Questions tagged [meaning-in-context]
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a longer passage of English. A SPECIFIC CONCERN must be emphasized.
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What does "cutting in" mean?
Flies, bees, beetles, wasps, and other insects are segmented creatures——head, thorax, and abdomen. where these parts join, there appears to the imaginative eye a "cutting in" of the body.
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Is "a normal woman" correct? [closed]
Normally, we say "an ordinary woman", but I read an article about Kate Middleton recently, the Duchess of Cambridge, it says she isn't a normal woman. From the article, I can tell that the ...
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What does "a paper of sandwiches" mean?
I am quoting from the TV series "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (episode 3, "The Naval Treaty"):
After leaving at the station I went for a charming walk through some admirable ...
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What does "crucial mistake" mean? [closed]
As far as I know crucial means something like of great importance.
So when someone says "It was a crucial mistake" does it mean:
It was very important for that mistake to occur (or else ...
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What does "I'll not go a step further" actually mean in this specific context?
Maybe you know the Norwegian folk tale Doll i 'the Grass. The story features the sentence
"But if you'll only say at once you'll be my wife, I'll not go a step
further," said Boots to Doll ...
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Meaning of 'pelted clover' and 'gorged pastures' in Louise Glück poem? [migrated]
What do 'pelted clover' and 'gorged pastures' mean in the following poem by Louise Glück? Clover leaves that are being thrown? A pasture land with a pathway in the middle?
Labor Day
Requiring ...
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meaning of "polite" in this song
The musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum opens with the song Comedy Tonight.
The lyrics describe how the show is a comedy, and not a tragedy. The show will not contain various ...
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Is ‘platform’ used correctly in the intended sense in this context? [closed]
Dating websites and dating apps are today very popular, but we don’t
know how successful finding relationship via such platforms is. What percent of those using dating platforms find the right partner?...
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What does "death's head apparition"mean?
To have painted the sordid facts of their lives, and they throughout
invoking the death’s head apparition of the family gentility to come
and scare their benefactors, would have made Young John a ...
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What's the exact meaning of 'skim off the top'
I saw this scene from 'The Godfather' (part 1), where the expression 'skim off the top' was used:
Michael: The Corleone family wants to buy you out.
Mike: The Corleone family wants to buy me out? No, ...
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Please help me understand a joke
I don’t quite understand the "Ad Land" cartoon by David T. Jones. Could you explain the meaning to me?
I will attach the screenshot of this cartoon, but you can also find it here: https://...
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What is the meaning of "the ship reached the line"?
What does "the line" mean in "the ship reached the line" in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner?
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What is a kutikan?
What is a kutikan as relates to trailhead amenities?
"We'll be adding amenities to complement the MUT like benches, water fountain, and a kutikan." Source: a proposal report for the ...
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Is ‘when regarding’ in this sentence a preposition, meaning on the subject of/ in respect to, or a verb meaning thinking of/considering?
A recent troubling MIT study, revealed that fake news diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper and more broadly than the truth, with the effect even more pronounced when regarding political news ...
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What's the meaning of "to keep the plumbing going?" [closed]
The following excerpt is from "Measure What Matters" by John Doerr. Could you please help me find out what "to keep the plumbing going" means in this context. Is it an idiomatic ...
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When does "actively mislead" entail an intent to deceive?
Background
Sometimes I see the term "actively mislead", but I am not confident when it is implied that something was done intentionally to deceive. A previous question here asked Does "...
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What exactly are "beasts that perish"?
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly ...
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What is the exact meaning of "with" in this sentence [closed]
Today at Cambridge Dictionary site I created an account, then an email sent to me. The following is the email content:
"You have successfully created an account with Cambridge Dictionary. Please ...
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Origin of 'go (off) on a jag'
We used to use this expression in upstate New York during the 1970s..as in
jag (noun)
a bout of drinking or drug taking
Vocabulary.com
To "be on a jag" or "go on a jag" means to ...
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What does "world's side" mean?
The weird thing about the tunnel is that on the world-side, the city’s
skyline is merely one incident among many on the horizon. From the
world’s side of the tunnel the skyline is a row of broken ...
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What does "setting down father's dinner" mean? What does to "get on as it might on the outer side thereof" mean?
When he grew tall enough to peep through the keyhole of the great lock of the main door, he had divers times set down his father’s dinner, or supper, to get on as it might on the outer side thereof, ...
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What is the connotation of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to XYZ”?
I am a software engineer, I have read some book/articles with the title "The Hitchhiker's Guide to XYZ", e.g. "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python" or "The Hitchhiker's Guide to ...
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What’s the meaning of “an entire art where the tester uses many means to discover the worth”?
I’ve come across the following passage reading a book, The Daily Stoics by Ryan Holiday.
This comes from Epictetus DISCOURSES, 1.20.8; 11
I can’t understand the meaning of “an entire art where the ...
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Answering "I don't have a criminal background"
There is this request for information in a form, given as a (negative) statement rather than a question, but requiring a response of 'Yes' or 'No':
I don't have a criminal background (Y / N)
To my ...
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What is the meaning of "physical character of of the people"?
Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet published the book "Travels in China" in 1804. In Chapter VII. Government—Laws he said
It is sufficiently evident, that the heavy hand of power has
completely ...
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What is the meaning of interpolation technique as in "using an interpolation technique to deduce facts"?
What is the meaning of interpolation technique as in using an interpolation technique to deduce facts (a book review)
Rice, Edward.
1990. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography. New York, ...
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What is meant by 'with the drum and gush of water with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms ....... come over the islands"? [closed]
It had been raining for seven years, thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filed from one end to the other with rain with the drum and gush of water with the sweet crystal fall of showers ...
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Is "punching a number" still used?
I'm a second-language speaker of English.
I wonder if "punching a number" is still correct when calling on a smartphone and whether there are more precise alternatives?
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Meaning of "against" in this sentence
What is the meaning of "against" in this sentence:-
The facility of cheques 'against' demand deposits makes it possible to directly settle payments without the use of cash.
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What is the meaning of "if you would on your little diagram" in the following context?
What is the meaning of "if you would on your little diagram" in the following context?
if you would on your little diagram here, I'd like you to go ahead and actually sketch out the parts ...
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What does "Chop chop man bun" mean?
I was watching Haikyuu dub episodes and in one episode, the coach tells Asahi (one of the players): "Chop chop man bun". What does this sentence mean? I understand the "man bun" ...
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I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe a realization that a long held belief is wrong [closed]
I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe the realization that what you've always believed is not real. As an example: Let's say you grew up in a country that you where led to believe was far more ...
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What is the meaning of "encourages it for… on" in this context?
Agriculture expands yield production to meet demand to limit overlapping, and the government encourages it for crop yield forecast on TamilNadu dataset imports."
What does "encourages it ...
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Meaning of "boning" [closed]
Here are a few words from Jeffrey Bernard; they can be read in the Spectator.
But, having said that vodka is my favourite drink, I suppose whisky is the best all-rounder in the world. It does make ...
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Why do job ads use the word "discipline" to mean different areas/types of jobs?
I find on some companies' websites that they use the word "disciplines" to mean different areas/types of jobs.
One of their job descriptions says "You will work across the company with ...
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Meaning of "where we should expect its heart" in this context?
What does "where we should expect its heart" mean precisely in this context? First to what does "its" refer to? To "university"? Then, what does it mean to say "...
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Meaning of the verb "set" (in Mathematics) [closed]
I am reading a math book And I have come across this verb (set) many times in this book. I have searched all online dictionaries But because this verb has a special meaning (I think so) in mathematics,...
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What does "celebrations coalesce in his mind" mean in this paragraph?
It’s late but not too late. He notices that the big shows are starting to let out, vomiting dandy citizens and intrepid tourists onto the sidewalk from brightly lit lobbies. It’s not too late, he ...
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What does "light children nursing heavy ones" mean in this paragraph?
Down in to the Yard, by way of the steps, came Daniel Doyce, Mr Meagles, and Clennam. Passing along the Yard, and between the open doors on either hand, all abundantly garnished with light children ...
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What does "heraldic cognisance" mean in this paragraph?
Neither party would listen to the antiquaries who delivered learned lectures in the neighbourhood, showing the Bleeding Heart to have been the heraldic cognisance of the old family to whom the ...
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I breathe when I dance
What does it mean when someone says “I breathe when I dance”? I was trying to conversation with someone when I told then that I loved to dance. This was their response to that
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Meaning of "the thin man’s convention" [closed]
The standard residential elevator is designed to accommodate 12 passengers, all of whom we assume to be of average weight and form. This is the Occupant’s Fallacy. The number 12 does not consider the ...
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Meaning of "crawdaddy"
Today’s incident is just the kind of unfortunate mishap that can
happen when you kowtow to the latest fashions from overseas. We’re
going to get to the bottom of this, gentlemen, I can give you my ...
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What does "less than five years of their year of manufacture" mean? [closed]
I'm doing my research to import a vehicle to my country. Vehicle Manufacture Year/month is 2006/12 and Registration
Year/month is 2007/2. The vehicle import regulation of my country states the ...
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Meaning of elevator stack?
So when the word spread that Lila Mae had been assigned the 18-deep
elevator stack in the Fanny Briggs Memorial Building (18-deep!), a
career-making case for any inspector, few were surprised and ...
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Balance out balance out exceptions and anomalies [closed]
What does this sentence mean?
Researchers count on large numbers to balance out exceptions and anomalies..
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What does "bring a human face" mean in this context? [duplicate]
The global financial crisis had brought a human face to structural wealth and income inequality in Anglo-American countries (as Thomas Piketty documented in his book Capital in the 21st Century), and ...
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Meaning of “but” in the context
I was reading an article and ran into this phrase. Why “there is impact” is doubled in the end? Is it kind of emphasis of the phrase?
In Western nations, there is much talk presently about the need ...
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What is the proper meaning of this sentence? Please explain this briefly [closed]
In a Batman(2022) movie, in public memorial for mayor,there is a announcement that
"As a reminder, the family asked that those wishing to honor the
mayor's memory... consider a donation to the ...
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What is the meaning of "shower night" in the following sentence?
What is the meaning of "shower night" in the following sentence?
As you know, freshman year the big exam is the freshman physics exam and their shower night with Burton Third Bombers you ...
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