| about |
If a book is about trains, it means that the book tells you many things on the subject of trains. It might tell you things like where the first trains were built, what fuel trains use, or how fast trains travel. [2/9 definitions] |
| accept |
When people accept something, they might not like it but they don't fight against it, or they stop fighting against it. They feel they don't have a choice, so they say to themselves, "Okay, that's just the way it is and I will have to live with it." [1/5 definitions] |
| accompany |
When you accompany one thing with another thing, you add the second thing to make the first thing better or more complete. You might accompany your guitar playing with the beat of a drum to make your sound more complete. You might accompany your sandwich with a glass of juice to make your lunch better. [1/3 definitions] |
| according to |
If you say that a certain movie is good according to your brother, it means that your brother says that the movie is good. You know that some people might not like the movie, but you are saying only what your brother thinks and not what other people might think. [1/2 definitions] |
| adjective |
An adjective is a word that describes a person, place, animal, or thing. In the sentence "It was a hard test," the word "hard" is an adjective. This word describes the test. Some more adjectives to describe a test might be "easy," "simple," "long," and "important." |
| advantage |
An advantage is something that is good about something. It might make it better than something else--at least in a certain way. [1/2 definitions] |
| a few |
If you have a few friends, you don't have a lot of friends, but you have a small number of friends. If you have a few friends, you are probably pretty happy. If you have FEW friends, though, you might be sad. There is a big difference between "a few" and just "few." "A few" gives a positive feeling, and "few" gives a negative feeling, even though both of them mean "a small number." |
| affectionate |
When a person is affectionate, they do things to show their love or liking for other people or animals. Affectionate people often kiss or hug the people or animals that they care about, and they might also call them by sweet names like "Honey" or "Sweetheart." There are other ways that affectionate people show their love too. Also, we sometimes say that animals are affectionate if they do things that show they feel close to us. |
| afraid |
When you think that something could hurt you and you feel like running away from it, it means that you are afraid. Sometimes when you are afraid, you are worried that some bad thing might happen to you or to someone else. [1/2 definitions] |
| after all |
Sometimes we use "after all" when we tell what really happened in the end even though we had thought something else might happen. [1/2 definitions] |
| alarm |
An alarm is a bell or other loud noise that tells you there is something that might hurt you. [1/4 definitions] |
| alert |
When you alert someone, you tell them about something they should know about. We usually alert people about something that might be dangerous or to make sure they know about something important to them. [1/3 definitions] |
| amaze |
When something amazes you, it surprises you very much and it might be hard to believe that it is real or true. |
| ancient |
Something ancient is a thing that existed or happened a very, very long time ago, like an ancient kingdom or an ancient tribe of people. When you read about an "ancient country," that country might still exist now--like Egypt or Greece--but you are reading about that country the way it was maybe thousands of years ago. [1/2 definitions] |
| and so on |
"And so on" means "with more of the same type." It's used when you start a list of something and let your reader or listener imagine the type of things that might follow. If you say "In the closet, there are coats, jackets, and so on," you let your listener imagine other typical things that might be in the closet. They might imagine things like hats, boots, scarves. and umbrellas. |
| anger |
Anger is a strong feeling you might have when someone has treated you in a bad way or done something that you think is very wrong or not fair. [1/3 definitions] |
| announcement |
An announcement is something that lets people know about something new. If you want people to know about an event at your school, you might make an announcement on the radio. Usually, an announcement is made to many people at the same time. [1/2 definitions] |
| antler |
Antlers are something you might see on the head of a deer. They are like horns, but they look more like tree branches when they get large. Most female deer do not grow antlers, but all male deer grow them. |
| appeal |
When you appeal to someone for something, you ask them for it in a serious way or you beg them for it. You might use the word "please" many times. [1/6 definitions] |
| appear |
When someone appears a certain way, it means they look or seem that way. If someone appears cold, they look as if they are cold. If an animal appears to be hurt, it seems to be that way. It might not really be hurt, but we think it is because of the way it is acting or because of the look of its body. [1/3 definitions] |
| approximate |
If somebody tells you the approximate time a game will end, they tell you what time they think it will end, but they might be a little wrong. They are just guessing. An approximate time or approximate amount is probably close to the real time of something or a real amount of something, but probably not exact. [1/2 definitions] |