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\ ə-ˈbau̇t 
\
\Definition of about
(Entry 1 of 3)
1a : reasonably close to about a year ago
b : almost about starved just about finished
c : on the verge of —usually used with be and a following infinitiveis about to join the army —used with a negative to express intention or determinationnot about to quit
2 : on all sides : around looked about for a place to park
3a : in rotation They go about in circles.
b : around the outside
4 : in many different directions : here and there walked about for hours
5 : in the vicinity : near He spoke to the people standing about.
6 : in the opposite direction face about the other way about
about
prepositionDefinition of about (Entry 2 of 3)
1 : in a circle around : on every side of : around People gathered about him.
2a : in the immediate neighborhood of : near Fish are abundant about the reefs.
b : on or near the person of had a pleasing fragrance about her
c : in the makeup of a mature wisdom about him
d : at the command of has his wits about him
3 : engaged in … act as if they know what they're about …— T. S. Matthews
4a : with regard to : concerning spoke about his past
b : concerned with
c : fundamentally concerned with or directed toward … poker is about money.— David Mamet
5 : over or in different parts of He traveled about the country.
about
adjectiveDefinition of about (Entry 3 of 3)
1 : moving from place to place specifically : being out of bed is up and about by 7 a.m.
2 : around sense 2 There is a scarcity of jobs about.
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Synonyms for about
Synonyms: Adverb
Synonyms: Preposition
- apropos,
- apropos of,
- as far as,
- as for,
- as regards
- (also as respects),
- as to,
- concerning,
- of,
- on,
- regarding,
- respecting,
- touching,
- toward
- (or towards)
Examples of about in a Sentence
Adverb We're about ready to go. This one is about as bad as that one. That's about all I know at this point. It's about time to go. That's about all the time we have. We tried just about everything we could think of. Preposition a poignant story about a young man who goes off to war about the hedge there was a picket fence
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Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb Just about every household that likes to snack and entertain can benefit from something like this serving set. — Dana Holmes, CNN Underscored, "Everything you need to make Funfetti dip at home," 25 June 2020 Its fundraising plan will involve offering an additional 1.36 billion Australian dollars (about $933,000) worth of shares to institutional investors, at about a 13% discount to the stock's closing price Wednesday. — Michelle Toh, CNN, "Qantas is cutting 6,000 jobs and raising $1.3 billion as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll," 25 June 2020 The candidates are about evenly matched on dealing with coronavirus (Biden +4) and immigration (Biden +2). — Fox News, "Fox News Poll: Trump and Biden in close race in Georgia," 25 June 2020 And some are less sanguine about just throwing open the schoolhouse gates. — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, "The Scientists Who Want Kids Back in School," 25 June 2020 The first is about the core issue of whether glyphosate, Roundup’s key ingredient, really does cause cancer. — David Meyer, Fortune, "Bayer could settle the Roundup cancer litigation, but the drama is far from over," 25 June 2020 Washington, his wife, Renee, who works in human resources at GE Healthcare, and 15-year-old son, Aiden, live about three minutes from Menomonee Falls Fire Station No. 3. — Cathy Kozlowicz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Menomonee Falls' new fire chief Gerard Washington says the department is 'a gem'," 25 June 2020 Officers found the 9-year-old boy about 9:30 a.m. in a pond near Galston Boulevard and Link Way, which is about a block away from the area he was reported missing, Mitchell said. — Billy Kobin, The Courier-Journal, "9-year-old boy dies after he is found in a southwest Louisville pond, police say," 25 June 2020 More than 40,000 people have died – about twice as many as would have died if the government had locked down the country just a week earlier, according to one British health expert earlier this month. — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, "A COVID-19 resurgence and the trust factor," 24 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition The Sons of Confederate Veterans, which installed the flag pole 32 years ago, didn’t even know about it. — Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, "Gerth: Cave Hill Cemetery right to remove Confederate flag after Breonna Taylor protests," 27 June 2020 Residents who want to participate in these discussions can learn more about them here: bit.ly/tosapolicemeetings. Ashley Luthern and Gina Barton contributed to this report. — Evan Casey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Wauwatosa citizen committee asks the common council to require police body cameras and ban chokeholds," 27 June 2020 In Illinois, face-covering is required in places where maintaining distance is difficult. DeWine has been firm in his recommendation that Ohioans wear masks, but a bit skittish to get bossy about it. — Amber Hunt, The Enquirer, "Masks, somehow, have become a point of contention for some," 27 June 2020 The protest previously had been planned for June 10 but, after an organizer posted about it in Fountain Hills Connections, a Facebook group with nearly 15,000 members, backlash and threats of an armed response swiftly emerged. — Helena Wegner, The Arizona Republic, "Fountain Hills protesters show support for Black community despite threats of armed response," 27 June 2020 There's so much to think about: Roommates, decorating, all the necessary bathroom supplies, how to organize, and so much more. — Kristina Mcguirk, Better Homes & Gardens, "Food Staples Every Dorm Room Needs," 26 June 2020 Hussain says the ride-hail incumbents should think seriously about making more of those sorts of deals. — Aarian Marshall, Wired, "Amazon Shakes Up the Race for Self-Driving—and Ride-Hailing," 26 June 2020 Check out the dress below, or head over to Amazon to see more information about it. — Tanya Ghahremani, Travel + Leisure, "This Summer Dress Has Over 2,000 Five-star Reviews on Amazon — and It Comes in 18 Colors," 26 June 2020 The virus, however, does not care what Trump has to say about it. — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, "Trump Retreats to His Hannity Bunker," 26 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective But the novel coronavirus has created so many unforeseen realities, forcing many to contemplate worse-case scenarios and wonder if the college sports bubble is about to burst. — Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, "Why Michigan athletics' budget woes should alarm the rest of college sports," 26 June 2020 Her college graduation and a move to New York were about to mark the beginning of her new life. — Nicole Chavez, CNN, "Her life was turned upside down by coronavirus. Then the signs of anxiety and depression kicked in," 26 June 2020 If, on the other hand, any of the leading vaccine candidates currently or about to go into Phase 3 testing turn out to be blockbusters—data which is expected to arrive before the end of the year—then there could be a problem. — Megan Molteni, Wired, "Vaccine Makers Turn to Microchip Tech to Beat Glass Shortages," 26 June 2020 The release of a major family film at a time when many children are about to go back to school — or have just done so — is an extreme rarity in modern Hollywood. — Steven Zeitchik, Washington Post, "Disney shifts ‘Mulan’ as Hollywood throws in the towel on July," 26 June 2020 But on Doom Patrol most of the characters are older than usual — Cliff's about to be a grandparent! — Christian Holub, EW.com, "Doom Patrol showrunner teases how season 2 explores 'generational family trauma'," 26 June 2020 Mesquite is about to go retro in the search for entertainment options that are safe during the coronavirus pandemic with a pop-up drive-in movie experience coming to Town East Mall. — Jon Arnold, Dallas News, "Mesquite joins resurgence of drive-in movie theaters during coronavirus pandemic," 25 June 2020 As summer is about to begin, nearly half of the licensed day camps in the state have closed because of the coronavirus, and only six residential camps are still trying to open, the president of the state camp directors association said Wednesday. — USA TODAY, "State fair upheaval, sewage testing, new mask rules: News from around our 50 states," 20 June 2020 Now, all the planning, building and waiting is about to be over. — Matt Wake | Mwake@al.com, al, "New brewery, tacos, coffee shop opening in downtown Huntsville," 4 June 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'about.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for about
about
adverb\ ə-ˈbau̇t \
\Kids Definition of about
(Entry 1 of 2)
about
prepositionKids Definition of about (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : having to do with The story is about dogs.
2 : on every side of : around There are trees about the house.
3 : over or in different parts of He traveled about the country.
4 : near or not far from in time about the middle of the month
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Time Traveler for about
The first known use of about was before the 12th century
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