Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.
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Is there any difference between "inasmuch as" "insofar as" and "forasmuch as"?
Are there any noticeable differences between "inasmuch as", "insofar as", and "forasmuch as"?
In some of the online dictionaries I sifted through so far, I have not ...
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What is the meaning of "unto itself"? [duplicate]
I've been scrolling through Quora.com to find posts that would make it easier for me to understand the sum and substance of the stock phrase "unto itself" but there aren't a great deal of ...
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What does the idiomatic phrase "err on the side of" mean?
I've looked through several online dictionaries to ferret out the meaning of "err on the side of" ("err on the side of" in the sense of the phrase having no qualifying objects, ...
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What does it mean? - "This was not lost on is who I want to be." [closed]
I came across this sentence while reading a book 'Keep Going' by Austin Kleon.
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Is there any difference between "congenial" and "genial"?
As the question implies, I'm interested in only the linguistic distinction between the two words I've listed. I've looked up these two words on some online dictionaries. After some searching, I've ...
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When does "actively mislead" entail an intent to deceive? [closed]
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's the Meaning of Opposing? [closed]
What's the meaning of 'opposing' in the following sentence:
"We have long been accustomed to opposing x to y."
Edit: I deliberately eschewed the context and original reference, because its ...
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Please explain the meaning of the following phrase [closed]
What's the meaning of the phrase that says "The competitive set for leisure time" ?
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What is the definition of the phrase "unto itself"?
I've looked through several online dictionaries to discover the meaning of the phrase "unto itself" ("unto itself" in the sense of the phrase having no qualifying objects, people, ...
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Is there any difference between "nexus" and "locus"?
As the question implies, I'm interested in only the semantical aspects of the two words I've listed. I've looked up these two words on some online dictionaries. After some searching, I've noticed that ...
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What is the subtle difference between the words "hallmark" and "trappings"?
I've scoured many dictionaries for the difference between the two words listed in the question. However, is there a distinction? What separates "hallmark" from "trappings"?
...
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What does this "be failing" mean? [migrated]
This is from TOEFL speaking TPO3:
In my first year in high school, I was addicted to video games. I played them all the time, and I wasn't studying enough. I was failing chemistry. That was my hardest ...
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What makes this expression funny? 'Brown, of course, is your lesbian sister who never leaves her room.' [closed]
I was watching Conan's Dartmouth commencement speech and he said "Brown, of course, is your lesbian sister who never leaves her room. And Penn, Columbia, and Cornell — well, frankly, who gives a ...
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What does "ever having happened" mean?
I was listening to a Doctor Who podcast episode, and got confused by this line:
She (The Doctor)’s supposed to be here. She’s supposed to fix things like this. Or stop them from ever happening. Or ...
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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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Can verb "to fire" replace "to burn" in general, or in a specific context?
The following is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article Mercury in fish:
"Coal contains mercury as a natural contaminant. When it is fired for electricity generation, the mercury is released as ...
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What does the phrase "Shop the edit" mean?
I have seen this phrase used in several fashion ads and on clothing sites (mostly women's). I am assuming it is AME, but I do not know. Here are some sites that I see the phrase being used:
Neiman ...
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Could we employ this word in a formal context?
Is "consultable reference" OK for describing an original documentation that should be read whenever required to achieve a purpose?
If no what would be more adequate?
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What's the meaning of 'couldn't make your car'? [duplicate]
It was a situation that the police were trying to stop a driver who ran two stop signs. The driver finally got out of the car and said "I couldn't make your car".
From a publication article ...
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Meaning of “rubber” in “You might put ME into a Jail, with genteel society and a rubber, and I should never care to come out.”
In David Copperfield, Mrs Markleham: “You might put ME into a Jail, with genteel society and a rubber, and I should never care to come out.”
What is the meaning of rubber here?
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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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Usage of Tense in Minutes [closed]
I was looking through the online template of minutes and came across the usage of both present and past tense.
Etc. Grace enquired if there are any pressing issues. Mary shares that there is pending ...
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Use of the word "midwife"
A midwife is a person who helps a woman give birth and I believe a woman can use "my midwife" to refer to an individual who assisted/will assist her during childbirth; my question is, can a ...
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What is the meaning of this sentence? "no concern"
I think we have no concern to provide the report of your performance.
Does it mean that they are willing to write a report or not?
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What does this short paragraph mean? [closed]
Would you Soon tell me what does this mean 👉🏻"either I'll get more frustrated, I'll think we'll be damned if I am going to set here and have it go that way. And then they are mobilized and they ...
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What is the "-sie" suffix meaning?
While playing Thief: The Dark Project, I noticed the use of the suffix "-sie" in some words, for example: woodsie, goodsie, treesie, etc. I struggled to find an explanation for this and ...
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Number of times vs total number of times
What is the difference between saying "number of times that user accessed the site" vs "total number of times that user accessed the site"?
I feel that they mean the same thing but ...
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Is there a difference between "care about" one vs "care for" one?
One person says:"You don't care about me!"
Another replies: "I care deeply for you."
Instead of replying "I care deeply about you," the replier says "I care deeply ...
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Why are typewriter keys referred to as “stops”, especially when compared to organ stops?
I have been listing to an audio book of The Hound of the Baskervilles. In it there is a line which says “…with her fingers over the typewriter stops…”. I am assuming this is referring to the keys of ...
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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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Does 'genocide' cover mass murder of a people by sex or gender? Is there a better word?
Genocide defined:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical (sic), racial or religious group,
...
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What does this sentence mean? ‘Two of the bell and mark him, boy, whip-cat tippled already.’
An amused man passing me and pointing to a drunkard struggling to get back on his feet. ‘Two of the bell and mark him, boy,
whip-cat tippled already.’
From How to Stop Time by Matt Haig.
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What does the phrase "who had no congenial home to make her known in" mean?
'Suppose that a man,' so his thoughts ran, 'who had been of age some twenty years or so; who was a diffident man, from the circumstances of his youth; who was rather a grave man, from the tenor of his ...
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Difference between "provocative" and "thought-provoking"
In some dictionaries, provocative has two meanings:
(1) Causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction, especially deliberately.
(2) Arousing sexual desire or interest
Some other dictionaries ...
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Word for a dumb person that knows a lot about one thing [duplicate]
I’ve completely forgotten the word for it, but the meaning of it is something along the lines of, somebody that is unintelligent but has a lot of knowledge about really specific, completely useless ...
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What is it called when I suddenly ache to do something I usually don't do? [closed]
Recently I've found myself thinking or longing for stuff that I usually don't even think about.
Example: I don't drink or even like drinking. But sometimes I just get the thought of "1 beer can't ...
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How should I understand the nuances between "astringent" and "acerbic"
I keep on getting these two words mixed up in my head. How should I understand the nuances that distinguish "astringent" and "acerbic"? Is there ever a reason to use one over the ...
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Could you please explain what “In an overly quantified world of policies and processes, some are swinging back in the other direction.“ means?
I’ve come across the following paragraph reading a book called The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.
I can’t understand the meaning of “In an overly quantified world of policies and processes, some are ...
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Makes more sense
Is it grammatically correct to say like this ?
"This answer makes more sense here "
Can i say "Makes more sense " to mean correct answer ?
"Here" means question
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What does it mean for someone to say "I've read something with interest" [closed]
Is there any positive or negative connotation attached to this phrase?
Suppose I sent someone something by email, and the reply begins:
"I've read your email with interest."
Is that good ...
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"I wonder what to start work on" - does it sound fine? [closed]
For example, I'm looking for a task to work on, is it fine to say it?
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When did "sink" start referring to the tap as well?
A current TikTok trend involves someone asking another person to "turn off the sink". In a play with the term "turn off", the second person then goes to the sink and says something ...
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Should I use "portion" or "proportion"?
I have some balls, and some percentage q \in (0, 100%) of them are green (for example, q = 30% or 1/3). Should I say
"A portion q of the balls are green" or
"A proportion q of the balls ...
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What's a name/term for someone who bases their opinions and speech on being liked by as many people (or most accepted) as possible? [duplicate]
A "consensus filter" where their main concern is "will people be alright with me thinking this?"
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What is the exact word for vintage fashion which is returning in present time? [migrated]
My native language is not English. I want to know the word about fashion (past) which is returned in present. Remake is not the right word but I think something like this.
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Leave X out OR leave out X? [duplicate]
What is the difference between "leave X out" and "leave out X?" Assuming both are grammatically correct, is there any difference in the message conveyed between using one over the ...
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Does one say "memoirs of" or "memoirs from" someone? [migrated]
I am having a hard time deciding whether I should say of or on in the following sentence:
I will be utilising the memoirs of/from key figures.
Is it correct that both would be useable but they mean ...
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How use the word "surge" properly? [closed]
Would it be correct to use the word 'surge' at the very end of a sentence?
For instance:
X has made Y surge.
Or would you rather say
X surged Y?
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What is a background check? [closed]
I wanna understand the meaning of the background check? Like I don’t know how to do one or even get one. I really want to know the purpose of a background check.
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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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