Adjacent Words

About definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ABOUT', prep. [Gr. butan, without, [see but,] literally, around, on the outside.]
1. Around; on the exterior part or surface.
Bind them about thy neck. Prov
3:3. Isa. l. Hence,
2. Near to in place, with the sense of circularity.
Get you up from about the tabernacle. Numbers 16.
3. Near to in time.
He went out about the third hour. Mat
21:3.
4. Near to, in action, or near to the performance of some act.
Paul was about to open his mouth.
They were about to flee out of the ship. Acts
28:14 -
28:30.
5. Near to the person; appended to the clothes. Every thing about him is in order. Is your snuff box about you? From nearness on all sides, the transition is easy to a concern with. Hence,
6. Concerned in, engaged in, relating to, respecting.
I must be about my father's business. Luke
2:49. The painter is not to take so much pains about the drapery as about the face
What is he about?
7. In compass or circumference; two yards about the trunk.
ABOUT', adv.
1. Near to in number or quantity.
There fell that day about three thousand men. Exodus 32.
2. Near to in quality or degree; as about as high, or as cold.
3. Here and there; around; in one place and another.
Wandering about from house to house. 1 Timothy 5.
4. round, or the longest way, opposed to across, or the shortest way. A mile about, and half a mile across.
To bring about, to bring to the end; to effect or accomplish a purpose.
To come about, to change or turn; to come to the desired point. In a like sense, seamen say go about, when a ship changes her course and goes on the other tack.
Ready about, about ship, are orders for tacking.
To go about, signifies to enter upon; also to prepare; to seek the means.
Why go ye about to kill me. John 7.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: on the move; "up and about"; "the whole town was astir over the incident" [syn: about, astir] adv
1: (of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct; "lasted approximately an hour"; "in just about a minute"; "he's about 30 years old"; "I've had about all I can stand"; "we meet about once a month"; "some forty people came"; "weighs around a hundred pounds"; "roughly $3,000"; "holds 3 gallons, more or less"; "20 or so people were at the party" [syn: approximately, about, close to, just about, some, roughly, more or less, around, or so]
2: all around or on all sides; "dirty clothes lying around (or about)"; "let's look about for help"; "There were trees growing all around"; "she looked around her" [syn: about, around]
3: in the area or vicinity; "a few spectators standing about"; "hanging around"; "waited around for the next flight" [syn: about, around]
4: used of movement to or among many different places or in no particular direction; "wandering about with no place to go"; "people were rushing about"; "news gets around (or about)"; "traveled around in Asia"; "he needs advice from someone who's been around"; "she sleeps around" [syn: about, around]
5: in or to a reversed position or direction; "about face"; "suddenly she turned around" [syn: about, around]
6: in rotation or succession; "turn about is fair play"
7: (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but; "the job is (just) about done"; "the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the parties signed the contract"; "I was near exhausted by the run"; "most everyone agrees" [syn: about, almost, most, nearly, near, nigh, virtually, well-nigh]

Merriam Webster's

I. adverb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ab?tan, from ¹a- + b?tan outside — more at but Date: before 12th century 1. a. reasonably close to <about a year ago> b. almost <about starved> c. on the verge of — usually used with be and a following infinitive <is about to join the army> — used with a negative to express intention or determination <not about to quit> 2. on all sides ; around 3. a. in rotation b. around the outside 4. here and there 5. in the vicinity ; near 6. in the opposite direction <face about> <the other way about> II. preposition Date: before 12th century 1. in a circle around ; on every side of ; around 2. a. in the immediate neighborhood of ; near b. on or near the person of c. in the makeup of <a mature wisdom about him> d. at the command of <has his wits about him> 3. engaged in <act as if they know what they're about — T. S. Matthews> 4. a. with regard to ; concerning <spoke about his past> b. concerned with c. fundamentally concerned with or directed toward <poker is about money — David Mamet> 5. over or in different parts of III. adjective Date: 1815 1. moving from place to place; specifically being out of bed 2. around 2

Oxford Reference Dictionary

prep. & adv. --prep. 1 a on the subject of; in connection with (a book about birds; what are you talking about?; argued about money). b relating to (something funny about this). c in relation to (symmetry about a plane). d so as to affect (can do nothing about it; what are you going to do about it?). 2 at a time near to (come about four). 3 a in, round, surrounding (wandered about the town; a scarf about her neck). b all round from a centre (look about you). 4 here and there in; at points throughout (toys lying about the house). 5 at a point or points near to (fighting going on about us). 6 carried with (have no money about me). 7 occupied with (what are you about?). --adv. 1 a approximately (costs about a pound; is about right). b colloq. used to indicate understatement (just about had enough; it's about time they came). 2 here and there; at points nearby (a lot of flu about; I've seen him about recently). 3 all round; in every direction (look about). 4 on the move; in action (out and about). 5 in partial rotation or alteration from a given position (the wrong way about). 6 in rotation or succession (turn and turn about). 7 Naut. on or to the opposite tack (go about; put about). Phrases and idioms: be about to be on the point of (doing something) (was about to laugh). Etymology: OE onbutan (on = A(2), butan BUT(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

About A*bout", prep. [OE. aboute, abouten, abuten; AS. [=a]butan, onbutan; on + butan, which is from be by + utan outward, from ut out. See But, Out.] 1. Around; all round; on every side of. ``Look about you.'' --Shak. ``Bind them about thy neck.'' --Prov. iii. 3. 2. In the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place; by or on (one's person). ``Have you much money about you?'' --Bulwer. 3. Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout. Lampoons . . . were handed about the coffeehouses. --Macaulay. Roving still about the world. --Milton. 4. Near; not far from; -- determining approximately time, size, quantity. ``To-morrow, about this time.'' --Exod. ix. 18. ``About my stature.'' --Shak. He went out about the third hour. --Matt. xx. 3. Note: This use passes into the adverbial sense. 5. In concern with; engaged in; intent on. I must be about my Father's business. --Luke ii. 49. 6. Before a verbal noun or an infinitive: On the point or verge of; going; in act of. Paul was now aboutto open his mouth. --Acts xviii. 14. 7. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; touching. ``To treat about thy ransom.'' --Milton. She must have her way about Sarah. --Trollope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

About A*bout", adv. 1. On all sides; around. 'Tis time to look about. --Shak. 2. In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; as, a mile about, and a third of a mile across. 3. Here and there; around; in one place and another. Wandering about from house to house. --1 Tim. v. 13. 4. Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence, in quality, manner, degree, etc.; as, about as cold; about as high; -- also of quantity, number, time. ``There fell . . . about three thousand men.'' --Exod. xxii. 28. 5. To a reserved position; half round; in the opposite direction; on the opposite tack; as, to face about; to turn one's self about. To bring about, to cause to take place; to accomplish. To come about, to occur; to take place. See under Come. To go about, To set about, to undertake; to arrange; to prepare. ``Shall we set about some revels?'' --Shak. Round about, in every direction around.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: In addition to the uses shown below, 'about' is used after some verbs, nouns, and adjectives to introduce extra information. 'About' is also often used after verbs of movement, such as 'walk' and 'drive', and in phrasal verbs such as 'mess about' and 'set about', especially in British English. 1. You use about to introduce who or what something relates to or concerns. She came in for a coffee, and told me about her friend Shona... She knew a lot about food... He never complains about his wife. PREP 2. When you mention the things that an activity or institution is about, you are saying what it involves or what its aims are. Leadership is about the ability to implement change. PREP 3. You use about after some adjectives to indicate the person or thing that a feeling or state of mind relates to. 'I'm sorry about Patrick,' she said... I feel so guilty and angry about the whole issue. PREP 4. If you do something about a problem, you take action in order to solve it. Rachel was going to do something about Jacob... PREP 5. When you say that there is a particular quality about someone or something, you mean that they have this quality. I think there's something a little peculiar about the results of your test. PREP 6. About is used in front of a number to show that the number is not exact. In my local health centre there's about forty parking spaces... The rate of inflation is running at about 2.7 percent. = approximately, around ? precisely ADV: ADV num 7. If someone or something moves about, they keep moving in different directions. Everyone was running about. = around ADV: ADV after v • About is also a preposition. From 1879 to 1888 he wandered about Germany, Switzerland, and Italy... = around PREP: v PREP n 8. If you put something about a person or thing, you put it around them. Helen threw her arms about him... = round, around PREP 9. If someone or something is about, they are present or available. There's lots of money about these days for schemes like this. ADJ: v-link ADJ 10. If you are about to do something, you are going to do it very soon. If something is about to happen, it will happen very soon. I think he's about to leave... The film was about to start. ADJ: v-link ADJ to-inf 11. how about: see how what about: see what just about: see just 12. If someone is out and about, they are going out and doing things, especially after they have been unable to for a while. Despite considerable pain she has been getting out and about almost as normal... PHRASE: usu PHR after v, also v-link PHR 13. If someone is out and about, they are going to a lot of different places, often as part of their job. They often saw me out and about. PHRASE: usu PHR after v, also v-link PHR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-bout': The use of this word as a preposition, in the sense of "around," is confined to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, generally an adverb, for Greek hos or "hosei." The Revised Version (British and American) adopts it in several idiomatic translations of mello, referring to what is about to be, i.e. on the point of occurring, or immediately impending, amending the King James Version, in Ac 5:35; 27:2; Re 12:4, etc.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. prep. 1. Around, round, encircling, surrounding. 2. Near, near to, not far from. 3. Concerning, touching, respecting, relating to, relative to, with respect to, with reference to, in regard to, with regard to. 4. Through, over, all over, in all parts of. II. ad. 1. Around, hind part before, end for end, in an opposite direction. 2. Hither and thither, here and there, from one place to another, in various places. 3. Nearly, near, approximately, not far from, almost, well-nigh. 4. Ready, on the point, on the eve.

Moby Thesaurus

again, aimlessly, all but, all over, all round, almost, along toward, alongside, anent, any which way, anyhow, anywise, approximately, apropos, apropos of, around, as for, as regards, as respects, as to, at close quarters, at hand, at random, back, back and forth, backward, beside, carelessly, casually, circa, circuitously, close, close about, close at hand, close by, close to, close upon, concerning, encircling, everywhere, far and wide, fast by, haphazard, haphazardly, hard, hard by, helter-skelter, here and there, hereabout, hereabouts, in all directions, in connection with, in point of, in re, in reference to, in regard to, in relation to, in relation with, in respect to, in reverse, in spitting distance, in the air, in the neighborhood, in the vicinity, involving, just about, more or less, most, much, near, near at hand, near enough to, near upon, nearabout, nearabouts, nearby, nearly, nigh, nigh about, not far, not far from, of, on, on every side, only a step, pertaining to, pertinent to, plus ou moins, practically, prevalent, random, randomly, re, referring to, regarding, relating to, relative to, respecting, roughly, round, round about, some, somewhere about, speaking of, surrounding, thereabout, thereabouts, through, throughout, to and fro, touching, up and down, upon, upwards of, well-nigh, with, with regard to, with respect to, within call, within earshot, within hearing, within reach