Questions tagged [word-meaning]
For questions which a dictionary cannot answer about the meaning of a single word. It is best to include details about where you found the word, and any definitions that you have found that don't make sense, or don't fully answer your question.
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What's the meaning of "flatten in anger"?
I don't understand the meaning of flatten in this case:"his face flattening with anger"
I searched on Google the meaning of this word and I found:
. To show no emotion (flat effect)
. To ...
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I'll get to the accounts as soon as I can. (meaning of 'the accounts')
I'll get to the accounts as soon as I can.
What's the exact literal meaning of 'the accounts' here?
There are basic meanings of 'account' in a dictionary: explanation, journal account, or customer, ...
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Meaning of "aphasiac piano"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XXI, published 1892)
Passage 326
O, and he has a third weakness which I came near forgetting. He paints. He has never been ...
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What's tap off mean?
I'm reading a book "pretty pretty boys" from Gregory Ashe. There is a word I can't understand "tap off". I give you the context :"The rest of the day had passed in a blur of ...
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"that" meaning in this sentence
Busy waiting wastes CPU cycles that some other process might be
able to use productively
Does it mean some other process might not be able to be used productively?
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Does "I keep/raise hens in my backyard" imply the hens are my pets / the hens are my meat?
Someone says:
"I keep hens in my backyard" suggests that you have hens as pets or for personal enjoyment. It implies that you are responsible for their care and well-being.
"I raise ...
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Holds no benefits to alleviate the problem
Two people are arguing/quarrel and the arguing/quarrel they have will not alleviate the problem the already have. It is like someone telling him that stop arguing/quarrel that won't alleviate the ...
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What is the difference between "the spacecraft is in the sky" and "the spacecraft is in space"?
It's hard to understand meanings of words by just reading their definitions in dictionary
In the Oxford dictionary
space: the area outside the earth’s atmosphere where all the other
planets and stars ...
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Meaning of "nonsensical"
If someone is talking about something that doesn't exist, can I say it's nonsensical?
For example, is "unicorns have horns on their heads" nonsensical because unicorns don't exist?
Likewise ...
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how to interpret the word "all"
If I say "How to make 'all' cakes?", does it mean I'm asking for an instruction for making all cakes together or an instruction that is applied to every cake?
I want to figure out whether ...
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Can the word "attaboy" be used in the context of humor or is it just offensive slang?
While watching a movie, I came across the expression "attaboy".
A quick search here or on the web gave me the meaning, and roughly, the background. It's slang, it can probably be understood ...
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What does "single British English accent" mean in this particular context?
I found this sentence on the Cambridge website. It was provided as a description of a book. Please explain the phrase "single British accent."
You will gain confidence in all areas of ...
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For to tell the truth is not in itself diplomatic, and to have no care for the result a thing involuntary
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVI, published 1892)
Passage 257
Indeed, I believe that was my only reason for entering upon a transaction which was now ...
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I can't see but what you've got to support and bed and board with him to the end of time
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVI, published 1892)
Passage 254
“There's San Quentin, to start in with,” said the captain; “and suppose you clear the ...
- 575
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What does 'time machine' imply in the context? [closed]
What does time machine suggest? It must not be a literal meaning, 'a machine capable of transporting a person backward or forward in time' in science fiction, so if I infer it in the passage, I guess ...
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What does 'The oh-so-British affair touts its hats and projects charm with antique flair' mean? [closed]
I'm not native English speaker. So I have a problem with understanding this sentence.
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He is in politics some
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVI, published 1892)
Passage 249
“We've rather bad news for you, Mr. Dodd,” said Fowler. “Your firm's gone up.”
“Already!” I ...
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Is "so" omissible in "so their makers claim"?
"The Painting Fool" is one of a growing number of computer programs which, so their makers claim, possess creative talents"
Is "so" omissable in this context? If not, what ...
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is "a handful of" use as adjective in the context?
'this is one of a handful of songs'
dictionary defines 'handful' as a noun,but some blog define 'a handful of' as a quantity adjective, it is hard to understand..can someone explain to me? thanks!
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Can we say "the pot is leaking" or "the pot leaks" when the pot is empty?
In the dictionary
leak: 1 [intransitive, transitive] if a container, pipe, roof etc
leaks, or if it leaks gas, liquid etc, there is a small hole or crack
in it that lets gas or liquid flow through
...
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Meaning of the phrase (probably archaic English) - "entreateth chefelie" [closed]
I am reading The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick. I find mention of a certain text titled
The First Part of the Elementarie which Entreateth Chefelie of the right writing of ...
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3
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What does the company name "rent-a-center" mean?
I know the concept of RAC is rent-to-buy. But what kind of "center" is meant here?
Please understand my last question was closed and I was advised to open two new questions.
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What does "center" in "rent-a-center" mean? [closed]
The name of this American store is RAC which stands for Rent-A-Center
I know the concept of RAC is rent-to-buy. But what kind of "center" is meant?
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meaning of "see" in "the pastime that sees..." [duplicate]
This is from a web page :
Rock, paper, scissors is about as docile a game as it gets.
But not for these children in Thailand who enjoy an extreme version of
the pastime that sees the boys slapping ...
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1
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Meaning of . . . painted white, with tropical economy
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIII, Published 1892)
Passage 208
I could not hold still whether in hand or foot; the slowness of the men, tired as dogs after ...
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143
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Does "my phone died" mean my phone is out of battery or my phone is broken?
The dictionary says
"the phone is dead" means it's not working because of a lack of power
and
"the phone died" means it stopped working (I don't understand "stop working" ...
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2
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Is the word "entrepreneurship" used correctly here?
I'm doing some exercises with open clauses and there's this sentence:
The first question you need to ask yourself is whether the fulfillment of your dream project is worth quitting your 9-to-5 job. ...
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346
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How to understand I found that dress delivered still in the box to me?
Before my father died, we had shopped for a party dress which made me feel like a dramatic Cinderella. But it was the wrong size. Later I totally forgot about the dress.
My mother didn’t. The day ...
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What does "I had found the time to hover at some half a dozen jewellers' windows" mean in this context? [closed]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI, published 1892)
This characteristic scene, which has delayed me overlong, was but a moment in that day of exercise and ...
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my friend vs a friend of mine [duplicate]
Am I right that "my friend" means that I have one or more friends and "a friend of mine" means that I have more than one friend?
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The difference between "novel" and "novella"
Is there a difference between "novel" and "novella"? If yes then what exactly?
I have discovered two "Nightwings" books:
A 1977 thriller novel by Martin Cruz Smith
a ...
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What does "lose blunt" mean?
I am absolutely confused about meaning of "blunt" here. Could not find any card game by this name, no idioms, nothing :( Thank you for you kind help.
Setting: London's gaming hell, 1833.
...
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What does "If you need to cancel your stay, you will receive a complete refund if you contact us 30 days in advance of your booking." mean?
I am doing a Reading IELTS reading test and I don't get the meaning of this phrase "you contact us 30 days in advance of your booking" In this sentence:
"If you need to cancel your stay,...
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What does *monte* mean in the term *three-card-monte* game?
What does monte mean in the term three-card-monte game? I have looked up the dictionaries but couldn't find any applicable answer, I'm afraid.
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"Dessert/Desert" is my favorite thing. - Does English word syllable stress change when they are in a sentence or in a paragraph?
Does English word syllable stress change when they are in a sentence or in a larger unit, say, like in a paragraph? I am asking this because I have heard that some languages such as Japanese have ...
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meaning of "disc" in "strewn with the white discs of morning glory"
At one point we drove to an alpine meadow strewn with the white discs of morning glory and bordered by ponderosa pines.
I wonder which of the following the "disc" means here :
round area
...
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Is "Given is .." right? [closed]
Source: https://www.dailymetalprice.com/aluminum.html
The price of aluminum is based on the cumulative result of the
previous trading session. Given is multitude of purposes and that many
global ...
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What does "measurement" mean in the given context?
Although not the explicit goal, the best science can really be seen as refining ignorance. Scientists, especially young ones, can get too obsessed with results. Society helps them along in this mad ...
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What does 'peachless' in this joke mean?
I saw this joke just now and have googled for a while to understand what that means but failed.
I can't believe someone broke into my house and stole all of my fruit. I am peachless.
I think the ...
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the reality of reflection
Today’s “Phrase of the Day” is “hold a mirror up to“ and it is a phrase meaning “to take a look at oneself objectively to examine or reflect on things (issues) stemming from the reality of reflection; ...
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What's the difference between these two definitions of ‘determination’?
These are two definitions for the noun "determination" from the same dictionary (American Heritage® Dictionary). One was right below the other. Is it me or you could basically combine these ...
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What is the meaning of "cross" in the following example?
Huawei's copy for their new smartwatch:
"Fashion, never stops.
Pushing boundaries through technology.
To cross, to sport, to explore".
What is meant by "cross" in this example?
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Is "months" natural and idiomatic in "as the summer months begin to give way to autumn..."?
As the summer months begin to give way to autumn, the stoic Ukrainian soldiers are fighting through the heavily defended Russian lines across the south of their country, as multiple breaches across ...
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What does "out back" mean in this sentence: "It seems there was a little mix up out back."
This is from a famous TV show Golden girls (see:11:10-11:15)
"Well, it seems there was a little mix up out back and Mrs. Clarkson was cremated by mistake."
I looked "out back" up ...
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Do we say "your English is rusty" to a non-native English speaker who has lived in an English country for a long time?
We often say "your English is rusty" to a native English speaker who has not been speaking English for a long time because they have lived in a non-English country.
Say, Bob was born in ...
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the syntax and the semantics of the word 'flat' in the sentence
If they get a chance to lay their eggs, we are going to have everything eaten flat with hoppers later on.
Context: People are trying to stop locusts to land on their farms. So they suppose that they ...
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What'the meaning of "break and run"
What is the meaning of break in this sentence "he'd broke and run".
For the context: it's a boy bullying by three other boys. They holding him to hurting him. When one of the bullies " ...
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Can something be "SAFE" but "UNSECURE"?
Today I was spending my time, watching some "liminal spaces" on internet, and I saw something weird about the information of a room.
It mentions:
"Safe", "Unsecure"
I ...
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1
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What Meaning of 'in which' here
What does ‘in which’ mean in the following context?
Window size (window=10000 B): receiver tells about his buffer capacity in which he has to store messages from the sender.
Source: https://www....
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What does "compromise" mean in this sentence?
Orwell didn’t live to see the compromise which English Socialism now
represents – a minimum of public ownership, a social-security
apparatus that costs too much, a mass of ‘equalizing’ laws not easily
...
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