about (redirected from was about)

a·bout  (-bout)

adv.

1. Approximately; nearly: The interview lasted about an hour.

2. Almost: The job is about done.

3. To a reversed position or direction: Turn about and walk away slowly.

4. In no particular direction: wandering about with no place to go.

5. All around; on every side: Let's look about for help.

6. In the area or vicinity; near: spoke to a few spectators standing about.

7. In succession; one after another: Turn about is fair play.

8.

a. On the verge of; presently going to. Used with the infinitive: The chorus is about to sing.

b. Usage Problem Used to show determination or intention in negative constructions with an infinitive: I am not about to concede the point.

prep.

1. On all sides of; surrounding: I found an English garden all about me.

2. In the vicinity of; around: explored the rivers and streams about the estate.

3. Almost the same as; close to; near.

4.

a. In reference to; relating to; concerned with: a book about snakes.

b. In the act or process of: While you're about it, please clean your room.

5. In the possession or innate character of: Keep your wits about you.

adj.

1. Moving here and there; astir: The patient is up and about.

2. Being in evidence or existence: Rumors are about concerning his resignation.

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[Middle English, from Old English onbtan : on, in; see on + btan, outside; see ud- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The construction not about to is often used to express determination: We are not about to negotiate with terrorists. A majority of the Usage Panel considers this usage acceptable in speech but not in formal writing.·About is traditionally used to refer to the relation between a narrative and its subject: a book about Cézanne; a movie about the Boston Massacre. This use has lately been extended to refer to the relation between various nonlinguistic entities and the things they make manifest, as in The party was mostly about showing off their new offices or His designs are about the use of rough-textured materials. This practice probably originates with the expression That's what it's all about, but it remains controversial. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejected this use in the example A designer teapot isn't about making tea; it is about letting people know that you have a hundred dollars to spend on a teapot.

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about

prep

1. relating to or concerning

2. near to

3. carried on: I haven't any money about me

4. on every side of

Adverb

1. near in number, time, or degree; approximately

2. nearby

3. here and there: there were some fifteen other people scattered about on the first floor

4. all around; on every side

5. in or to the opposite direction

6. in rotation: turn and turn about

7. used to indicate understatement: it's about time somebody told the truth on that subject

8. about to on the point of; intending to: she was about to get in the car

9. not about to determined not to: we're not about to help her out

Adjective

active: he was off the premises well before anyone was up and about [Old English abūtan, onbūtan on the outside of]

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	about - on the move; "up and about"; "the whole town was astir over the incident" astir active - characterized by energetic activity; "an active toddler"; "active as a gazelle"; "an active man is a man of action"
Adv.	1.	about - (of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct; "lasted approximately an hour"; "in just about a minute"; "he's about 30 years old"; "I've had about all I can stand"; "we meet about once a month"; "some forty people came"; "weighs around a hundred pounds"; "roughly $3,000"; "holds 3 gallons, more or less"; "20 or so people were at the party" close to, just about, more or less, or so, roughly, some, approximately, around
	2.	about - all around or on all sides; "dirty clothes lying around (or about)"; "let's look about for help"; "There were trees growing all around"; "she looked around her" around
	3.	about - in the area or vicinity; "a few spectators standing about"; "hanging around"; "waited around for the next flight" around
	4.	about - used of movement to or among many different places or in no particular direction; "wandering about with no place to go"; "people were rushing about"; "news gets around (or about)"; "traveled around in Asia"; "he needs advice from someone who's been around"; "she sleeps around" around
	5.	about - in or to a reversed position or direction; "about face"; "suddenly she turned around" around
	6.	about - in rotation or succession; "turn about is fair play"
	7.	about - (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but; "the job is (just) about done"; "the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the parties signed the contract"; "I was near exhausted by the run"; "most everyone agrees" almost, nearly, well-nigh, near, nigh, virtually, most

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about

preposition 1. regarding, on, re, concerning, touching, dealing with, respecting, referring to, relating to, concerned with, connected with, relative to, with respect to, as regards, anent Scot.

preposition 2. around, over, through, round, throughout, all over

preposition 3. near, around, close to, bordering, nearby, beside, close by, adjacent to, just round the corner from, in the neighbourhood of, alongside of, contiguous to, within sniffing distance of (informal) at close quarters to, a hop, skip and a jump away from (informal)

adverb 4. approximately, around, almost, nearing, nearly, approaching, close to, roughly, just about, more or less, in the region of, in the vicinity of, not far off

adverb 5. everywhere, around, all over, here and there, on all sides, in all directions, to and fro, from place to place, hither and thither >> about to on the point of, ready to, intending to, on the verge or brink of

Translations

about [əˈbaut] adv 1. (= approximately) → más o menos, aproximadamente;

about a hundred/thousand etc → unos(unas) or como cien/mil etc;

it takes about 10 hours → se tarda unas or más o menos 10 horas;

at about 2 o'clock → sobre las dos;

I've just about finished → casi he terminado

2. (referring to place) → por todas partes;

to leave things lying about → dejar las cosas (tiradas) por ahí;

to run about → correr por todas partes;

to walk about → pasearse, ir y venir;

is Paul about? → ¿está por aquí Paul?;

it's the other way about → es al revés

3. to be about to do sth → estar a punto de hacer algo;

I'm not about to do all that for nothing → no pienso hacer todo eso para nada prep

1. (= relating to) → de, sobre, acerca de;

a book about London → un libro sobre or acerca de Londres;

what is it about? [book, film] → ¿de qué se trata?;

we talked about it → hablamos de eso or ello;

what or how about doing this? → ¿qué tal si hacemos esto?

2. (referring to place) → por;

to walk about the town → caminar por la ciudad

about [əˈbaut] adv 1. (= approximately) → environ, à peu près;

about a hundred/thousand etc → environ cent/mille etc, une centaine (de)/un millier (de) etc;

it takes about 10 hours → ça prend environ or à peu près 10 heures;

at about 2 o'clock → vers 2 heures;

I've just about finished → j'ai presque fini

2. (referring to place) → çà et là, de-ci de-là;

to run about → courir çà et là;

to walk about → se promener, aller et venir;

is Paul about? (Brit) → est-ce que Paul est là?;

it's about here → c'est par ici, c'est dans les parages;

they left all their things lying about → ils ont laissé traîner toutes leurs affaires

3. to be about to do sth → être sur le point de faire qch;

I'm not about to do all that for nothing (inf) → je ne vais quand même pas faire tout ça pour rien

4. (= opposite);

it's the other way about (Brit) → c'est l'inverse prep

1. (= relating to) → au sujet de, à propos de;

a book about London → un livre sur Londres;

what is it about? → de quoi s'agit-il?;

we talked about it → nous en avons parlé;

do something about it! → faites quelque chose!;

what or how about doing this? → et si nous faisions ceci?

2. (referring to place) → dans;

to walk about the town → se promener dans la ville

about [əˈbaut] adv 1. (= approximately) → etwa, ungefähr;

about a hundred/thousand etc → etwa hundert/tausend etc;

at about two o'clock → etwa um zwei Uhr;

I've just about finished → ich bin gerade fertig

2. (referring to place) → herum;

to run/walk etc about → herumlaufen/-gehen etc;

is Paul about? → ist Paul da?

3. to be about to do sth → im Begriff sein, etw zu tun;

he was about to cry → er fing fast an zu weinen;

she was about to leave/wash the dishes → sie wollte gerade gehen/das Geschirr spülen prep

1. (= relating to) → über +acc;

what is it about? → worum geht es?;

(book etc) → wovon handelt es?;

we talked about it → wir haben darüber geredet;

what or how about going to the cinema? → wollen wir ins Kino gehen?

2. (referring to place) → um ... herum;

to walk about the town → durch die Stadt gehen;

her clothes were scattered about the room → ihre Kleider waren über das ganze Zimmer verstreut

about [əˈbaut] adv 1. (= approximately) → circa, quasi;

about a hundred/thousand → un centinaio/migliaio, circa cento/mille;

it takes about 10 hours → ci vogliono circa 10 ore;

at about 2 o'clock → verso le 2;

I've just about finished → ho quasi finito;

it's about here → è qui intorno, è qui vicino

2. (referring to place) → qua e là, in giro;

to leave things lying about → lasciare delle cose in giro;

to run about → correre qua e là;

to walk about → camminare;

is Paul about? (BRIT) → hai visto Paul in giro?;

it's the other way about (BRIT) → è il contrario

3. to be about to do sth → stare per fare qc;

I'm not about to do all that for nothing → non ho intenzione di fare tutto questo per niente prep

1. (= relating to) → su, di;

a book about London → un libro su Londra;

what is it about? → di che si tratta?; [book, film etc] → di cosa tratta?;

we talked about it → ne abbiamo parlato;

do something about it! → fai qualcosa!;

what or how about doing this? → che ne dici di fare questo?

2. (referring to place): to walk about the town → camminare per la città;

her clothes were scattered about the room → i suoi vestiti erano sparsi or in giro per tutta la stanza

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about

prep about [əˈbaut]

on the subject of We talked about our plans; What's the book about? oor عَن، عَلَى за o om über σχετικά με sobre, acerca de -st (millestki) دربارۀ sur; de עַל, בְּנוֹגֵע ל- चारों ओर o -ról, -ről tentang, mengenai um di ～について ...에 대하여 apie par mengenai over om sobre despre о, насчёт o o o om เกี่ยวกับ hakkında 關於 про بارے میں về chủ đề 关于

prep adv

1 (sometimes round about) near (in place, time, size etc) about five miles away; (round) about six o'clock; just about big enough. ongeveer حَوالِي، تَقْرِيباً около kolem, okolo, asi cirka; omtrent; næsten ungefähr περίπου cerca de, alrededor de umbes, ligikaudu; (mingi aja) paiku در حدود suunnilleen environ בְעֶרֶך, כְּ- के बारे में taman közel, körül(belül) kira-kira um það bil circa およそ 대략, 거의 apie gandrīz; aptuveni kira-kira ongeveer cirka, omtrent około cerca de cam, aproximativ, în jur de вокруг; около okolo okrog oko ungefär ประมาณ yaklaşık, aşağı yukarı 大約 навколо, близько تقریباً khoảng 大约

2 in different directions; here and there The children ran about (the garden). deur فِي أمَاكِن مُخْتَلِفَه наоколо sem a tam rundt omkring i herum εδώ κι εκεί por todas partes ringi حول و حوش ympäriinsä ici et là הֵנָה וְהֵנָה, פֹּה וְשָם इधर-उधर naokolo mindenfelé ke mana-mana til og frá, hér og þar qua e là あちこち 여기 저기에 po tepat tuvumā sekeliling rond rundt omkring i dookoła, po por+art. în toate părţile; încolo şi încoace туда-сюда; по po naokrog posvuda runtomkring, hit och dit ทั่ว ๆ oraya buraya, orada burada 在...各處，到處 скрізь, всюди اادھر ادھر xung quanh 在...各处，到处

3 in or on some part (of a place etc) You'll find him somewhere about (the office). in فِي مَكَانٍ مَا около poblíž et eller andet sted irgendwo in... τριγύρω por kusagil دور و بر jossakin quelque part בְּרַחֲבֵי-, בְּ- लगभग uz a közelben di suatu tempat í eða við, nálægt, einhvers staðar in giro, da qualche parte ～のあたりに 근처에 čia pat, netoliese kaut kur šeit sekitar in de buurt i, ved, et eller annet sted i w pobliżu por (aí) aproape de, pe lângă поблизости; рядом nablízku, niekde nekje blizu naokolo någonstans i närheten แถว ๆ ...-de/da 在...某處 у, по ارد گرد đâu đó 在...某处

4 around or surrounding She wore a coat about her shoulders; He lay with his clothes scattered about. om عَلَى، حَوْل около kolem rundt omkring um γύρω alrededor (de) ümber; ümberringi دور تا دور ympärillä autour סָבִיב לְ- uokolo körül di sekeliling um; hér og þar intorno, attorno ～のまわりに 주변에 ant, aplink ap sekeliling om omkring na, dookoła em torno de în jur(ul) вокруг okolo okrog, naokrog oko runt, omkring รอบ ๆ etrafta, ...-de/da 在...周圍 кругом, навколо قریب ، نزدیک quanh 在...周围

adv

(in military commands etc) in the opposite direction About turn! om فِي الجِهَةِ المُعَاكِسَه обратно čelem vzad helt om kehrt! μεταβολή! media vuelta ümber (pöörd!) چرخش به یک سو ympäri demi-tour לְאָחוֹר पलटना nalijevo krug! hátra arc! berbalik snú! dietro front 回れ右 반대 방향으로 aplink! apkārt! pusing belakang om Helt om! w tył volver! stânga-împre­jur кругом čelom vzad obrat, krog suprotno helt om! ในทิศทางตรงข้าม geriye (dön) 向反方向轉 кругом برعکس ، الٹ Đằng sau, quay! 向后转

be about to

to be going to (perform an action) I am about to leave the office. op die punt om عَلَى وَشَك имам намерение právě se chystat ved at im Begriff sein `zu' έτοιμος να είμαι a punto de estar kavatsema در شرف aikoa être sur le point de לַעֲמוֹד לְ- के बारे में spremati se készül vmit tenni akan vera í þann veginn að stare per ～しようとしている 막 ...하려고 하다 rengtis, ketinti, būti ką bedarančiam gatavoties kaut ko darīt hampir op het punt staan være i ferd med właśnie zamierzać estar para a fi pe punctul de a собираться сделать chystať sa biti tik pred zamalo vara på väg att กำลังจะ üzere olmak 即將 збиратися робити що عنقریب sắp làm gì 即将