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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join the Orion crew and service modules - Does it mean "connect the modules to make them as one"?

NASA is preparing to join the Orion crew and service modules in the coming months ahead of Artemis II, the first crewed mission under Artemis. Technicians are welding subsystem components of the ...
NewPlanet's user avatar
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2 answers
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Is it correct to say "I am going to the workshop" or "I am going to the meeting" in this situation?

I want to send my children to school using British Education System to get GCSE and A-Level qualification. I roughly know that GCSE maybe equals to k9 or k10 in the USA or other countries and A-Level ...
Tom's user avatar
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Celebrity says her favorite colour is "blueistic blue." What shade of blue does she refer to: light blue or dark blue or bright blue?

This is from a show with Nicole Kidman 73 questions. (see 2:10-2:15) The guy from the magazine asks her about her favorite colour and she says: "blueistic blue." (I checked the subtitles.) ...
yunus's user avatar
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Does "hallway" mean differently in British and American English?

When a student goes through a school door, he will see a big area. Then he will go into a narrower area with classrooms on each side. According to my study, American people say that big area "...
Tom's user avatar
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6 votes
7 answers
5k views

Does the word "man" mean "a male friend"?

I found on WordReference.com Dictionary that the word man means a male friend! (Slang Terms) male friend; ally: Hey, it's my main man. I looked in many dictionaries e.g. Collins Dictionary, ...
Marios Athanasiou's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
51 views

they placed a cliff

Physicist Jeff Steinhauer and his colleagues at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa used an extremely cold gas called a Bose-Einstein condensate to model the event horizon of a ...
NewPlanet's user avatar
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What's the meaning of 'experience' in this context?

This is from a news article : The update also aims to make autocorrect better at fixing grammatical mistakes and predicting words or phrases as users type, as well as making dictation more accurate, ...
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1 answer
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What's the meaning of "constituency" here?

The term aspect applies to a system where the basic meanings have to do with the internal temporal constituency of the situation. (The Cambridge Grammar of the English language) I can guess the ...
ForOU's user avatar
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1 answer
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Can I say "I earned an interest of 5000 dollars from my savings account"?

When a word refers to "an amount of money", that word is often countable. Fro example, debt: [countable] a sum of money that somebody owes rent: [uncountable, countable] an amount of money ...
Tom's user avatar
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Can "dip X in Y" mean just "put X in Y" without taking X out of Y?

I can't understand whether "dipping X in Y" necessarily involves "taking X out of Y" or it can mean only "putting X in Y without taking X back". For example (academic.ru):...
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Why do we say "This jacket is the wrong size"?

A jacket is a thing and a size is a measurement and a jacket can not be a measurement. Why do we say "This jacket is the wrong size" which sounds like "This jacket is a measurement"...
Tom's user avatar
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What is the meaning of " flowing" and " curling"

By a pomegranate juice stand, a man might be reading a newspaper and we can imagine what roiling political events might have provoked the flowing, curling words of the headline splashed across the ...
Roze's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
317 views

Why do you 'contribute' money to your own Health Savings Account, not 'deposit' it?

While you can use the funds in an HSA at any time to pay for qualified medical expenses, you may contribute to an HSA only if you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) — generally a health plan (...
SHIN JaeGuk's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
881 views

What does "racket" mean in this context?

This is from a New York Times article : I never had much use for the queen. Maybe it’s the Irish in me. As Winston Churchill said: “We’ve always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.” ...
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2 answers
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If a porch doesn't have a roof, would you still call it "porch"?

Dictionaries say a porch must have a roof. Does it mean native English speakers never say "porch" if there's no roof or at least some awning above the door? If, as applied to the following ...
Loviii's user avatar
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1 vote
4 answers
175 views

Do British / American / Australian people understand "homework" and "assignment" differently?

I found this link on English Stackexchange. A person answered "Homework: The collection of all the assignments I have to do at home". I am not sure if this person is American. I had been ...
Tom's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Is it called a doorway even if there's no door?

Example: He moved to the doorway to the family room and peeked in. Is 'doorway' used even if there's no door but just an opening into another room? Or would native speakers use another word for that?...
Bobobobobo11's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is there any way to learn only the 'literal' meaning of the words?

Is there any way to learn only the 'literal' meaning of the words? I think language learners must learn directly the literal meaning of the words first before they know any derivative meanings. I'd ...
gomadeng's user avatar
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1 answer
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"Cracks" meaning in the context

“Prime Minister Kishida stated that, as the G7 Presidency, Japan would maintain the unity of the G7 in imposing strict sanctions against Russia and providing support to Ukraine,” a joint statement ...
dan's user avatar
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What does "sister where it counts" mean here?

I am confused about the meaning of dedication. Does it mean "sister, which I can rely on"? For Meghan, sister where it counts. Sarah MacLean "A Rogue by Any Other Name"
Kristina Lukosevice's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to understand "barbershop" in the context of "The Knick"?

Source: "The Knick" Season 01 Episode 02 00:08:25 Dr. J.M. Christiansen (who is bald): The wealth supporting the Knick is endless. People here want their hospital to be the best. And they'...
Zhang Jian's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
173 views

meaning of 'pitch' here

This is from a news article : Republicans have pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state abortion laws developed after months of private negotiations between House and Senate GOP members....
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2 votes
1 answer
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What does the word "feedback" actually mean?

I googled the meaning and it tells me "'feedback' means 'information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement'." However, ...
jack S's user avatar
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2 answers
217 views

What does "writing" mean in "a note is a short piece of writing to help you remember something"?

I don't understand what "writing" in "a note is a short piece of writing to help you remember something" mean? In the dictionary, "writing" means "words that have ...
Tom's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
108 views

"Promised to someone" meaning

I've been listening to many songs and came across these two lyrics Oh, goddamn. My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand. Taking mine, but it's been promised to another (Ivy by Taylor Swift) ...
Hai Duong's user avatar
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16 votes
10 answers
6k views

What is the difference between "a spade" and "a shovel"?

In the Oxford Learner's Dictionary, a spade has a squared metal part and a shovel has a metal part with curved edges. This is the picture from Oxford dictionary. In Cambridge dictionary, a shovel has ...
Tom's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
74 views

'Gunning' means in the context

Australian John Landy, one of Bannister’s rivals also gunning to break the four-minute barrier, took more than a second off the Briton’s time in Turku, Finland, a few weeks later. The source It seems ...
dan's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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meaning of "He was really struggling in geometry."

oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com > meaning №1 > Extra Examples: to struggle — to try very hard to do something when it is difficult or when there are a lot of problems: (1) He was really ...
Loviii's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
432 views

Is there any difference between "stick to" and "stick with"?

I think with/to can be used interchangeably in the following sentences. Am I right? I will stick with daily English practice. (I will not give up.) I'm sticking with swimming. (I'm continuing to swim....
joy2020's user avatar
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What does "coarse" mean here? [closed]

Roberto poured wine into a coarse glass. L. Scottoline "Loyalty" (Roberto is a farmhand in a lemon grove, Sicily, 1810) can "coarse" here mean "simple"? Or, maybe, "...
Kristina Lukosevice's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
37 views

I do not get the use of " what time" in Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

What time, the mail-coach lumbered, jolted, rattled, and bumped upon its tedious way, with its three fellow-inscrutables inside. To whom, likewise, the shadows of the night revealed themselves, in the ...
anjan 's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
912 views

"Run north of" meaning in the context

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage has run north of 6% all year. I saw the sentence from here. In my opinion, the word 'north' is a slang usage as defined in the free dictionary: Slang, Into a better ...
dan's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
205 views

enjoy another stunning sunset 'over' a glass of assyrtiko

This is from a news article. Santorini could one day be buried under a layer of ash once more. But for now – as visitors enjoy another stunning sunset over a glass of assyrtiko – the volcano keeps ...
user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
4k views

Is sawmill necessarily a building?

I tried to translate the word to my native language in online translators and they say that sawmill is either something like just cutting the trees or a factory where the trees are cut. But all four ...
Coder4Fun250's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
41 views

What is the meaning of the words ''disturb'' and ''setting'' in this text?

Please look at how the verb disturb is used in this sentence: This example suggests that for a power series, the uniformity of convergence may at most be disturbed near the circle of convergence. ...
absolutezero's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
42 views

Does "locate" mean "find" or "place" in this context?

In the sentence "to locate (a curve) by plotted points" which I found in one of the definitions for the verb "plot" does the verb "locate" mean.. to find or discover the ...
Static Bounce's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
23 views

Difference between feel and ambiance

Is it correct to say The feel of this cafe is good? or The ambiance of this cafe is good which is appropriate or more correct? Do they convey the same meaning?
nicku's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
61 views

meaning of 'see' here

This is from "Artificial Intelligence For Dummies". Theoretically, avoiding mistruths of bias is always possible. In reality, however, all humans have biases of various types, and those ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
49 views

Can we say "I called and I got through to her but I couldn't hear her saying"?

There are 3 cases when Tom called Mary. Case 1: Mary's phone was engaged or busy, Case 2: Mary's phone rang but she didn't take the call Case 3: Mary's phone rang and Mary did take the call but the ...
Tom's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
134 views

Do we say "I made a boo boo" instead of "I made a mistake" when we want to joke?

I have just watched the film "Champions 2023". In the film, the man swore or used some bad words and the other man said "No boo-boo words". I checked the Cambridge dictionary and ...
Tom's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
576 views

What are usages of "Get to + noun" and "Get to + verb"?

I attempted to categorize the various usages of the phrase 'get to' for a better understanding, but got difficulties due to the scattered information. Would you be able to assist me in organizing the ...
Rodrigo's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
59 views

Is "accommodation" in the sense 'adjustment' only used in AmE?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, "accommodation" can have the sense of 'a special arrangement that is made for a person or group that has different needs to others' – but, according to ...
Mooshi's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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What does 'classic' profession mean?

Does it mean traditional profession or authoritative profession? I looked it up in M/W, but I am not sure where it belongs. What is unusual about journalism as a profession is its lack of ...
Lifeispicnic's user avatar
7 votes
9 answers
2k views

"pensioner" vs "retired person" Aren't they overlapping? Really, who is who?

From the BBC Grandma with Alzheimer "A pensioner with Alzheimer's faces being split from her family and deported to the UK from Sweden, after nearly two decades in the country." "A ...
yunus's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
46 views

Bombshell spy documents leaked to The Sun meanwhile previously appeared to

VLADIMIR Putin's health has "worsened" and he isn't eating as he suffers crippling stomach pains, it has been claimed. The tyrant, 70, is rumoured to be battling several health issues - with ...
Englishgood's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
26 views

Will the word "tell" work in the given context?

Is it possible to use the word "tell" in the provided context? If not, please, give your reason(s). She took part in school debates as the leader of the high school debate team, and ...
Appolinaria's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
38 views

What meaning exactly does the word 'meaningful' have in this example?

I've just seen the word 'meaningful' in a book, it felt like I knew this word and its meaning, but nonetheless I decided to see the cambridge dictionary translation. BUT I noticed that the meaning ...
Coder4Fun250's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
39 views

meaning of 'saw' here [duplicate]

This is from a news article. Outside music, Sakamoto was known for activism — and in particular for his anti-nuclear views, which saw him demonstrating against nuclear power plants and co-organizing ...
user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
192 views

Is hug a kind of physical touch?

This may sound silly but is hug a kind of physical touch? Because in Chinese we often see hug more than just a kind of physical touch. By touch we often mean touch your hand, arm, shoulder and more ...
Qiulang 邱朗's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
282 views

What is the difference between require and be required? [closed]

We do not require your service. We are not required your service. To me, both sentences convey the same meaning. Does it? Or is there any subtle difference?
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