Thethe1 (stressed ᵺē; unstressed before a consonant ᵺə;
unstressed before a vowel ᵺē),USA pronunciation definite article.
- (used, esp. before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an): the book you gave me; Come into the house.
- (used to mark a proper noun, natural phenomenon, ship, building, time, point of the compass, branch of endeavor, or field of study as something well-known or unique):the sun;
the past; the West.
- (used with or as part of a title): the Duke of Wellington; the Reverend John Smith.
- (used to mark a noun as indicating the best-known, most approved, most important, most satisfying, etc.): the skiing center of the U.S.; If you're going to work hard, now is the time.
- (used to mark a noun as being used generically): The dog is a quadruped.
- (used in place of a possessive pronoun, to note a part of the body or a personal belonging): He won't be able to play football until the leg mends.
- (used before adjectives that are used substantively, to note an individual, a class or number of individuals, or an abstract idea): to visit the sick; from the sublime to the ridiculous.
- (used before a modifying adjective to specify or limit its modifying effect): He took the wrong road and drove miles out of his way.
- (used to indicate one particular decade of a lifetime or of a century): the sixties; the gay nineties.
- (one of many of a class or type, as of a manufactured item, as opposed to an individual one): Did you listen to the radio last night?
- enough: He saved until he had the money for a new car. She didn't have the courage to leave.
- (used distributively, to note any one separately) for, to, or in each;
a or an: at one dollar the pound.
Ofof1 (uv, ov; unstressed əv or, esp. before consonants, ə),USA pronunciation prep.
- (used to indicate distance or direction from, separation, deprivation, etc.): within a mile of the church; south of Omaha; to be robbed of one's money.
- (used to indicate derivation, origin, or source): a man of good family; the plays of Shakespeare; a piece of cake.
- (used to indicate cause, motive, occasion, or reason): to die of hunger.
- (used to indicate material, component parts, substance, or contents): a dress of silk; a book of poems; a package of cheese.
- (used to indicate apposition or identity): Is that idiot of a salesman calling again?
- (used to indicate specific identity or a particular item within a category): the city of Chicago; thoughts of love.
- (used to indicate possession, connection, or association): the king of France; the property of the church.
- (used to indicate inclusion in a number, class, or whole): one of us.
- (used to indicate the objective relation, the object of the action noted by the preceding noun or the application of a verb or adjective): the ringing of bells; He writes her of home; I'm tired of working.
- (used to indicate reference or respect): There is talk of peace.
- (used to indicate qualities or attributes): an ambassador of remarkable tact.
- (used to indicate a specified time): They arrived of an evening.
- [Chiefly Northern U.S.]before the hour of;
until: twenty minutes of five.
- on the part of: It was very mean of you to laugh at me.
- in respect to: fleet of foot.
- set aside for or devoted to: a minute of prayer.
- [Archaic.]by: consumed of worms.
Concretecon•crete (kon′krēt, kong′-, kon krēt′, kong- for 1–10, 11, 14, 15; kon krēt′, kong- for 12, 13),USA pronunciation adj., n., v., -cret•ed, -cret•ing.
- constituting an actual thing or instance;
real: a concrete proof of his sincerity.
- pertaining to or concerned with realities or actual instances rather than abstractions;
particular (opposed to general): concrete ideas.
- representing or applied to an actual substance or thing, as opposed to an abstract quality: The words "cat,'' "water,'' and "teacher'' are concrete, whereas the words "truth,'' "excellence,'' and "adulthood'' are abstract.
- made of concrete: a concrete pavement.
- formed by coalescence of separate particles into a mass;
united in a coagulated, condensed, or solid mass or state.
- an artificial, stonelike material used for various structural purposes, made by mixing cement and various aggregates, as sand, pebbles, gravel, or shale, with water and allowing the mixture to harden. Cf. reinforced concrete.
- any of various other artificial building or paving materials, as those containing tar.
- a concrete idea or term;
a word or notion having an actual or existent thing or instance as its referent.
- a mass formed by coalescence or concretion of particles of matter.
- set or cast in concrete, to put (something) in final form;
finalize so as to prevent change or reversal: The basic agreement sets in concrete certain policies.
- to treat or lay with concrete: to concrete a sidewalk.
- to form into a mass by coalescence of particles;
- to make real, tangible, or particular.
- to coalesce into a mass;
- to use or apply concrete.