thing Hear it!

thing¹ Definition

thing (t̸hiŋ)

noun

  1. any matter, circumstance, affair, or concern: often used in pl. how are things?
  2. that which is done, has been done, or is to be done; happening, act, deed, incident, event, etc. to accomplish great things
  3. that which constitutes an end to be achieved, a step in a process, etc. the next thing is to mix thoroughly
  4. anything conceived of or referred to as existing as an individual, distinguishable entity; specif.,
    1. any single entity distinguished from all others each thing in the universe
    2. a tangible object, as distinguished from a concept, quality, etc. paintings and other beautiful things
    3. an inanimate object
    4. an item, detail, etc. go over each thing in the list
    5. the object or concept referred to or represented by a word, symbol, or sign; referent
    6. an object of thought; idea think the right things
    1. personal belongings; also, clothes or clothing
    2. a dress, garment, etc. not a thing to wear
  6. articles, devices, etc. used for some purpose
  7. a person: used in expressions of affection, pity, contempt, etc. poor thing
  8. a being, object, or concept the exact term for which is not known or recalled or is avoided, as from disdain where did you buy that thing?
  9. Informal a point of contention; issue don't make a thing of it
  10. ☆ Informal a complex, often neurotic liking, fear, aversion, etc. with regard to some person, thing, or activity to have a thing about flying
  11. ☆ Informal what one wants to do or is adept at do one's own thing
  12. Law that which may be owned; a property

Etymology: ME < OE, council, court, controversy, akin to Ger ding, ON thing (orig. sense, “public assembly,” hence, “subject of discussion, matter, thing”) < IE *tenk-, to stretch, period of time < base *ten-, to stretch > thin

thing¹ Idioms

see things

Informal to have hallucinations

the thing

  1. that which is wise, essential, etc.
  2. that which is the height of fashion or style
thing² Definition

thing (tiŋ; E t̸hiŋ)

noun

a Scandinavian legislative body

Etymology: ON, assembly: see thing

thing Synonyms

thing

n.

  1. An object

    article, object, item, lifeless object, commodity, device, gadget, material object, conversation piece, being, entity, materiality, corporeality, body, person, something, anything, everything, element, substance, piece, shape, form, figure, configuration, creature, stuff, goods, matter, thingy*, thingamajig*, gizmo*, whatchamacallit*, doohickey*, thingamabob*; see also substance 2.

  2. A circumstance

    matter, condition, situation; see circumstance 1.

  3. An act

    deed, feat, movement; see action 2.

  4. A characteristic

    quality, trait, attribute; see characteristic.

  5. An idea

    notion, opinion, impression; see thought 2.

  6. A pitiable person

    wretch, poor person, sufferer, urchin; see patient, refugee, tramp 1.

  7. Belongings; usually pl.

    possessions, clothes, personals; see property 1.

  8. Something so vague as to be nameless

    affair, matter, concern, business, occurrence, anything, everything, something, stuff, point, information, subject, idea, question, indication, intimation, contrivance, word, name, shape, form, entity.

  9. Something to be done

    task, obligation, duty; see job 2.

do one's own thing*

live according to one's own principles, do what one likes, live fully; see enjoy oneself.

see things

have delusions, misperceive, suffer from hallucinations; see mistake.

thing Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • do: I also do things like flying kites at Ashton Court, play cricket with all the family, go for walks along the coast.
  • say: The RISK is in getting the wrong person to say the wrong thing.
  • think: Am I alone in thinking these things are great?
  • put: The responses are a prism that puts several things in perspective.
  • see: Don't just see a static photo - see the real thing.
  • keep: Both supplies should be enough to keep things running for less than 10 minutes, which is a long time to be without power.

Adjective modifier

  • bad: The worst thing is the food in the canteen!
  • same: I find the same things in my original sources.
  • whole: I was shocked at how controlled the whole thing was.
  • such: Tilbury was well within the range of a Sherman: they knew about such things.
  • good: The best thing to do is either grass over any beds you can or fence them off to keep your child away.
  • important: There are more important things in life than gambling.

Modifies a noun

  • footie: The Season's Not Started Until... ...the first all things footie awards of the 2002/2003 season are here.

Noun used with modifier

  • living: No living thing exists in isolation; each lives within an ecosystem a community of organisms interacting with one another and their environment.
  • fun: We had lots of fun and made fun things!
  • way: It turned up everywhere where anybody was trying to describe the way things work in nature.. .

Preposition: in

  • morning: The crag gets very little sunshine except first thing in the morning.
  • perspective: The responses are a prism that puts several things in perspective.
  • life: With most things in life you get what you pay for!

Preposition: of

  • past: Grossmann declares that the cash shortages are now " a thing of the past " .
thing Quotes

For I am the L your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Oh, what a dear ravishing thing is the beginning of an Amour!

—Behan, Brendan Francis

   What brought the kindred spider to that height, Then steered the white moth thither in the night? What but design of darkness to appall?ö If design govern in a thing so small.

—Frost, Robert Lee

Behold,Iwilldoathing inIsrael, at whichboththeears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

—Bible (Old Testament)

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

—Smiles, Samuel

It isa far, far better thing that Ido, thanIhave everdone; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

A fond thing vainly invented.

—Book of Common Prayer

People always ask me the most ridiculous questions. They want to know,'Howdo you approach a role?' Well, Idon't know.Iapproach it by first saying yes, thengetting on with the bloody thing.

—Evans, Dame Edith

She was maintaining the prime truth of woman, the universal mother†that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

—Chesterton, G(ilbert) K(eith)

Bubber was the first man I heard use the expression,'it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.' Everything, and I repeat, everything had to swing.

—Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy)

It don't mean a thing If it ain't got that swing.

—Mills, Irving

La moindre chose contient un peu d'inconnu. Trouvons-le. The least thing contains something mysterious. Find it.

—Maupassant, Guy de

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

—Smith, Logan Pearsall

A local thing called Christianity.

—Hardy,Thomas

La chose la plus importante a'   toute la vie est le choix du me¤  tier: le hasard en dispose. The most important thing in life is to choose a profession: chance arranges for that.

—Pascal, Blaise

Money is indeed the most important thing in the world: and all sound and successful personal and national morality should have this fact for its basis.

—Shaw, George Bernard

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

—Bible (Old Testament)

   Life is just one damned thing after another.

—Hubbard, Elbert Green

I know one thing we did right Was the day we started to fight, Keep your eye on the prize, Hold on, hold on!

—Anonymous

A poor, weak, palsy-stricken, churchyard thing.

—Keats,John

I know that a sweet child is the sweetest thing in nature†but the prettier the kind of a thing is, the more desirable it is that it should be pretty of its kind.

—Lamb, Charles

'Good', then, if we mean by it that quality which we assert to belong to a thing, when we say that the thing is good, is incapable of any definition, in the most important sense of the word.

—Moore, G(eorge) E(dward)

Although we sought to do the right thingöand believed we were doing the right thingöin my judgement, hindsight proves us wrong.

—McNamara, Robert Strange

Technology†is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.

—Snow, C(harles) P(ercy), 1st Baron

That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where you are.

—Salinger,J(erome) D(avid)

The thing depicted is less stationary, even the object in itself is less discernible than it used to be. A landscape broken into and traversed in a car or an express train losesindescriptivevaluebut gainsinsynthetic value; the window of the railroad carriage or the windshield of the car, combined withthespeed at whichyou aretraveling, have changed the familiar look of things. Modern man registers one hundred times more impressions than did an eighteenth century artist.

—Le¤  ger, Fernand

Let the thing fall down in peace.

—Maybeck, Bernard Ralph

Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments.

—Steinbeck,John Ernest

What thing is love for (well I wot) love is a thing. It is a prick, it is a sting, It is a pretty, pretty thing; It is a fire, it is a coal Whose flame creeps in at every hole.

—Peele, George

The question that he frames in all but words Is what to make of a diminished thing.

—Frost, Robert Lee