Adjacent Words

Some definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOME, a. sum.
1. Noting a certain quantity of a thing, but indeterminate; a portion greater or less. Give me some bread; drink some wine; bring some water.
2. Noting a number of persons or things, greater or less, but indeterminate. Some theoretical writes allege that there was a time when there was no such thing as society.
3. Noting a person or thing, but not known, or not specific and definite. Some person, I know not who, gave me the information. Enter the city, and some man will direct you to the house. Most gentlemen of property, as some period or other of their lives, are ambitious of representing their country in parliament.
4. It sometimes precedes a word of number or quantity, with the sense of about or near, noting want of certainty as to the specific number of amount, but something near it; as a village or some eighty houses; some two or three persons; some seventy miles distant; an object at some good distance.
5. Some is often opposed to others. Some men believe one thing, and others another.
6. Some is often used without a noun, and then like other adjectives, is a substitute for a noun. We consumed some of our provisions, and the rest was given to the poor. Some to the shores do fly, some to the woods. Your edicts some reclaim for sins, but most your life and blest example wins.
7. Some is used as a termination of certain adjectives, as in handsome, mettlesome, blithesome, fullsome, lonesome, gladsome, gamesome. In these words, some has primarily the sense of little, or a certain degree; a little blithe or glad. But in usage, it rather indicates a considerable degree of the thing or quantity; as mettlesome, full of mettle or spirit; gladsome, very glad or joyous.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity; "have some milk"; "some roses were still blooming"; "having some friends over"; "some apples"; "some paper" [ant: all, no]
2: relatively much but unspecified in amount or extent; "we talked for some time"; "he was still some distance away"
3: relatively many but unspecified in number; "they were here for some weeks"; "we did not meet again for some years"
4: remarkable; "that was some party"; "she is some skier" 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]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English som, adjective & pronoun, from Old English sum; akin to Old High German sum some, Greek ham? somehow, homos same — more at same Date: before 12th century 1. being an unknown, undetermined, or unspecified unit or thing <some person knocked> 2. a. being one, a part, or an unspecified number of something (as a class or group) named or implied <some gems are hard> b. being of an unspecified amount or number <give me some water> <have some apples> 3. remarkable, striking <that was some party> 4. being at least one — used to indicate that a logical proposition is asserted only of a subclass or certain members of the class denoted by the term which it modifies II. pronoun, singular or plural in construction Date: before 12th century 1. one indeterminate quantity, portion, or number as distinguished from the rest 2. an indefinite additional amount <ran a mile and then some> III. adverb Date: before 12th century 1. about <some 80 houses> <twenty-some people> 2. a. in some degree ; somewhat <felt some better> b. to some degree or extent ; a little <the cut bled some> <I need to work on it some more> c. — used as a mild intensive <that's going some> Usage: When some is used to modify a number, it is almost always a round number <a community of some 150,000 inhabitants> but because some is slightly more emphatic than about or approximately it is occasionally used with a more exact number in an intensive function <an expert parachutist, he has some 115 jumps to his credit — Current Biography>. When some is used without a number, most commentators feel that somewhat is to be preferred. Their advice is an oversimplification, however; only when some modifies an adjective, usually a comparative, will somewhat always substitute smoothly. When some modifies a verb or adverb, and especially when it follows a verb, substitution of somewhat may prove awkward <Italy forced me to grow up some — E. W. Brooke> <I'm not a prude; I've been around some in my day — Roy Rogers> <here in Newport, both Southern Cross and Courageous practiced some more — W. N. Wallace>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., pron., & adv. --adj. 1 an unspecified amount or number of (some water; some apples; some of them). 2 that is unknown or unnamed (will return some day; some fool has locked the door; to some extent). 3 denoting an approximate number (waited some twenty minutes). 4 a considerable amount or number of (went to some trouble). 5 (usu. stressed) a at least a small amount of (do have some consideration). b such to a certain extent (that is some help). c colloq. notably such (I call that some story). --pron. some people or things, some number or amount (I have some already; would you like some more?). --adv. colloq. to some extent (we talked some; do it some more). Phrases and idioms: and then some sl. and plenty more than that. some few see FEW. Etymology: OE sum f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Some Some (s[u^]m), a. [OE. som, sum, AS. sum; akin to OS., OFries., & OHG. sum, OD. som, D. sommig, Icel. sumr, Dan. somme (pl.), Sw. somlige (pl.), Goth. sums, and E. same. [root]191. See Same, a., and cf. -some.] 1. Consisting of a greater or less portion or sum; composed of a quantity or number which is not stated; -- used to express an indefinite quantity or number; as, some wine; some water; some persons. Used also pronominally; as, I have some. Some theoretical writers allege that there was a time when there was no such thing as society. --Blackstone. 2. A certain; one; -- indicating a person, thing, event, etc., as not known individually, or designated more specifically; as, some man, that is, some one man. ``Some brighter clime.'' --Mrs. Barbauld. Some man praiseth his neighbor by a wicked intent. --Chaucer. Most gentlemen of property, at some period or other of their lives, are ambitious of representing their county in Parliament. --Blackstone. 3. Not much; a little; moderate; as, the censure was to some extent just. 4. About; near; more or less; -- used commonly with numerals, but formerly also with a singular substantive of time or distance; as, a village of some eighty houses; some two or three persons; some hour hence.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use some to refer to a quantity of something or to a number of people or things, when you are not stating the quantity or number precisely. Robin opened some champagne... He went to fetch some books... Some children refuse to eat at all and others overeat. DET: DET n-uncount/pl-n • Some is also a pronoun. This year all the apples are all red. My niece and nephew are going out this morning with step-ladders to pick some. PRON 2. You use some to emphasize that a quantity or number is fairly large. For example, if an activity takes some time, it takes quite a lot of time. The question of local government finance has been the subject of debate for some years... I have discussed this topic in some detail... He remained silent for some time... It took some effort to conceal her relief. DET: DET n-uncount/pl-n [emphasis] 3. You use some to emphasize that a quantity or number is fairly small. For example, if something happens to some extent, it happens a little. 'Isn't there some chance that William might lead a normal life?' asked Jill... All mothers share to some extent in the tension of a wedding... Some fishing is still allowed, but limits have been imposed on the size of the catch. DET: DET n-uncount/sing-n [emphasis] 4. If you refer to some of the people or things in a group, you mean a few of them but not all of them. If you refer to some of a particular thing, you mean a part of it but not all of it. Some of the people already in work will lose their jobs... Remove the cover and spoon some of the sauce into a bowl... Some of us are sensitive to smells, others find colours easier to remember. ? all QUANT: QUANT of n-uncount/pl-n • Some is also a pronoun. When the chicken is cooked I'll freeze some. PRON 5. If you refer to some person or thing, you are referring to that person or thing but in a vague way, without stating precisely which person or thing you mean. If you are worried about some aspect of your child's health, call us... She always thinks some guy is going to come along and fix her life. DET: DET sing-n [vagueness] 6. You can use some in front of a number to indicate that it is approximate. I have kept birds for some 30 years... He waited some 80 to 100 yards from the big pink villa... = about ADV: ADV num [vagueness] 7. Some is used to mean to a small extent or degree. (AM) If Susanne is off somewhere, I'll kill time by looking around some... ADV: ADV after v 8. You can use some in front of a noun in order to express your approval or disapproval of the person or thing you are mentioning. (INFORMAL) 'Some party!'—'Yep. One hell of a party.' DET [feelings]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. More or less, a certain quantity of, a certain number of. 2. One (indefinitely), a, an, any, a certain. 3. About, near. 4. Several, a considerable number. 5. Some people, some persons, certain. 6. A part, a portion. 7. A little, moderate.

Moby Thesaurus

Daedalian, a, about, adept, adroit, all but, almost, an, any, anything, approximately, apt, artistic, as good as, aught, authoritative, bravura, brilliant, certain, circa, clean, clever, composite, coordinated, crack, crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, deft, dexterous, dextrous, diplomatic, divers, excellent, expert, fairly, fancy, good, goodish, graceful, handy, ingenious, just about, kind of, magisterial, masterful, masterly, measured, moderately, more, more or less, more than one, most, nearly, neat, no mean, not singular, numerous, one, plural, pluralistic, plurative, plus ou moins, politic, practically, professional, proficient, quantified, quantitative, quantitive, quantized, quick, quite some, ready, resourceful, skillful, slick, something, somewhat, statesmanlike, stylish, sundry, tactful, the compleat, the complete, various, virtuoso, well-done, well-nigh, workmanlike