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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Appreciation about a dead person
A Japanese writer OE Kenzaburo died weeks ago. The Wall Street Journal published a column about that and showed a small box which reads
APPRECIATION Kenzaburō Ōe 1935-2023
'Appreciate' and '...
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as there is in Roman Catholicism
Since there is no centralized authority in pentecostalism, as there is in Roman Catholicism, it is possible that some faction within the movement could decide to mobilize God’s army in a righteous ...
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the lawmakers went on television/radio
Apr 14, 2015
Not "use"; more like "go to (or into, or on to)". For example, "The protesters took to the streets to spread their message"; or "The villagers took to ...
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How to understand 'priced into'?
Does the "price into" in the sentence have the meaning of "bargaining chip","Canberra’s decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines was priced into Australia-China ties ...
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Colin Farrell Got The Last Laugh On “Saturday Night Live” By Shading Their “Offensive” Sketch About Irish People At The Oscars
What does "shading" mean in the following paragraph? Does it mean to obscure or darken? Thank you!
"Colin Farrell Got The Last Laugh On “Saturday Night Live” By Shading Their “Offensive”...
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When can we say "I know her"? [closed]
The Oxford dictionary says
know somebody/something to be familiar with a person, place, thing, etc.
What does "to be familiar with" mean?
When can we say "I know her"?
Say, Tom ...
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as a direction to
signature
3a : a letter or figure placed usually at the bottom of the first page on each sheet of printed pages (as of a book) as a direction to the binder in arranging and gathering the sheets
...
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This sense of mutual interaction
Source: Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction — Aidan Moran
In everyday life, we tend to see any collection of people as a group. However, social psychologists use this term more ...
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When a couple goes for a vacation, only two of them, is there a special word for that
When a newly married couple goes on vacation with just two of them, it's called a honeymoon. But say a couple goes on vacation together, with just two of them, after 5 years or more, does it have any ...
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Whats the meaning of "run against the wall" in this paragraph?
I read this in a story called A Darker Shade of magic by V.E. Schwab. You can read an extract https://www.tor.com/2015/01/21/a-darker-shade-of-magic-excerpt-v-e-schwab/
A marble counter ran against ...
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Can "from" used to show a consequence?
They're affected from being unable to live their normal lives because areas of land are contaminated
I think "being unable to live their normal lives" is a consequence of being affected.
In ...
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Does "Home sweet home" phrase carry any negative meaning in British and American English?
According to Oxford Dictionary, which is a British Dictionary:
home sweet home: (often ironic) used to say how pleasant your home is (especially when you really mean that it is not pleasant at
all)
...
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How can I see how the meaning of a word changed over time?
Following some comment I received on "Alaska Airlines", "American Airlines", "United Airlines", etc. Why airlines and not airline? that mentioned the meaning of "...
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the painting was glazed
In the following passge, is "glazed" a US usage?
The two young women from the campaign group Just Stop Oil threw the contents of two tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting, which, the ...
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What's the difference between verbs forward and redirect?
According to dictionary.cambridge.org/forward, the verb forward means
to send a letter, etc., especially from someone's old address to their
new address, or to send a letter, email, etc. that you ...
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What word could one use for a person who lies and talks of big money with no real substance
A person who is known of mine talks about such things:
This spectacle frame is 200 USD, But when I checked online its cost was around 55 USD.
He has a relative who has financed 100% of city A and 50% ...
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What does "as" mean in "the same room as him"?
I didn't even want to fall asleep in the same room as him.
It seems that "as" can be replaced with "with". Does it mean "with"? But I found nothing about the "with&...
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What's the meaning of "boredom-banishing"?
I was reading a book about language learning and I saw this sentence "The world has shrunk further. Contacts with foreigners are no longer the privilege of professional diplomats, merchants ...
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What does "used to" mean in the definition part in a dictionary?
I modified the original question to make it clearer so that it could help more people. If you want to see the original question, please see the edit history or scroll down.
--
I'm using the Longman ...
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what does "raided" do in this sentence?
The premises raided included those of Shell, BP and Norwegian company Statoil. Our business correspondent Mark Gregory has more
what does "raided" do in this sentence?
Is it an adjective ...
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What does straight mean in this sentence "his answers sounded straight from ..."
What does straight mean in this sentence "The 40-year-old Chew was funny and relaxed for most of the interview, even if many of his answers sounded straight from the 2010s Mark Zuckerberg / Jack ...
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In what rare senses can the phrasal verb "to check up" be used?
Having looked up the prasal verb "to check up" in all available dictionaries I have found its being used in the sense of "to make certain about something by checking it, verify or to ...
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How to understand "slug" as part of a web URL?
How to understand "slug" as part of a web URL?
When I look for "slug" in a dictionary, this is what I get:
How to understand the relationship between "URL slug" and the ...
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Usage of word polished in different contexts
One of the meanings of the word polished is accomplished and skilful or refined, sophisticated, or elegant.
How did this kind of word polish which probably literally means shiny but is being used in ...
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Does the noun 'curb' have the meaning of the word 'bridle'?
When I translate the 'curb' to my native language it translates to the verb similar to the word 'bridle'. But I can't understand whether the noun 'curb' has the meaning of 'bridle' in English or not.
...
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Does "money" mean "rich people" in this context?
This context comes from the movie "Heat" by Michael Mann
"Roger Van Zant.
Owns banks in the Caymans...
runs investment portfolios
for offshore drug money. Stuff like that."
My ...
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Is 10% "a fraction" or "a small fraction"? [closed]
I would like to know if I should refer to something that is 1/10 or 10% of something else as a fraction of or a small fraction of that something else.
According to the definitions of fraction, ...
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Can I say "the sofa was broken" when the foam of the sofa got loose and too stretchy to be usable?
The word "broken" has 2 meanings
1 : separated into parts or pieces by being hit, damaged, etc.
The street was covered with broken glass.
2 : not working properly
a broken camera
So, when ...
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Can we use "ransom" for things not for people, for example, "he stole an antique for ransom"?
In the dictionary,
ransom: money that is paid to somebody so that they will set free a
person who is being kept as a prisoner by them
It seems like "ransom" is for people, for example, &...
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What's the difference between 'reckon without' and 'not reckon with'?
What's the difference between "reckon without" and "not reckon with"?
Are they interchangeable?
Example:
He had not reckoned with the fact that the second charge of canister could ...
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meaning of 'have' in "have me saying ~"
This is from the transcript of a podcast.
He was so angry. And I said “Billy, wait, what, like, what’s the
problem here?” And he said, “It’s me, the way, you’re describing me.”
I said, “How did I ...
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Alternative/Appropriate word for hypocrite [closed]
What do you call a person who says something but does something else in action? Although this may apply to some thoughts/ideas that the person shares and not all of them.
Labelling the person as “...
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What is the original meaning of the word "Tang" and as slang?
I was watching That 70s Show (an American TV show), and in one of the episodes (Season 3, Episode 15), one of the character is reading a magazine article on astronauts and makes the following comment:
...
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What does the word ''affinity'' mean here?
In this following context, which one of below-mentioned two meanings is campatible with the word ''affinity'' ?
Affinity
a strong feeling that you understand somebody/something and like them or it
a ...
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Do planes have "chassis"?
In my native language the word that sounds a lot like "chassis" means wheels that come out from the plane when it's about to land.
I know for sure that in English it means the base frame of ...
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Difference between premiere and debut?
On vocabulary.com it reads that debut and premiere are not interchangeable:
A fun fact: debut and premiere are often thought to be interchangeable, but they’re not. A debut, as you now know, is a ...
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Can "to poke at" mean "to point at"?
my own examples:
(1a) John poked at Mary (with his finger).
(1b) John poked (his finger) at Mary.
As I understand, (1a) = (1b).
Am I right that each of them has two meanings:
(2) John touched Mary (...
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'He inspires great loyalty in his staff' Is the person which is talked about (he) the superior of the staff or just a coworker?
He inspires great loyalty in his staff
My question is how do you think: is a person which is talked about the superior or the coworker in this context?
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Usage of froze for computer
My computer is freezing
My computer froze
My computer has frozen
which one of these is correct? The intention is to indicate that the computer is hung/immobile
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What does "ship ship ship ship" mean as a comment on a webtoon? [duplicate]
This is a brief description of an episode of a webtoon.
A boy, who seems to be very indifferent all about things around him.
And a girl (or a young woman), whose job is to take care of the boy.
(the ...
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What does "it can refer to people" mean?
"I need more people in order to answer the question" seems to mean that I am going to answer the question. I don't see how it can refer to people.
I need more people to answer the question.&...
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Genius vs Ingenious [closed]
While I understand the word "Genious" as a noun for a smart person, I expected "Ingenious" to be the opposite. However, that is not the case. Can anyone explain as to what "...
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What does "moved" mean in these definitions?
These are definitions for the adjective "divided" which I looked up in the dictionary because I stumbled upon the phrase "divided loyalties" which I didn't understand.
"...
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What does 'screams' mean in this video?
A fan asked the youtuber a question, then the youtuber made up a story.
The question:
What screams "I Have A Crush On You" ?
The story:
When the girl turns her head to you, sees you're ...
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What does the word ''tiny man'' mean?
In this following context, should I take the phrase "this tiny man" to be a 'homunculus'?
How should I understand the meaning of the bold and italic phrase in the following paragraph?
Under ...
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Can I say, 'Do it thus' instead of 'Do it like this'?
Are "thus" and "like this" always interchangeable? Thank you in advance.
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Does "This is so tight!" in this scene mean "This is so cool!"?
Below is a part of the dialogue between a little girl named Max and a woman named Carey in the TV series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" - season 1 episode 1:
...
(It's the first time ...
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What does "assault" mean in this context?
This context comes from the movie "The Aviator" by Martin Scorsese.
"I've even managed to coax the luscious Miss De Havilland and her equally luscious sister to accompany me. Though I ...
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What does it mean by saying "You are my eyes and ears"?
I have heard "You are my eyes and ears" in some movies, but can not see its definition on the internet.
Sometimes they say "my eyes and ears are everywhere"
SO, I guess "my ...
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Is it correct to say "The fourth goal put me out of misery" and "The fourth goal put Liverpool out of misery"?
In the dictionary
put an animal, a bird, etc. out of its misery to kill a creature because it has an illness or injury that cannot be treated
In the end we asked the vet to put the poor creature ...
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