be Meaning, Definition & Usage
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noun a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
atomic number 4; glucinium; beryllium.
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verb have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
- John is rich
- This is not a good answer
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verb be identical to; be someone or something
- The president of the company is John Smith
- This is my house
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verb occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
- Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back
- What is behind this behavior?
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verb have an existence, be extant
exist.
- Is there a God?
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verb happen, occur, take place; this was during the visit to my parents' house"
- I lost my wallet
- There were two hundred people at his funeral
- There was a lot of noise in the kitchen
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verb be identical or equivalent to
equal.
- One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!
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verb form or compose
constitute; represent; comprise; make up.
- This money is my only income
- The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance
- These constitute my entire belonging
- The children made up the chorus
- This sum represents my entire income for a year
- These few men comprise his entire army
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verb work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
follow.
- He is a herpetologist
- She is our resident philosopher
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verb represent, as of a character on stage
embody; personify.
- Derek Jacobi was Hamlet
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verb spend or use time
- I may be an hour
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verb have life, be alive
live.
- Our great leader is no more
- My grandfather lived until the end of war
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verb to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
- let her be
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verb be priced at
cost.
- These shoes cost $100
WordNet
Be intransitive verb
Etymology
OE.Wordforms
Definitions
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To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have exstence. To be contents his natural desire. Pope.
To be, or not to be: that is the question. Shak.
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To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; tobe here; tobe large, or strong; tobe an animal; tobe a hero; tobe a nonentity; three and twoare five; annihilationis the cessation of existence; thatis the man. -
To take place; to happen; as, the meeting .was on Thursday -
To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to. The field is the world. Matt. xiii. 38.
The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Rev. i. 20.
✍ The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. " "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed to-morrow. Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I have been to Paris." Sydney Smith. "Have you been to Franchard ?" R. L. Stevenson. ✍ Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world." Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: "To ben of such power." R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and names." Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used. Spenser.Syn. -- To be ,Exist .The verb to be, except in a few rare case, like that of Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be", is used simply as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate; as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but points to things that stand forth, or have a substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not, therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes." We may, indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between them," instead of saying, "there has long been a friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense to mark the friendship as having been long in existence.
Be*
Etymology
AS.Definitions
A prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs, it serves: (a) To intensify the meaning;as, .be spatter,be stir(b) To render an intransitive verb transitive;as, be fall (to fall upon); bespeak (to speak for).(c) To make the action of a verb particular or definite;as, ;be get (to get as offspring)be set (to set around).It is joined with certain substantives, and a few adjectives, to form verbs; as, bedew, befriend, benight, besot; belate (to make late); belittle (to make little). It also occurs in certain nouns, adverbs, and prepositions, often with something of the force of the preposition by, or about; as, belief (believe), behalf, bequest (bequeath); because, before, beneath, beside, between. In some words the original force of be is obscured or lost; as, in become, begin, behave, behoove, belong.