About

• POS: Adjective, Preposition, Adverb
• HYPHEN: a=bout

CIDE DICTIONARY

About, prep. [OE. aboute, abouten, abuten; AS. ābutan, onbutan; on + butan, which is from be by + utan outward, from ut out. See But, Out.].

•  Around; all round; on every side of.  [1913 Webster]
•  In the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place; by or on (one's person).  Bulwer.  [1913 Webster]
•  Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout.  [1913 Webster]

  "Lampoons . . . were handed about the coffeehouses."  [1913 Webster]

  "Roving still about the world."  [1913 Webster]
•  Near; not far from; -- determining approximately time, size, quantity.  [1913 Webster]

  " This use passes into the adverbial sense."  [1913 Webster]

  "He went out about the third hour."  [1913 Webster]
•  In concern with; engaged in; intent on.  [1913 Webster]

  "I must be about my Father's business."  [1913 Webster]
•  On the point or verge of; going; in act of.  [1913 Webster]

  "Paul was now aboutto open his mouth."  [1913 Webster]
•  Concerning; with regard to; on account of; touching.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "She must have her way about Sarah."  [1913 Webster]

About, adv. 

•  On all sides; around.  [1913 Webster]

  "'Tis time to look about."  [1913 Webster]
•  In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; as, a mile about, and a third of a mile across.  [1913 Webster]
•  Here and there; around; in one place and another.  [1913 Webster]

  "Wandering about from house to house."  [1913 Webster]
•  Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence, in quality, manner, degree, etc.; as, about as cold; about as high; -- also of quantity, number, time.  Exod. xxii. 28.  [1913 Webster]
•  To a reserved position; half round; in the opposite direction; on the opposite tack; as, to face about; to turn one's self about.  [1913 Webster]

To bring about, to cause to take place; to accomplish. -- To come about, to occur; to take place. See under Come. -- To go about, To set about, to undertake; to arrange; to prepare. “Shall we set about some revels?” Shak. -- Round about, in every direction around.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

About, prep. & adv.
--prep.
1 a on the subject of; in connection with (a book about birds; what are you talking about?; argued about money). b relating to (something funny about this). c in relation to (symmetry about a plane). d so as to affect (can do nothing about it; what are you going to do about it?).
2 at a time near to (come about four).
3 a in, round, surrounding (wandered about the town; a scarf about her neck). b all round from a centre (look about you).
4 here and there in; at points throughout (toys lying about the house).
5 at a point or points near to (fighting going on about us).
6 carried with (have no money about me).
7 occupied with (what are you about?).
--adv.
1 a approximately (costs about a pound; is about right). b colloq. used to indicate understatement (just about had enough; it's about time they came).
2 here and there; at points nearby (a lot of flu about; I've seen him about recently).
3 all round; in every direction (look about).
4 on the move; in action (out and about).
5 in partial rotation or alteration from a given position (the wrong way about).
6 in rotation or succession (turn and turn about).
7 Naut. on or to the opposite tack (go about; put about).

Idiom

be about to be on the point of (doing something) (was about to laugh).

Etymology

OE onbutan (on = A(2), butan BUT(1))

THESAURUS

About

again, aimlessly, all but, all over, all round, almost, along toward, alongside, anent, any which way, anyhow, anywise, approximately, apropos, apropos of, around, as for, as regards, as respects, as to, at close quarters, at hand, at random, back, back and forth, backward, beside, carelessly, casually, circa, circuitously, close, close about, close at hand, close by, close to, close upon, concerning, encircling, everywhere, far and wide, fast by, haphazard, haphazardly, hard, hard by, helter-skelter, here and there, hereabout, hereabouts, in all directions, in connection with, in point of, in re, in reference to, in regard to, in relation to, in relation with, in respect to, in reverse, in spitting distance, in the air, in the neighborhood, in the vicinity, involving, just about, more or less, most, much, near, near at hand, near enough to, near upon, nearabout, nearabouts, nearby, nearly, nigh, nigh about, not far, not far from, of, on, on every side, only a step, pertaining to, pertinent to, plus ou moins, practically, prevalent, random, randomly, re, referring to, regarding, relating to, relative to, respecting, roughly, round, round about, some, somewhere about, speaking of, surrounding, thereabout, thereabouts, through, throughout, to and fro, touching, up and down, upon, upwards of, well-nigh, with, with regard to, with respect to, within call, within earshot, within hearing, within reach

ROGET THESAURUS

About

Relation

N relation, bearing, reference, connection, concern, cognation, correlation, analogy, similarity, affinity, homology, alliance, homogeneity, association, approximation, filiation, interest, relevancy, dependency, relationship, relative position, comparison, ratio, proportion, link, tie, bond of union, relative, correlative, cognate, relating to, relative to, in relation with, referable or referrible to, belonging to, appurtenant to, in common with, related, connected, implicated, associated, affiliated, allied to, en rapport, in touch with, approximative, approximating, proportional, proportionate, proportionable, allusive, comparable, in the same category, like, relevant, applicable, equiparant, relatively, pertinently, thereof, as to, as for, as respects, as regards, about, concerning, anent, relating to, as relates to, with relation, with reference to, with respect to, with regard to, in respect of, while speaking of, a propos of, in connection with, by the way, by the by, whereas, for as much as, in as much as, in point of, as far as, on the part of, on the score of, quoad hoc, pro re nata, under the head of, of, in the matter of, in re, thereby hangs a tale.

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Nearness

N nearness, proximity, propinquity, vicinity, vicinage, neighborhood, adjacency, contiguity, short distance, short step, short cut, earshot, close quarters, stone's throw, bow shot, gun shot, pistol shot, hair's breadth, span, purlieus, neighborhood, vicinage, environs, alentours, suburbs, confines, banlieue, borderland, whereabouts, bystander, neighbor, borderer, approach, convergence, perihelion, near, nigh, close at hand, near at hand, close, neighboring, bordering upon, contiguous, adjacent, adjoining, proximate, proximal, at hand, handy, near the mark, near run, home, intimate, near, nigh, hard by, fast by, close to, close upon, hard upon, at the point of, next door to, within reach, within call, within hearing, within earshot, within an ace of, but a step, not far from, at no great distance, on the verge of, on the brink of, on the skirts of, in the environs, at one's door, at one's feet, at one's elbow, at one's finger's end, at one's side, on the tip of one's tongue, under one's nose, within a stone's throw, in sight of, in presence of, at close quarters, cheek by jole, cheek by jowl, beside, alongside, side by side, tete-a-tete, in juxtaposition, yardarm to yardarm, at the heels of, on the confines of, at the threshold, bordering upon, verging to, in the way, about, hereabouts, thereabouts, roughly, in round numbers, approximately, approximatively, as good as, well-nigh.

Circumjacence

N circumjacence, circumambience, environment, encompassment, atmosphere, medium, surroundings, outpost, border, girdle, outskirts, boulebards, suburbs, purlieus, precincts, faubourgs, environs, entourage, banlieue, neighborhood, vicinage, vicinity, circumjacent, circumambient, circumfluent, ambient, surrounding, circumferential, suburban, around, about, without, on every side, on all sides, right and left, all round, round about.