Word classes How to find a word in this dictionary Dictionary A-Z Word Wizard Numbers and fractions Time Days, months and seasons Colours and shapes Grammar and punctuation Spelling Plurals Contractions and compounds Prefixes and suffixes Similar words Opposites Common words
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Word classes Nouns A noun is a word that is used for talking about a person or thing. Nouns are sometimes called “naming words” because they are often the names of people, places and things, for example:
man noun park noun bird noun computer noun Nouns are very often found after the words his. a and the or words like our, my or his. laptop. We watched a cartoon on the laptop. park. My brother is playing in the park.
Proper nouns are the names of people, places, days and months and always start with a capital letter.
Emma noun London noun Friday noun June noun John lives in Glasgow. Glasgow. He went home on Friday. Friday. When a noun is used with another word or words, this can be called a noun phrase. She was wearing a beautiful red dress. All the children were sleeping.
Adjectives
She lives in a big house. The caterpillar is long and green. green.
An adjective is a word that tells you more about a person or thing. Adjectives are often called “describing words” because they describe what something looks, feels, or smells like, for example:
When you want to talk about something that is more than something else, you can use an adjective in different forms, usually ending in er or est est..
big adjective soft adjective nice adjective Adjectives are very often found before a noun, or after the verb to be.
bigger, biggest soft, softer nicer, nicest I have the nicest sister in the world! Yesterday was the wettest day of the year.
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Verbs A verb is a word that you use for saying what someone or something does. Verbs are often called “doing words” because they talk about an action that someone or something is doing, for example:
eat verb cry verb talk verb Verbs are often found after nouns, or words like she, they or it. it. The dog barks at the cat. She eats sandwiches for lunch. When you want to talk about something that you are doing right now (in the present), you use the present tense of the verb.
When you want to talk about something that you did earlier (in the past), you use the past tense of the verb. Anna cried when she fell off her bike. The beetle ran across the floor. You can make the past tense of many verbs by adding d or ed to the end of the verb, for example: walk walked dance danced Sometimes you need to double the last letter before adding the ed ending in the past tense, for example: stop stopped hug hugged Some verbs have a completely different way of making the past tense, for example:
The children are talking to each other. She does her homework before dinner.
go went sing sang
Adverbs
Adverbs are very often found after verbs, or
An adverb is a word that tells you more about how someone does something, for example:
sometimes before adjectives. The snail moved slowly along the path. The game was really exciting!
happily adverb slowly adverb well adverb
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How to find a word in this dictionary A dictionary tells you what a word means and how to spell it. The words in a dictionary are listed in alphabetical order which makes it easy to find the word you are looking for.
count count -
crab noun crabs A crab is an animal with a hard shell that lives in the sea. Crabs have large pincers to catch their food.
p,
are. the children in
crack verb cracks, cracking, cracked
u say numbers in ther. .
d e
If something cracks cracks,, it becomes damaged, and lines appear on the surface where it has broken. The window cracked cracked..
1
2
crane noun
of the world with its s. country.
cranes 1 A crane is a tall machine that can lift very heavy things.
that is away from ere are farms and ry. the country.
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2 A crane is also a large bird with a long neck and long legs. Cranes live near water.
crash noun crashes hits something. There was a car crash outside the school.
To help you, the alphabet is shown down the side of each page. The coloured letter tells you what letter the words on that page start with. Now look down the list of words on the page to find the word you are looking for.
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You can see the plural form of the word.
5
You can see what the word means.
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You can see how the word is used in a sentence.
1 A crash is an accident when a vehicle
n or e or aunt.
If you look at the first and second letters of the words at the top of the page, you can see if the word you are looking for is on that page.
2 A crash is also a sudden, loud noise. crash. He dropped the plates with a crash.
overed
crawl verb
, you put another
crawls, crawling, crawled crawl, you move along on your When you crawl, hands and knees. The twins crawl along the floor.
th a cloth.
crayon noun
hat you
crayons Crayons are sticks of wax in different colours that you use for drawing.
ver the sofa to keep
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w
cream noun that is kept on farms
Cream is a thick liquid that is made from milk. You can use it in cooking or pour it over puddings.
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Some words have an illustration to help you read the word and understand the meaning.
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You can see how a verb changes when it is used in different ways.
You can see if a word is a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. Some words can be used in more than one way. More about word classes on pages 4 and 5.
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abacus ab bacus - adjecti adjective d ive
acorn noun acorns An acorn is the seed of an oak tree.
across abacus noun abacuses
If someone goes across a place, they go from one side of it to the other. She walked across the road.
An abacus is a frame with beads that move along pieces of wire. It is used for counting.
act verb
able adjective
1 When you act, you do something.
If you are able to do something, you know how to do it. She is able to swim.
about 1 About means to do with. This book is about history.
2 About also means near to something. His grandfather is about 80 0 years year ye ars ol ar ars oold. ld. d
above If something is above another er thing, it is over it or higher than it. The girl was sitting up in the tree, ee, high high above the ground.
accident noun accidents 1 An accident is something nasty that happens, and that hurts someone. He broke his leg in a car accident.
2 If something happens by accident, you do not expect it to happen. I dropped a cup by accident.
acts, acting, acted The police acted quickly to stop the fight.
2 If you act in a play or film, you pretend to be one of the people in it.
active adjective Someone who is active moves around a lot. My grandmother is very active for her age.
add verb adds, adding, added 1 If you add numbers together, you find out how many they make together. Add three and six.
2 If you add one thing to another, you put it with the other thing. Add the water to the mixture.
address noun addresses Your address is the name of the place where you live.
ache verb
adjective noun
aches, aching, ached
adjectives
If a part of your body aches, you feel a steady pain there. My leg aches a lot.
An adjective is a word like “big” or “beautiful”, that tells you more about a person or thing.
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admire a dmire - ago ago
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
admire verb
after
admires, admiring, admired admirred
1 If something happens after
If you admire something, you like it and think that it is very nice or very good. I admired the painting.
adopt verb
another thing, it happens later than it. I watched television after dinner.
2 If you go after a person or thing, you follow them or chase them. They ran after her.
adopts, adopting, adopted
afternoon noun
If you adopt another person’s child, you take them into your own family as your son or daughter.
afternoons
adult noun
The afternoon is the part of each day between twelve noon and about six o’clock.
adults An adult is a person who is not a child anymore.
adventure noun
again adverb If something happens again, it happens another time. We went to the park again yesterday.
adventures An adventure is something exciting which you do, or which happens to you. He wrote a book about his adventures in the jungle.
adverb noun adverbs An adverb is a word like “slowly”, y”, “now”, or “very” that tells you about bout how something is done.
aeroplane noun aeroplanes An aeroplane is a large vehicle with wings and engines that flies through the air.
afraid adjective If you are afraid, you are at frightened because you think that something bad will happen to you. ou. She started to feel afraid.
against 1 If something is against another thing, it is touching it. He leaned against the wall.
2 If you play against someone in a game, you try to beat them. The two tw wo teams tea played against one anot o he h r another.
age a g noun ages a Your age is the number of years that you have lived.
ago adverb You use ago to talk about a time in tthe past. She left two weeks ago. Sh
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agree - allow allo ow
agree verb
alarm noun
agrees, agreeing, agreed
alarms
If you agree with someone, you think the same as they do about something. I agree with you about him.
An alarm is a piece of equipment that warns you of danger or wakes you up by making a noise.
alien noun aliens In stories and films, an alien is a creature from another planet.
alike adjective If people or things are alike, they are the same in some way. The sisters looked alike.
ahead Someone who is ahead of another person is in front of them. My brother ran ahead of us.
air noun alive adjective
Air is the mixture of gases all around us that we breathe. I opened the window and let in some air.
If a person, an animal or a plant is alive, they are living and not dead.
aircraft noun
all adjective
aircraft
You use all to talk about everything, everyone, or the whole of something. Did you eat all of it?
An aircraft is any vehicle which can fly.
alligator nounn alligators An alligator is a large reptile with a long body, a long mouth and sharp teeth. Alligators’ mouths are in the shape of a letter U.
allow verb airport noun
allows, allowing, allowed
airports
If you allow someone to do something, you let them do it. Mum allowed us to go out and play.
An airport is a place where aeroplanes fly from and land.
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all l right - amphibian amph hibian
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
all right or alright adjective
already adverb
If you say that something is all right, you mean that it is good enough. I thought the film was all right.
You use already to show that something has happened before the present time. She is already here.
almost adverb
also adverb
Almost means very nearly. I almost missed the bus.
You use also to give more information about something. I’m cold, and I’m also hungry.
alone adjective When you are alone, you are not with any other people. H was all alone. He alonee.
always adverb If you always do something, you do it every time or all the time. She Sh he is always late for school.
am Look at be.
I am six years old.
amazing adjective You say that something is amazing when it is a surprise and you like it. We had an amazing holiday.
along 1 If you walk along a road or other place, you move towards one end of it. We walked along the street.
2 If you bring something along when you go somewhere, you bring it with you. She brought a present along to the party.
aloud adverb When you read or talk aloud, you read or talk so that other people can hear you. She read the story aloud to us.
ambulance noun ambulances An ambulance is a vehicle for taking people to hospital.
amount noun amounts An amount of something is how much there is of it. We only have a small amount of food.
amphibian noun
alphabet noun
amphibians
alphabets
An amphibian iss an a a animal niima n al that lives both on lland and an n and in water, for example a frog or a toad.
An alphabet is a set of letters that is used for writing words. The letters are arranged in a special order. A is the first letter of the alphabet.
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