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26 votes
3 answers
7k views

What do you call a word that has multiple senses or parts of speech in one sentence?

Consider the following sentence. John used to work for the newspaper that you are reading. (It has been collected from here.) "Newspaper" has several well-known senses. Newspaper could ...
Frames Catherine White's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
6k views

Does "inanimate object" mean an object that is "not alive" or an object that is "not moving" or both?

I recently became confused by the term "inanimate object", because "inanimate" can have two meanings (from Merriam Webster) 1 : not animate: a : not endowed with life or spirit b : ...
inanimate-edge-cases's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
174 views

Are any senses of the word 'candidate' acceptable for attributive-noun usage?

I've just used 'candidate' attributively to mean '[worth considering as] a real possibility [for the purpose stated, or implied by context] (eg a candidate term or construction). I've not been able ...
Edwin Ashworth's user avatar