used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “Oh!” said Dicky, drawing a long breath.
(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 “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
antnounUS /ænt/
social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
antsnounUS /ænts/
plural of “ant” — social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
terminate
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading “Oh!” said Dicky, drawing a long breath.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
bugnounUS /bʌɡ/
general term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
chainsnounUS /tʃeɪnz/
metal shackles; for hands or legs
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
DickynounUS /ˈdɪki/
a small third seat in the back of an old-fashioned two-seater
From this reading “Oh!” said Dicky, drawing a long breath.
an illustration that is drawn by hand and published in a book, magazine, or newspaper
From this reading “Oh!” said Dicky, drawing a long breath.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
fastenverbUS /ˈfæsən/
cause to be firmly attached
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
hairsnounUS /herz/
plural of “hair” — a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
how
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
and nothing more
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading “Oh!” said Dicky, drawing a long breath.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/
above and across; more than
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
Polly
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
plural of “prisoner” — a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “And was she tied up tight?”
sobbingnounUS /ˈsɑːbɪŋ/
convulsive gasp made while weeping
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
spidersnounUS /ˈspaɪdərz/
plural of “spider” — predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
in or at that place or location
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
tienounUS /taɪ/
neckwear consisting of a long narrow piece of material worn (mostly by men) under a collar and tied in knot at the front
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
bound or secured closely
From this reading “And was she tied up tight?”
closely constrained or constricted or constricting
From this reading “And was she tied up tight?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
twistedadjectiveUS /ˈtwɪstɪd/
having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
wasn't
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
weeadjectiveUS /wiː/
(used informally) very small
From this reading “Oh! it wasn’t big at all,” said Polly; “how could it be, to fasten up that wee brown bug?
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
in or at the place that
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading It was all made of the hairs of the black spiders dropped in the garden, where the ant house was; and the ants had twisted them together, and made chains to tie up their prisoners with.”
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Oh! just as tight,” said Polly; “the chain went all around her leg, and over her neck, and there she was sobbing away as if her heart would break.”
