thing
a special situation
How often you will meet it
Rank 187 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 128,579 times across 175,112 chapters — 0.061% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- a special situation this thing has got to endit is a remarkable thing
- an action how could you do such a thing?
- a special abstraction a thing of the spiritthings of the heart
- an artifact how does this thing work?
- an event a funny thing happened on the way to the...
- a vaguely specified concern also: matter, affair several matters to attend toit is none of your affair
thing in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Come, gran'ther, let us go and see this thing!
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1
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He was not above twelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and kind in temper to every living thing.
Famous Stories Every Child Should Know · Hamilton Wright [Editor] Mabie · Chapter 1
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He was a good fifteen years my senior, for one thing, though he hardly looked his forty-five years.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles · Agatha Christie · Chapter 1
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Look at my cousin, Gus Vanderpool--he made Keys twenty years ago and has never done a thing since.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1