Wordcyclopedia | English | back up a little

back Preposition

— Toward the rear. He went back behind the stands. — To a place again. I didn't like it, so I sent it back. He went back to the same house. They came back again.

back Noun

— The back is the rear part of something; it is the part in the other direction from the front. I went to the back of the house. — The back is the rear part of the human body. He had a scar on his back.

back Verb

— If you back something, you support it. The Republicans backed the bill. — If you back up, you move backward. He put the car in gear and backed right into the garage door.

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up Preposition

— Toward the top or toward the sky. The balloon went up.

up Adjective

— In a high position. The flag is up. — . It was an up day. — optimistic. He is feeling up. — Put in trust, entrusted. It is up to you. — ing, occurring. What’s up? They act like something is up. — . Something is up with him. — Planning, plotting mischief. He is up to something. — ed. It is all up with them.

up Noun

— State of being up, often with down. Life has its ups and downs.

up Verb

— Increase, increment. We upped the dosage.

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a Determinative

— A is used when the following word could be any of a certain type. Compare "A book I saw on the shelf" and "The book I gave you yesterday".

a Noun

— A is the first letter of the alphabet. The letter "a" comes before "b". — In some schools, an A is a very high grade. Ron got an A on his earth science test.

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little Adjective

— If something is little, its size is not big. I just ate a tiny little piece of the cake. — A little while, distance, etc. is not long. Could you just wait a little while more? — A little person or animal is young. Two little boys were fighting on the playground.

little Determinative

— Little money, room, help, etc. is a small amount of it; not much. They understood little or no French. He was busy and had little time for children. Try to spend as little of your money as possible. We saw little of her after the first day. Little is known about the problem. The building was destroyed leaving little more than rock and glass. She's a quiet person with little to say about these things. This has little to do with him and a lot to do with you. We saved what little was left.

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