Link Centre Dictionary

thing

UK/θɪŋ/ US/θɪŋ/ very common informal slang us

noun

1.

a special situation

  • “this thing has got to end”
  • “it is a remarkable thing”
2.

an action

  • “how could you do such a thing?”
3.

an artifact

  • “how does this thing work?”
4.

an event

  • “a funny thing happened on the way to the...”
5.

a statement regarded as an object

  • “to say the same thing in other terms”
  • “how can you say such a thing?”
6.

any attribute or quality considered as having its own existence

  • “the thing I like about her is ...”
7.

a special abstraction

  • “a thing of the spirit”
  • “things of the heart”
8.

a vaguely specified concern

  • “several matters to attend to”
  • “it is none of your affair”
  • “things are going well”
Synonyms
9.

an entity that is not named specifically

  • “I couldn”
10.

a special objective

  • “the thing is to stay in bounds”
11.

a persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion

  • “he has a thing about seafood”
  • “she has a thing about him”
12.

Origin

From Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą.

Phrases

  • a little knowledge is a dangerous thing
  • a little learning is a dangerous thing
  • all good things come to an end
  • all good things must come to an end
  • all things being equal
  • all things come to those who wait
  • all things considered
  • all things to all men

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.