Five Types of Definitions that I've Found in My English Dictionaries (p.3)

#2011-0702

Continued from the previous page dated 2011-0701

= = = Definition Type D = = =

Note D: The “when” clause – Mostly used for explaining the meanings of verbs

1. When a store, office, or public building opens, people can go into it. (The banks will open again on Monday morning.)
2. When you dream, you see events in your mind while you are asleep.
3. When the surface of water ripples, little waves appear on it. (If you throw a stone in a pool, it ripples.)
4. When something flies, it moves through the air. (The planes flew through the clouds.)
5. When someone flies an aircraft/object, they make it move through the air. (He flew a small plane to Cuba. The boy is learning to fly a kite.)

= = = Definition Type E = = =

Note: According to Collins COBUID Dictionary on CD-ROM 2006, pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that deals with the meanings and effects which come from the use of language in particular situations. Pragmatics is called 語用學 or 語言實用學 in Chinese. The simplest definition of it in Chinese may be: 研究語言使用及其和語境的關係.

Note E1: “This word is used for … / used to … / used as …” – basic form of this type of definition

1. Very is used before an adjective to make it stronger. (The answer is very simple. I’m very sorry.)
2. Xmas is used as a short way of writing “Christmas”. (“Merry Xmas!”) [See also Note A5.]

Note E2: “You (can) use … when ~ / in ~ / to say …” – You say or write or use it this way!

3. You can use over when you are talking about a short distance. (Come over here! The café is just over there.)
4. You can write love, love from, and all my love, before you name, at the end of a letter to a friend or a relative.
5. You say “How about…” when you are suggesting something to someone. (How about a cup of coffee? How about meeting tonight?)
6. You use be in expressions like there is and there are to say that something exists. (There are very few cars on this street.)
7. You use be to introduce more information about a subject. (She’s my mother. He is a very kind man. He is fifty years old. The sky was black. Dad’s in the yard.)
8. You use be with an infinitive to show that something is planned to happen. (The talks are to begin tomorrow.)
9. You use how to ask about the way that something happens or is done. (How do you spell his name? “How do you get to work?” - “By bus.”)
10. You use how to ask if someone is well. (Hi! How are you doing? How’s Rosie?)
11. You use how to ask questions about time, or the amount or age of something? (How much money do you have? How many people will be at the dinner? How long will you stay? How old is your son?)
12. You use how when you are asking someone whether something was good. (How was your trip to Orlando?)
13. You use somewhere to talk about a place without saying exactly where you mean. (I’ve seen him before somewhere. I needed somewhere to live.)
14. You use why with “not” in questions in order to introduce a suggestion. (Why not give Jenny a call?)
15. You write ha ha to show the sound that people make when they laugh. (“Ha ha!” he laughed.)

= = = The End of the Sample Definitions = = =