Word definition: about

Etimology

Preposition and adverb from Middle English aboute, abouten, from Old English abūtan, onbūtan, from on (“in, on”) +‎ būtan (“outside of”), from be (“by”) +‎ ūtan (“outside”).Adjective from Middle English about (adverb).

preposition

Examples

The snake was coiled about his ankle.

So look about you; know you any here?

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. […] Roaring, leaping, pouncing, the tempest raged about the wanderers, drowning and blotting out their forms with sandy spume.

Rubbish was strewn about the place.

The children were running about the room.

He was well known about town.

[I]n likeneſs of a Dove / The Spirit deſcended, while the Fathers voice / From Heav'n pronounc'd him his beloved Son. / That heard the Adverſary, who roving ſtill / About the world, at that aſſembly fam'd / Would not be laſt, […]

He had been known, during several years, as a small poet; and some of the most savage lampoons which were handed about the coffeehouses were imputed to him.

[It] was held, that the latter requirement was fulfilled by an affidavit declaring that "the defendant was about leaving the State permanently."

He talked a lot about his childhood.

We must do something about this problem.

I already have made way / To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat / About thy ransom.

There have been violent quarrels about whether the whole is greater than a part.

"I'll tell you what, Fanny: she must have her way about Sarah Thompson. You can see her to-morrow and tell her so."

I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

Well, let’s not talk about yesterday. Audio

Audio

Synonyms: apropos, as for; see also Thesaurus:about

to be about one's business

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

RON: And I'll have the number 8.

WAITER: That's a party platter, it serves 12 people.

RON: I know what I'm about, son.

Have you much hay about? = Have you much in the process of making?

"What's Mary doin'?" "Oh ! oo's about th' butter." = "What's Mary doing?" "Oh, she's making the butter.

I can't find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.

John's in the garden, probably somewhere about the woodshed.

I had no weapon about me but a stick.

At this assurance the traveller rose, and approached Alice softly. He drew away her hands from her face, when she said gently, "Have you much money about you?" / "Oh the mercenary baggage!" said the traveller to himself; and then replied aloud, "Why, pretty one?—Do you sell your kisses so high, then?"

He has his wits about him.

There was an air of confidence about the woman.

Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.

adverb

Examples

I looked about at the scenery that surrounded me.

Why, then, I see, ‘tis time to look about, / When every boy Alphonsus dares control.

Bits of old machinery were lying about.

walking about;  rushing about;  jumping about;  thrashing about

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous, […].

messing about;  fooling about;  loafing about

It's about as cold as it was last winter.

He owes me about three hundred dollars.

Dinner's about ready.

I was so scared, I about fainted.

Therefore I know she is about my height.

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace

Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

“Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”

I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria,  […] .

to face about;  to turn oneself about

Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his niece.

We went about and headed offshore.

When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.

a mile about, and a third of a mile across

Nothing daunted, the fleet put to sea, and after sailing about the island for some time, a landing was effected in the west of Munster.

Related words

adjective

Examples

out and about;  up and about

After my bout with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it took me 6 months to be up and about again.

'John, I have observed that you are often out and about of nights, sometimes as late as half past seven or eight. […]'

This idea has been about for a while but has only recently become fashionable.

To my mind, transportation engineering is similar to flying in the 1930s — it has been about for some time but it has taken the present economic jolt to shake it out of its infancy, in the same way that the war started the development of flying to its current stage.

Although it has been about for some time now, I like the typeface Sauna.

Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO2 — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?

I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.

Watch out, there's a thief about.

Related words