used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
aboutprepositionUS /əˈbaʊt/
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading “The elephants did their act too—and the children fed them peanuts!
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
an unofficial association of people or groups
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
a young person of either sex
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
circusnounUS /ˈsɜːrkəs/
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
clappedverbUS /klæpt/
inflected form of “clap” — put quickly or forcibly
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
clownnounUS /klaʊn/
a rude or vulgar fool
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
clownsnounUS /klaʊnz/
plural of “clown” — a rude or vulgar fool
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
elephantsnounUS /ˈeləfənts/
plural of “elephant” — five-toed pachyderm
From this reading “The elephants did their act too—and the children fed them peanuts!
fednounUS /fed/
any federal law-enforcement officer
From this reading “The elephants did their act too—and the children fed them peanuts!
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
giggledverbUS /ˈɡɪɡəld/
past form of “giggle” — laugh nervously
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
happieradjectiveUS /ˈhæpiər/
comparative of “happy” — enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
how
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
jokesnounUS /dʒoʊks/
plural of “joke” — a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
jollyadjectiveUS /ˈdʒɑːli/
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
the sound of laughing
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
engage in
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
past form of “march” — march in a procession
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/
above and across; more than
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
parasolnoun
a handheld collapsible source of shade
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
peanutsnounUS /ˈpiːnəts/
an insignificant sum of money; a trifling amount
From this reading “The elephants did their act too—and the children fed them peanuts!
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
poniesnounUS /ˈpoʊniz/
plural of “pony” — a range horse of the western United States
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
inflected form of “swing” — move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “The elephants did their act too—and the children fed them peanuts!
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
in or at that place or location
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
tight-rope
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading And the children all laughed too and clapped their hands.
trapezes
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
tunenounUS /tuːn/
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “And then the circus band struck up a fine tune and the clowns marched about and made jokes and giggled—oh, how they did laugh!
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “But happier than any child, happier than any of the circus people who had come to make the sick children happy, was the merry, jolly old clown who had thought it all up!”
wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
which person or people
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading The lady walked the tight-rope with a parasol over her head, ponies ran around the yard, and there were some trapezes for those who swung and hung by their knees and their feet.
