Adjacent Words

At definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AT, prep. [L. ad. At, ad and to, if not radically the same word often coincide in signification; Heb to come, to a approach. Hence it primarily denotes presence, meeting, nearness, direction towards.]
In general, at denotes nearness, or presents; as at the ninth hour, at the house; but it is less definite than in or on; at the house, may be in or near the house. It denotes also towards, versus; as, to aim an arrow at a mark.
From this original import are derived all the various uses of at. At the sight, is with, present, or coming the sight; at this news, present the news, on or with the approach or arrival of this news. At peace, at war, in a state of peace or war, peace or war, in a state of peace or war, peace or war existing, being present; at ease, at play, at a loss, etc. convey the like idea. At arms, furnished with arms, bearing arms present with arms; at hand, within reach of the hand, and therefore near; at my cost, with my cost; at his suit, by or with his suit; at this declaration, he rose from his seat, that is present, or coming this declaration; whence results the idea in consequence of it. At his command, is either under his command, that is, literally, coming or being come his command, in the power of, or in consequence of it. He is good at engraving, at husbandry; that is, in performing that business. He deserves well at our hands; that is, from us. The peculiar phrases in which this word occurs, with appropriate significations, are numerous. At first, at last, at least, at best, at the worst, at the highest or lowest, are phrases in which some noun is implied; as, at the first time or beginning; at the last time, or point of time; at the least or best degree, etc.; all denoting an extreme point or superlative degree. At all, is in any manner or degree.
At is sometimes used for to, or towards, noting progression or direction; as, he aims at perfection; he makes or runs at him, or points at him. In this phrase, he longs to be at him, at has its general sense of approaching, or present, or with, in contest or attack.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series); a decay product of uranium and thorium [syn: astatine, At, atomic number 85]
2: 100 at equal 1 kip in Laos

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation 1. air temperature 2. ampere-turn 3. automatic transmission

Merriam Webster's

I. preposition Etymology: Middle English, from Old English æt; akin to Old High German az at, Latin ad Date: before 12th century 1. — used as a function word to indicate presence or occurrence in, on, or near <staying at a hotel> <at a party> <sick at heart> 2. — used as a function word to indicate the goal of an indicated or implied action or motion <aim at the target> <creditors are at him again> 3. — used as a function word to indicate that with which one is occupied or employed <at work> <at the controls> <good at chess> 4. — used as a function word to indicate situation in an active or passive state or condition <at liberty> <at rest> 5. — used as a function word to indicate the means, cause, or manner <sold at auction> <laughed at my joke> <act at your own discretion> 6. a. — used as a function word to indicate the rate, degree, or position in a scale or series <the temperature at 90> <at first> b. — used as a function word to indicate age or position in time <will retire at 65> II. noun also att (plural at; also att) Etymology: Lao Date: 1955 — see kip at money table III. abbreviation 1. airtight 2. atmosphere 3. atomic

Oxford Reference Dictionary

symb. Chem. the element astatine.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

unstressed prep. 1 expressing position, exact or approximate (wait at the corner; at the top of the hill; met at Bath; is at school; at a distance). 2 expressing a point in time (see you at three; went at dawn). 3 expressing a point in a scale or range (at boiling-point; at his best). 4 expressing engagement or concern in a state or activity (at war; at work; at odds). 5 expressing a value or rate (sell at £10 each). 6 a with or with reference to; in terms of (at a disadvantage; annoyed at losing; good at cricket; play at fighting; sick at heart; came at a run; at short notice; work at it). b by means of (starts at a touch; drank it at a gulp). 7 expressing: a motion towards (arrived at the station; went at them). b aim towards or pursuit of (physically or conceptually) (aim at the target; work at a solution; guess at the truth; laughed at us; has been at the milk again). Phrases and idioms: at all see ALL. at hand see HAND. at home see HOME. at it 1 engaged in an activity; working hard. 2 colloq. repeating a habitual (usu. disapproved of) activity (found them at it again). at once see ONCE. at that moreover (found one, and a good one at that). at times see TIME. where it's at sl. the fashionable scene or activity. Etymology: OE æt, rel. to L ad to

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Peril Per"il, n. [F. p['e]ril, fr. L. periculum, periclum, akin to peritus experienced, skilled, and E. fare. See Fare, and cf. Experience.] Danger; risk; hazard; jeopardy; exposure of person or property to injury, loss, or destruction. In perils of waters, in perils of robbers. --2 Cor. xi. 26. Adventure hard With peril great achieved. --Milton. At, or On, one's peril, with risk or danger to one; at the hazard of. ``On thy soul's peril.'' --Shak. Syn: Hazard; risk; jeopardy. See Danger.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Point Point, n. [F. point, and probably also pointe, L. punctum, puncta, fr. pungere, punctum, to prick. See Pungent, and cf. Puncto, Puncture.] 1. That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin. 2. An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; -- called also pointer. 3. Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line. 4. The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick. 5. An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced. 6. An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge. When time's first point begun Made he all souls. --Sir J. Davies. 7. A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion. And there a point, for ended is my tale. --Chaucer. Commas and points they set exactly right. --Pope. 8. Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints. ``A point of precedence.'' --Selden. ``Creeping on from point to point.'' --Tennyson. A lord full fat and in good point. --Chaucer. 9. That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc. He told him, point for point, in short and plain. --Chaucer. In point of religion and in point of honor. --Bacon. Shalt thou dispute With Him the points of liberty ? --Milton. 10. Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote. ``Here lies the point.'' --Shak. They will hardly prove his point. --Arbuthnot. 11. A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio. This fellow doth not stand upon points. --Shak. [He] cared not for God or man a point. --Spenser. 12. (Mus.) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time; as: (a) (Anc. Mus.) A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.; hence, a note; a tune. ``Sound the trumpet -- not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war.'' --Sir W. Scott. (b) (Mod. Mus.) A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a whole note equal to three half notes, a half note equal to three quarter notes. 13. (Astron.) A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal. 14. (Her.) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon. 15. (Naut.) (a) One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point. (b) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails. See Reef point, under Reef. 16. (Anc. Costume) A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress. --Sir W. Scott. 17. Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below. 18. pl. (Railways) A switch. [Eng.] 19. An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer. [Cant, U. S.] 20. (Cricket) A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman. 21. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer. 22. (Type Making) A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type. 23. A tyne or snag of an antler. 24. One of the spaces on a backgammon board. 25. (Fencing) A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point. Note: The word point is a general term, much used in the sciences, particularly in mathematics, mechanics, perspective, and physics, but generally either in the geometrical sense, or in that of degree, or condition of change, and with some accompanying descriptive or qualifying term, under which, in the vocabulary, the specific uses are explained; as, boiling point, carbon point, dry point, freezing point, melting point, vanishing point, etc. At all points, in every particular, completely; perfectly. --Shak. At point, In point, At, In, or On, the point, as near as can be; on the verge; about (see About, prep., 6); as, at the point of death; he was on the point of speaking. ``In point to fall down.'' --Chaucer. ``Caius Sidius Geta, at point to have been taken, recovered himself so valiantly as brought day on his side.'' --Milton. Dead point. (Mach.) Same as Dead center, under Dead. Far point (Med.), in ophthalmology, the farthest point at which objects are seen distinctly. In normal eyes the nearest point at which objects are seen distinctly; either with the two eyes together (binocular near point), or with each eye separately (monocular near point). Nine points of the law, all but the tenth point; the greater weight of authority. On the point. See At point, above. Point lace, lace wrought with the needle, as distinguished from that made on the pillow. Point net, a machine-made lace imitating a kind of Brussels lace (Brussels ground). Point of concurrence (Geom.), a point common to two lines, but not a point of tangency or of intersection, as, for instance, that in which a cycloid meets its base. Point of contrary flexure, a point at which a curve changes its direction of curvature, or at which its convexity and concavity change sides. Point of order, in parliamentary practice, a question of order or propriety under the rules. Point of sight (Persp.), in a perspective drawing, the point assumed as that occupied by the eye of the spectator. Point of view, the relative position from which anything is seen or any subject is considered. Points of the compass (Naut.), the thirty-two points of division of the compass card in the mariner's compass; the corresponding points by which the circle of the horizon is supposed to be divided, of which the four marking the directions of east, west, north, and south, are called cardinal points, and the rest are named from their respective directions, as N. by E., N. N. E., N. E. by N., N. E., etc. See Illust. under Compass. Point paper, paper pricked through so as to form a stencil for transferring a design. Point system of type. See under Type. Singular point (Geom.), a point of a curve which possesses some property not possessed by points in general on the curve, as a cusp, a point of inflection, a node, etc. To carry one's point, to accomplish one's object, as in a controversy. To make a point of, to attach special importance to. To make, or gain, a point, accomplish that which was proposed; also, to make advance by a step, grade, or position. To mark, or score, a point, as in billiards, cricket, etc., to note down, or to make, a successful hit, run, etc. To strain a point, to go beyond the proper limit or rule; to stretch one's authority or conscience. Vowel point, in Hebrew, and certain other Eastern and ancient languages, a mark placed above or below the consonant, or attached to it, representing the vowel, or vocal sound, which precedes or follows the consonant.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reach Reach, v. t. 1. To stretch out the hand. Goddess humane, reach, then, and freely taste! --Milton. 2. To strain after something; to make efforts. Reaching above our nature does no good. --Dryden. 3. To extend in dimension, time, amount, action, influence, etc., so as to touch, attain to, or be equal to, something. And behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. --Gen. xxviii. 12. The new world reaches quite across the torrid zone. --Boyle. 4. (Naut.) To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to another, or with the ind nearly abeam. To reach after or at, to make efforts to attain to or obtain. He would be in the mind reaching after a positive idea of infinity. --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

At At, prep. [AS. [ae]t; akin to OHG. az, Goth., OS., & Icel. at, Sw. [*a]t, Dan. & L. ad.] Primarily, this word expresses the relations of presence, nearness in place or time, or direction toward; as, at the ninth hour; at the house; to aim at a mark. It is less definite than in or on; at the house may be in or near the house. From this original import are derived all the various uses of at. It expresses: 1. A relation of proximity to, or of presence in or on, something; as, at the door; at your shop; at home; at school; at hand; at sea and on land. 2. The relation of some state or condition; as, at war; at peace; at ease; at your service; at fault; at liberty; at risk; at disadvantage. 3. The relation of some employment or action; occupied with; as, at engraving; at husbandry; at play; at work; at meat (eating); except at puns. 4. The relation of a point or position in a series, or of degree, rate, or value; as, with the thermometer at 80[deg]; goods sold at a cheap price; a country estimated at 10,000 square miles; life is short at the longest. 5. The relations of time, age, or order; as, at ten o'clock; at twenty-one; at once; at first. 6. The relations of source, occasion, reason, consequence, or effect; as, at the sight; at this news; merry at anything; at this declaration; at his command; to demand, require, receive, deserve, endure at your hands. 7. Relation of direction toward an object or end; as, look at it; to point at one; to aim at a mark; to throw, strike, shoot, wink, mock, laugh at any one. At all, At home, At large, At last, At length, At once, etc. See under All, Home, Large, Last (phrase and syn.), Length, Once, etc. At it, busily or actively engaged. At least. See Least and However. At one. See At one, in the Vocabulary. Syn: In, At. Usage: When reference to the interior of any place is made prominent in is used. It is used before the names of countries and cities (esp. large cities); as, we live in America, in New York, in the South. At is commonly employed before names of houses, institutions, villages, and small places; as, Milton was educated at Christ's College; money taken in at the Customhouse; I saw him at the jeweler's; we live at Beachville. At may be used before the name of a city when it is regarded as a mere point of locality. ``An English king was crowned at Paris.'' --Macaulay. ``Jean Jacques Rousseau was born at Geneva, June, 28, 1712.'' --J. Morley. In regard to time, we say at the hour, on the day, in the year; as, at 9 o'clock, on the morning of July 5th, in the year 1775.

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, 'at' is used after some verbs, nouns, and adjectives to introduce extra information. 'At' is also used in phrasal verbs such as 'keep on at' and 'play at'. 1. You use at to indicate the place or event where something happens or is situated. We had dinner at a restaurant in Attleborough... I didn't like being alone at home... Hamstrings are supporting muscles at the back of the thigh... The announcement was made at a news conference in Peking. PREP 2. If someone is at school or college, or at a particular school or college, they go there regularly to study. He was shy and nervous as a boy, and unhappy at school... I majored in psychology at Hunter College. PREP 3. If you are at something such as a table, a door, or someone's side, you are next to it or them. Graham was already at the door... At his side was a beautiful young woman... He gave the girl at the desk the message. PREP 4. When you are describing where someone or something is, you can say that they are at a certain distance. You can also say that one thing is at an angle in relation to another thing. The two journalists followed at a discreet distance... The tree was leaning at a low angle from the ground. PREP 5. If something happens at a particular time, that is the time when it happens or begins to happen. The funeral will be carried out this afternoon at 3.00... He only sees her at Christmas and Easter. PREP 6. If you do something at a particular age, you do it when you are that age. Blake emigrated to Australia with his family at 13... Mary Martin has died at her home in California at the age of seventy-six. PREP 7. You use at to express a rate, frequency, level, or price. I drove back down the highway at normal speed... Check the oil at regular intervals, and have the car serviced regularly... The submarine lies at a depth of 6,000 feet in the Barents Sea. PREP 8. You use at before a number or amount to indicate a measurement. ...as unemployment stays pegged at three million. PREP: PREP amount 9. If you look at someone or something, you look towards them. If you direct an object or a comment at someone, you direct it towards them. He looked at Michael and laughed... The crowds became violent and threw petrol bombs at the police... PREP 10. You can use at after verbs such as 'smile' or 'wave' and before nouns referring to people to indicate that you have put on an expression or made a gesture which someone is meant to see or understand. She opened the door and stood there, frowning at me... We waved at the staff to try to get the bill. PREP: v PREP n 11. If you point or gesture at something, you move your arm or head in its direction so that it will be noticed by someone you are with. He pointed at the empty bottle and the waitress quickly replaced it... He gestured at the shelves. 'I've bought many books from him.' PREP: v PREP n 12. If you are working at something, you are dealing with it. If you are aiming at something, you are trying to achieve it. She has worked hard at her marriage. ...a $1.04m grant aimed at improving student performance on placement examinations. PREP 13. If something is done at someone's invitation or request, it is done as a result of it. She left the light on in the bathroom at his request... PREP: PREP n with poss 14. You use at to say that someone or something is in a particular state or condition. I am afraid we are not at liberty to disclose that information... Their countries had been at war for nearly six weeks. PREP: v-link PREP n 15. You use at before a possessive pronoun and a superlative adjective to say that someone or something has more of a particular quality than at any other time. He was at his happiest whilst playing cricket... PREP: PREP poss adj-superl 16. You use at to say how something is being done. Three people were killed by shots fired at random from a minibus... Mr Martin was taken out of his car at gunpoint. PREP 17. You use at to show that someone is doing something repeatedly. She lowered the handkerchief which she had kept dabbing at her eyes... Miss Melville took a cookie and nibbled at it. PREP: v PREP n 18. You use at to indicate an activity or task when saying how well someone does it. I'm good at my work... Robin is an expert at cheesemaking... PREP: adj PREP n, n PREP n, v PREP n 19. You use at to indicate what someone is reacting to. Eleanor was annoyed at having had to wait so long for him... The British team did not disguise their delight at their success... PREP: adj PREP n, n PREP n, v PREP n 20. at all: see all

Dictionary of Ro

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