/əˈbaʊt/, [əˈbaʊ̯t], /əˈbaʊ̯t/
- In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of; around.
“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:”
- Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout.
“Rubbish was strewn about the place.”
“The children were running about the room.”
“He was well known about town.”
- See about to.
- dialectal, obsoleteOn the point or verge of.
“[It] was held, that the latter requirement was fulfilled by an affidavit declaring that "the defendant was about leaving the State permanently."”
- Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of.
“He talked a lot about his childhood.”
“We must do something about this problem.”
“He is very mad about all the pranks.”
- Concerned or occupied with; engaged in; intent on.
“just going about their business”
“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.”
- Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.
“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.”
“Carausius was born of mean parentage about Cleves in Germany, he rose in the Army by his bravery, and was appointed [...] Governor of Bononia or Bolougne in France, and Admiral […]”
- On one’s person; nearby the person.
“I had no weapon about me but a stick.”
“The policy covers all belongings and other personal things that somebody can carry about them.”
“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 t”
- figurativelyOn or near (one's person); attached as an attribute to; in the makeup of, or at the command of.
“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, togeth”
- not-comparableOn all sides, or in every or any direction from a point; around.
“I looked about at the scenery that surrounded me.”
“Why, then, I see, ’tis time to look about, / When every boy Alphonsus dares control.”
“all the blessings / Of a glad father compass thee about”
- not-comparableHere and there; around; in one place and another; up and down.
“Bits of old machinery were lying about.”
“... the tocsins of immemorial strife were sounding all about, the fierce old bell pealing out its periodical summons from the airy heights of the Palazzo Vecchio, and armed men, fierce and furious, sw”
“Feathers were strewn about—white feathers! With them were several splotches of dried blood splattered across the dirt. Matthew's heart sank. He knew whose feathers those were! Something terrible had h”
- not-comparableFrom one place or position to another in succession; indicating repeated movement or activity.
“walking about; rushing about; jumping about; thrashing about”
“1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, 1 Timothy, v,13,
And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking thin”
“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, cl”
- not-comparableIndicating unproductive or unstructured activity.
“messing about; fooling about; loafing about”
- not-comparableNearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.
“It’s about as cold as it was last winter.”
“He owes me about three hundred dollars.”
“Dinner’s about ready.”
- not-comparableNear; in the vicinity.
“I looked round at the people standing about, and observed them curiously in their peculiar relation to it all.”
- not-comparableTo a reversed order, direction, or condition; half round; in (or to, or from) the opposite direction.
“to face about; to turn oneself about”
“Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his niece.”
“Dykhuizen has the story the other way about, that Dewey decided in 1939 that he wished no longer to continue as "Emeritus Professor in Residence" and so informed Columbia in the knowledge that this wo”
- not-comparableTo the opposite tack: see go about.
“We went about and headed offshore.”
“Before he goeth about, he will shoot off a piece; and, being about, will put forth another light, upon the poop […]”
- not-comparable, obsolete, rareIn succession, one after another.
“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 toget”
- not-comparable, obsolete, rareIn rotation or revolution.
“What an Arme he has, he turn'd me about with his finger and his thumbe, as one would set up a Top.”
“Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.”
“"turn and turn about is fair play : you saw the rat that was killed in the parlor." "Turn about [is] fair play, indeed!" cried the cat. "Then all of you get to your spits; I am sure that is turn about”
- not-comparable, obsolete, possiblyIn the course of events.
“to bring about, to come about”
- archaic, not-comparableIn circuit or circumference; circularly.
“The island was a mile about, and a third of a mile across.”
“Indeede I am in the waste two yards about.”
“... a more easie way, though it were farther about.”
- archaic, not-comparableBy a circuitous way; circuitously.
“God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea.”
- not-comparableMoving around or in motion; astir.
“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.[…]'”
- not-comparableIn existence; being in evidence; apparent.
“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 th”
“Although it has been about for some time now, I like the typeface Sauna.”
- not-comparableNear; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.
“I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.”
“Watch out, there's a thief about.”
- uncommonTo change the course of (a ship) to the other tack; to bring (a ship) about.
“The Channel at Archer's Hope Point lies close by the Shoar, and makes such an Angle there by reason of Hog Island, that going up or down the River, let the Wind be where it will, they must there bring”
“Mr. Whalen:] they had "abouted ship." They had changed the course to put her into the wind—”
“... and we were abouting ship every watch or so.”
- humorous, possibly, uncommonTo about-face (turn 180 degrees, like a soldier).
“For quotations using this term, see Citations:about.”
Formsaboot(alternative, Northumbria) · abowt(alternative) · a.(alternative) · ab.(alternative) · abt.(alternative) · abouts(present, singular, third-person) · abouting(participle, present) · abouted(participle, past) · abouted(past)