/speɪs/
OriginFrom Middle English space, from Anglo-Norman space, variant of espace, espas, et al.; and spaze, variant of espace, from Latin spatium, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peh₂- (“to stretch, to pull”).
- countable, uncountableThe distance between objects.
“But neere him, thy Angell / Becomes a feare: as being o're-powr'd, therefore / Make ſpace enough betweene you.”
“Which means that for every car there was 10 years ago, there are now 40. Which means - and this is my own, not totally scientific, calculation - that the space between cars on the roads in 1991 was ro”
- countable, uncountableA physical extent across two or three dimensions (sometimes for or to do something).
“O God, I could be bounded in a nutſhell, and / count my ſelfe a King of infinite ſpace; were it not that / I haue bad dreames.”
“They also wanted a larger garden and more space for home working.”
- countable, uncountableA physical extent in all directions, seen as an attribute of the universe (now usually considered as a part of space-time), or a mathematical model of this.
“Space is the Phantasme of a Thing existing without the Mind simply.”
“These are not questions which can be decided by reference to our space intuitions, for our intuitions are confined to Euclidean space, and even there are insufficient, approximative.”
“The early results from Gravity Probe B, one of Nasa's most complicated satellites, confirmed yesterday 'to a precision of better than 1 per cent' the assertion Einstein made 90 years ago - that an obj”
- countable, uncountableThe near-vacuum in which planets, stars and other celestial objects are situated; the universe beyond the earth's atmosphere.
“the first man in space”
“How firſt began this Heav'n which we behold / Diſtant ſo high, with moving Fires adornd / Innumerable, and this which yeelds or fills / All ſpace, the ambient Aire wide interfus'd / Imbracing round th”
“After all, to go into outer space is not so much worse, if at all, than a polar expedition.”
- countable, uncountableThe physical and psychological area one needs within which to live or operate; personal freedom.
“Around the time of my parents' divorce, I learned that reading could also give me space.”
“"I care about you Billy, whether you believe it or not; but right now I need my space."”
- archaic, countable, uncountableFree time; leisure, opportunity.
“Come on, thou are granted ſpace.”
“In two days hence / The Judge of life and death aſcends his ſeat. / —This will afford him ſpace to reach the camp[…].”
- countable, uncountableA specific (specified) period of time.
“I pray you, sirs, to take some cheers the while I go for a moment's space to my poor afflicted child.”
“The match was lost, though, in the space of just twenty minutes or so.”
“But their lead lasted just 10 minutes before Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe both headed home in the space of two minutes to wrestle back control.”
- countable, uncountableAn undefined period of time (without qualifier, especially a short period); a while.
“Even Comrade Butt cast off his gloom for a space and immersed his whole being in scrambled eggs.”
- countable, uncountableA (chiefly empty) area or volume with set limits or boundaries; (architecture) such a space inside or outside a building, often with a specified use.
“exhibition space; public space; the space is light-filled”
“Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,[…]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or priv”
“The street door was open, and we entered a narrow space with washing facilities, curtained off from the courtyard.”
- countable, uncountableA position on the staff or stave bounded by lines.
“The note next above Sol is La; La, therefore, stands in the 2nd space; Si, on the 3rd line, &c.”
“The lines and spaces of the staff are named according to the first seven letters of the alphabet, that is, A B C D E F G.”
- countable, uncountableA gap in text between words, lines etc., or a digital character used to create such a gap.
“According to experts, a single line of text should rarely exceed about 50 characters (including letters and all the spaces between words).”
“It should be typed a space below the salutation : Dear Sir, Subject : Replacement of defective items.”
- countable, uncountableA piece of metal type used to separate words, cast lower than other type so as not to take ink, especially one that is narrower than one en (compare quad).
“If it be only a Single Letter or two that drops, he thruſts the end of his Bodkin between every Letter of that Word, till he comes to a Space: and then perhaps by forcing thoſe Letters closer, he may ”
“Horizontal spacing is further divided into multiples and fractions of the em. The multiples are called quads. The fractions are called spaces.”
“Other larger spaces – known as quads – were used to space out lines.”
- countable, uncountableA gap; an empty place.
“Mainstream Hollywood would not cater to the taste for sexual sensation, which left a space for B-movies, including noir.”
“A horizontal scar filled the space on her chest where her right breast used to be.”
- countable, uncountableA set of points, each of which is uniquely specified by a number (the dimensionality) of coordinates.
- countableA generalized construct or set whose members have some property in common; typically there will be a geometric metaphor allowing these members to be viewed as "points". Often used with a restricting modifier describing the members (e.g. vector space), or indicating the inventor of the construct (e.
“Functional analysis is best approached through a sound knowledge of Hilbert space theory.”
- countable, figurativelyA field, area, or sphere of activity or endeavour.
“innovation in the browser space”
“CNBC has shown a greater commitment to the crypto space than most other mainstream outlets, providing daily updates on bitcoin or other very large cryptocurrencies.”
“[T]hey became responsible for managing aspects of civilian labour in the medical space, and their roles were contrasted with those of the female physiotherapists in the hospital.”
- countable, uncountableAnything analogous to a physical space in which one can interact, such as an online chat room.
“Communication in Internet chat spaces allows participants to communicate so freely in the relative safety of anonymity that they forget their privacy.”
- intransitive, obsoleteTo roam, walk, wander.
“But she as Fayes are wont, in priuie place / Did spend her dayes, and lov'd in forests wyld to space.”
- transitiveTo set some distance apart.
“Faye had spaced the pots at 8-inch intervals on the windowsill.”
“The cities are evenly spaced.”
- To insert or utilise spaces in a written text.
“This paragraph seems badly spaced.”
- To space out (become distracted, lose focus).
“My sprout, like I'm totally spaced over you and besides I like older women (arh-arh). I love you...”
- transitiveTo kill (someone) by ejection into outer space, usually without a space suit.
“The captain spaced the traitors.”
“Sound effect of blow with blunt instrument, groan, and the unmistakable cycling of an air lock—Castor: "Sorry, folks. My assistant has just spaced Mr. Rudolf. […]"”
“A lot of people make jokes about spacing somebody, about shoving somebody out an airlock. I don't think it's funny. Never will.”
- intransitiveTo travel into and through outer space.
“He well remembered, when he was a junior officer, how the sight of a well dressed, impeccably neat commanding officer, no matter how long they had been spacing, maintained the enthusiasm, confidence a”
Formsspaces(plural) · spaces(present, singular, third-person) · spacing(participle, present) · spaced(participle, past) · spaced(past) · Spaces(plural)