Englishfor English speakers
circumstances
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noun
(= fortune, fate, luck, lot, portion)
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
whatever my fortune may be
deserved a better fate
has a happy lot
the luck of the Irish
a victim of circumstances
success that was her portion
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noun
a person's financial situation (good or bad)
he found himself in straitened circumstances
of
Preposition
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Made using.
It is a house of cards.
the
Determiner
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Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
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Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
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Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
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Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
case
Noun
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A case is a container to hold something.
He opened the case and pulled out his violin.
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A case is a matter for police or in court.
The judge did not accept his case.
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A case is the form of a noun showing how it is used in a sentence.
The word "he" is in the subject or nominative case.
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A case is a person of a certain kind.
That man is sure a hard case.
case
Verb
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If a police officer cases a house, he or she watches it until something happens.
We were casing a house all night in Brooklyn.
under
Preposition
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In the same place as another thing, but lower.
They ate under the trees.
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In the control of.
He was under the leader of the organization.
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In the middle of a process; experiencing.
The idea is under the committee's judgement (judging).
claim
Verb
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If you claim something, you say or write that it is true without proof.
It is easy to claim that a god exists, but impossible to prove.
He claims to be at home when the shooting happened.
He often falsely claimed to be the president of various businesses.
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If you claim something, you say or write that it belongs to you and often you take it.
Once you are over 65, there are a variety of government benefits that you can claim.
Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nobody has yet claimed the money that was lost last week.
Passengers can claim their baggage at the bottom of the stairs.
The incident in Kenya has claimed the world's attention.
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If something claims a life, it kills people.
The disease has claimed seven people in Taipei so far this month.
claim
Noun
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A claim is something that you say or write without proof.
It is difficult to believe claims that the world is ending.
His claim to be the father is now being investigated.
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If you have a claim to something, you have the right, to own or do it.
The government is disputing their claim to the land.
The group has made a claim against the owner worth $1 million.
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A claim is something that you say you have the right to.
They have begun looking for gold on their claim in Western Alberta.