about

about
I. adverb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English abūtan, from 1a- + būtan outside — more at but Date: before 12th century 1. a. reasonably close to <
about a year ago
>
b. almost <
about starved
>
c. on the verge of — usually used with be and a following infinitive <
is about to join the army
>
— used with a negative to express intention or determination <
not about to quit
>
2. on all sides ; around 3. a. in rotation b. around the outside 4. here and there 5. in the vicinity ; near 6. in the opposite direction <
face about
>
<
the other way about
>
II. preposition Date: before 12th century 1. in a circle around ; on every side of ; around 2. a. in the immediate neighborhood of ; near b. on or near the person of c. in the makeup of <
a mature wisdom about him
>
d. at the command of <
has his wits about him
>
3. engaged in <
act as if they know what they're about — T. S. Matthews
>
4. a. with regard to ; concerning <
spoke about his past
>
b. concerned with c. fundamentally concerned with or directed toward <
poker is about money — David Mamet
>
5. over or in different parts of III. adjective Date: 1815 1. moving from place to place; specifically being out of bed 2. around 2

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • About: — About: About: (« à propos de » en anglais) est un préfixe utilisé dans une série de navigateurs pour accéder, via l interface même du navigateur (par la barre d adresses), à des pages très particulières. Les URIs saisies affichent donc… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • About: — about: Saltar a navegación, búsqueda about: es un esquema interno URI (también conocido como régimen URL o, erróneamente, protocolo ) en distintos navegadores web para mostrar ciertas funciones incorporadas. No es un sistema oficialmente… …   Wikipedia Español

  • about: — about: es un esquema interno URI (también conocido como régimen URL o, erróneamente, protocolo ) en distintos navegadores web para mostrar ciertas funciones incorporadas. No es un sistema oficialmente registrado, y no tiene la sintaxis estándar.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • about: — about: (« à propos de » en anglais) est un schéma d URI utilisé dans une série de navigateurs pour accéder, via l interface même du navigateur (par la barre d adresses), à des pages très particulières. Les URIs saisies affichent donc –… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • about — 1. as a preposition. In the meaning ‘roughly, approximately’ (eg. It took about ten minutes, about is the usual BrE word; around is also used, and is much more common in AmE. Round about is more informal, and is largely confined to BrE. 2.… …   Modern English usage

  • about — [ə bout′] adv. [ME aboute(n) < OE onbūtan, around < on, ON + be, BY + ūtan, outside < ūt, OUT: all senses develop from the sense of “around”] 1. on every side; all around [look about] 2. here and there; in all directions [travel abou …   English World dictionary

  • About — A*bout , adv. 1. On all sides; around. [1913 Webster] Tis time to look about. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; as, a mile about, and a third of a mile across. [1913 Webster] 3. Here and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • about — [ abu ] n. m. • 1213; de abouter ♦ Techn. Extrémité d une pièce de bois, de métal, préparée pour se joindre à une autre. Pièce métallique que l on fixe à une seringue pour y adapter l aiguille. ⇒ embout. Extrémité (d un rail). ● about nom… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • About.me — About.me …   Википедия

  • About — A*bout , prep. [OE. aboute, abouten, abuten; AS. [=a]butan, onbutan; on + butan, which is from be by + utan outward, from ut out. See {But}, {Out}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Around; all round; on every side of. Look about you. Shak. Bind them about thy… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • About — can refer to:*About box, a dialog box displaying credits for a piece of computer software * About.com, a website offering consumer related advice * abOUT , an LGBT magazine * About (musical artist), a music project * , an internal URI scheme… …   Wikipedia

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