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About   /əbˈaʊt/   Listen
preposition
About  prep.  
1.
Around; all round; on every side of. "Look about you." "Bind them about thy neck."
2.
In the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place; by or on (one's person). "Have you much money about you?"
3.
Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout. "Lampoons... were handed about the coffeehouses." "Roving still about the world."
4.
Near; not far from; determining approximately time, size, quantity. "To-morrow, about this time." "About my stature." "He went out about the third hour." Note: This use passes into the adverbial sense.
5.
In concern with; engaged in; intent on. "I must be about my Father's business."
6.
Before a verbal noun or an infinitive: On the point or verge of; going; in act of. "Paul was now aboutto open his mouth."
7.
Concerning; with regard to; on account of; touching. "To treat about thy ransom." "She must have her way about Sarah."



adverb
About  adv.  
1.
On all sides; around. "'Tis time to look about."
2.
In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; as, a mile about, and a third of a mile across.
3.
Here and there; around; in one place and another. "Wandering about from house to house."
4.
Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence, in quality, manner, degree, etc.; as, about as cold; about as high; also of quantity, number, time. "There fell... about three thousand men."
5.
To a reserved position; half round; in the opposite direction; on the opposite tack; as, to face about; to turn one's self about.
To bring about, to cause to take place; to accomplish.
To come about, to occur; to take place. See under Come.
To go about, To set about, to undertake; to arrange; to prepare. "Shall we set about some revels?"
Round about, in every direction around.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"About" Quotes from Famous Books



... although, to judge from his letter, he had not been deeply interested in music until he began to use a "player" and, through it, was led to ask for a book which would tell him, in untechnical language, something about an art that was beginning to have eloquence and meaning for him. To me this is highly significant, for there must be thousands of others like him all over the country, to whom, in the same way, the great awakening just is coming through the pianola—at first a means of amusement, ...
— The Pianolist - A Guide for Pianola Players • Gustav Kobb

... back of them, such peculiarly-shaped and curiously-arranged little monuments as we never before beheld. They consist of a grey stone (Kentish-rag, probably, but lichen-encrusted by time) of cylindrical shape, widening at the shoulders, coffin-like, and about a yard in length, the diameter being about eight inches, including the portion buried in the earth. Four little foot-stones are placed in front, and separating the ten little memorials from the three at the back is a large head-stone, ...
— A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land • William R. Hughes

... round and see if your father's in the office. He'll be home to dinner, I know. Molly, do be quiet with your sister. I never see such a girl as you are for bothering. You didn't come down about business, did you, John?" And then Kenneby explained to her that he had been summoned by Dockwrath as to the matter of this Orley Farm trial. While he was doing so, Sam returned to say that his father had stepped out, but would be back in half an hour, and Mrs. Dockwrath, ...
— Orley Farm • Anthony Trollope

... and lightness which peculiarly characterise the French Gothic. Its date being well ascertained, we may note it as an architectural standard. It was erected by the archbishop, Cardinal d'Etouteville, about the year 1460, thirty or forty years subsequently to the building of ...
— Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2) • Dawson Turner

... island of Teneriffe, on the 23d of that month. During the whole night of the 14th January, 1605, we were troubled with excessive heat, thunder, lightning, and rain. The 6th we passed the line, shaping our course for the isle of Noronha, with the wind at S.S.E., our course being S.S.W. About three degrees south of the line, we met with incredible multitudes of fish; so that, with hooks and harping irons, we took so many dolphins, bonitos, and other fishes, that our men were quite weary with eating them. There were likewise many ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. VIII. • Robert Kerr


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