phrase “more obvious” mean “just barely noticeable among many” in certain contexts?
Let me add some context here:
In Frank Herbert’s Dune, there is this sentence:
“I know the Dark Things and the ways of the Great Mother,” Jessica
said. She read the more obvious signs in Mapes’ ...
2
votes
1answer
17 views
What does “but not say” mean?
I believe that the requirement is being exercised but not say, directly called in the test.
What does "but not say" mean? Does it mean something like "though we can't say"?
4
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1answer
62 views
Is it OK to use “slowly” after “to edge”?
I came across a sentence
Why does a car have to edge forward slowly when turning from a side street into a main street?
The use of slowly made me look up the definition of edge as a verb in a ...
0
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1answer
34 views
sitting position… knees open or what?
Image cropped from https://yurielkaim.com/7-fat-burning-leg-exercises/
I am making a sentence presenting the image in picture. I want to say that one shouldn't sit the way that the knees are wide ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Match Made It in Heaven meaning
How to understand in other words the title of the text according to the story?:
Match Made It in Heaven
As I sat sipping a cup of tea at my sister Doris" house, my husband, Brian, caught my eye ...
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1answer
26 views
What is “to have a run of accidents”?
What is "to have a run of accidents"?
Miss Lowe had a run of accidents before her birthday, spending a week in hospital after a fall at home and suffering whiplash in a car accident while being ...
9
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3answers
1k views
What is the meaning of “notice to quit at once” and "Lotty points”
Lord Beamys led the way with Mrs. Gervase, Mrs. Dixon followed with Sir Vivian Ponsonby, and the multitudes that followed cried, saying, “What a dear old man!”—“Isn’t it kind of him to come all this ...
0
votes
2answers
28 views
What is the meaning of “share our frustration with~” in the following sentence?
What is the meaning of "share our frustration with" in the following sentence,
Many of our fellow shareholders share our frustration with Apple’s
capital allocation policies.
?
Does it mean "...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
How can “I don't know if you can tell or not, but…” be used in spoken English?
I've just come across that phrase
I don't know if you can tell or not, but...
Would you tell me what it means and how I can use it?
Thanks for your help
12
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5answers
3k views
Does “legal poaching” exist?
I heard the illegal poaching being uttered so many times in a TV show, about animals, that my ear of a non-native speaker, made me questioning the validity of the term.
I have made some Ngram ...
0
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1answer
27 views
What does “as good as” mean?
http://lovefreenovels.com/Fiction/This_Is_Falling/page_44.html
The girl wants to break up with here unconsious forever boyfriend and writes such a say-goodbye letter:
The more I think about it, the ...
3
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1answer
269 views
What is the meaning of “pick up” in this sentence? [closed]
We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.
Does this sentence equal to:
We had thought the turnout for these events would increase, ...
1
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1answer
34 views
What is the meaning of “his path beaten out in the turf”
Suddenly the darkness about him glowed; a furnace fire had shot up on the mountain, and for a moment the little world of the woodside and the steep hill shone in a pale light, and he thought he saw ...
0
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2answers
23 views
What message does “should you decide to accept” really convey?
In 'Mission Impossible' movies a recurring phrase is
... your mission, should you decide to accept it, is ...
Which of the below alternatives best catches the true meaning of the sentence?
... ...
1
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1answer
26 views
“For the/a Xth year running in…” meaning?
Years running means consecutive years. No problem with that. But I saw it is used in sentences like:
That helps explain why Greece probably beat its primary budget target for a fourth year ...
2
votes
1answer
29 views
Take this opportunity vs take up this opportunity
I have just watched a british youtube video. She said:
"I really hope some of you take up this opportunity"
My question is, what is the difference of that to
"Take this opportunity"
Is this ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
Meaning of “would lead him to Esmeralda”
A few weeks later, Frollo’s studies were
disturbed by a loud knock on his chamber
door. “Enter!” he called out.
It was his brother Jehan. He had come, as
he often did, to borrow some money. ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
What is it called if a thing have different descriptions of the same phenomena?
Does anyone know what it is called when a thing have different descriptions of the same phenomena?
Some would say it would be called "paradoxical", but that would be if a thing had opposite ...
2
votes
2answers
33 views
what does the phrase “where it really matters” mean?
"Your power to choose is made supreme where it really matters--the choice of health institutions and professionals."
What does "where it really matters" mean?
Is it an adverb? If so, an adverb for ...
0
votes
1answer
10 views
Using “as much as” in a sentence
Is this sentence correct:
"It is not the words that angered me as much as the way you used them".
I want to mean that I got angry more because of the way you used the words than the words themselves.
...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
This restaurant has become popular in recent years. (event or process?)
Does the sentence
This restaurant has become popular in recent years.
imply an ongoing, continuous process (becoming popular) that has been happening during the recent years? Or does it mean that ...
0
votes
2answers
25 views
Does “I don't think I'm any more [adjective]” mean “I'm not [adjective]”?
https://youtu.be/-qfI3DZmmQw?t=42
It’s not like there’s a shortage of scientific facts out there spelling it all out for us.
But let’s be honest — not many people can relate to scientists ...
0
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1answer
39 views
“Documents have been updated” VS “Documents are updated”
I've received an email titled "Documents have been updated" informing me that some changes were introduced in some our documents (no surprise here of course). But I'd like to know if there is any ...
0
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1answer
20 views
What is mean “cover grammar”
I met this phrase when I read the specification of a computer language. And I would like to know what this phrase means.
For example:
The input stream is syntactically in error if the tokens in ...
0
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1answer
23 views
center of the universe
What is meant by the center of the universe?
I read this sentence:
She thinks she is the center of the universe.
But I couldn't figure out the meaning.
2
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3answers
50 views
Meaning of “our findings could be reproduced” in a scientific paper
From The basis for folinic acid treatment in neuro-psychiatric disorders (Ramaekers et al., 2016):
In the latter group of low-functioning autism our studies identified a prevalence of blocking FR ...
0
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2answers
34 views
“Pay off” vs. “pay up”
Merriam-Webster - Definition of "Pay Off" (transitive verb) to pay (a debt or a creditor) in full
Merriam-Webster - Definition of "Pay Up" (transitive verb) to pay in full
According to the ...
0
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1answer
20 views
What is the meaning of the word mapping in this sentence?
In the book titled What the Future and Why It's up To Us by Tim O'Reilly there is a line as follows:
How can we all become better at mapping future trends?
Here a keyword in this sentence is the ...
3
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2answers
193 views
What does “move past people” mean in this context?
It can be a very sensual spot to touch lightly as a form of flirting, or just to move past people.
I came across this sentence from here. "Move past" seems to be a slang, and I haven't managed to ...
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1answer
26 views
What does “tank up” mean in this context?
"- and Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the pitch -" cried Lee valiantly, though the singing was now so deafening that he could hardly make himself heard above it.
...
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5answers
1k views
What does “south of due west” mean?
I was solving an astronomy problem which said "south of due west." This could be interpreted in two different ways and I don't know which one is correct. Is 'south of' in that phrase an idiom? Or does ...
2
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1answer
46 views
Use of assimilate vs imitate in a sentence
Today I took an English test , in which I was asked to choose between assimilate and imitate as a word which closely resembles the phrase ‘to make a copy of’. I chose assimilate , because in my ...
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0answers
16 views
What does ' relate back to' mean?
When do you use the phrase relate back to? Does it mean remind? I would be very thankful if someone could provide an example.
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2answers
78 views
What does “smell the glove” mean in this article?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2015/03/04/smell-the-glove
Smell the Glove.
Handshaking may be a chemical as well as a social greeting
GRIP firmly, maintain eye contact. ...
0
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1answer
165 views
What does “Last school attended” means?
What does “Last school attended” means?
I have form to fill with this question.
Is it year when I was in school or is it type of school?
The full question is:
Please fill in the information ...
16
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3answers
3k views
What does the expression “Happy is as happy does” mean?
I just read an article in The Economist's China section (2019/02/16) with the subtitle "Happy is as happy is told to".
Feeling confused, I googled about this expression, only to find a quite similar ...
