Pronunciations (8)
-
/θɪŋ/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/θiŋ/
-
[θiŋ ~ θɪ̝ŋ]
-
/fɪŋ/
-
/θɪŋɡ/
Pronunciation notes
- Midlands
- Northern-England
-
/fɪŋɡ/
-
[t̪ʰɪŋ]
-
θɪŋ
Noun
That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.
- Examples
-
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...
More examples (1)
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […], "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
An individual object or distinct entity.
Whatever can be owned.
Corporeal object.
Possessions or equipment; stuff; gear.
Usage- in-plural
- Examples
-
Hold on, let me just grab my things.
The latest fad or fashion.
Usage- Dated
- with the
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
To go to bed late, to rise late, to breakfast late, to dine late, and to visit late, is to be “quite the thing,” or in good English, which you may understand better than the first phrase, to be in the fashion.
After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi[…]'
A custom or practice.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.
A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief).
Usage- Informal
- with a
- Examples
-
Q: Bacon pie? Is that a thing? A: Yes, I checked into it, and it's a thing. Some people are even connoisseurs about it.
More examples (2)
Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... (Laughter) Well, it's a thing. I mean, there's a -- it's a -- there's a feminist professor down in Tampa who's discovered a male lesbian
Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not a thing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' (as each essay subtly shows) simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of race is at place […]
Clémence would say that his style was normcore before normcore became a thing. She had to admit that she still found him attractive.
More examples (1)
Conservative philosophy, in other words, is, as we say now, a thing and deserves a serious listen.
A unit or container, usually containing consumable goods.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
Could you get me a thing of apple juice at the store?
I just ate a whole thing of jelly beans.
More examples (3)
And he invited us all in there and then he kicked the girls out a little bit later and brought me in a couple things of alcohol. And just before he brought in my second bottle of alcohol[…]
I remember my friend Ben saying in the old days that he would never go to Costco and buy one of those big things of toilet paper[…]
I came home and ate a whole thing of ice cream.
A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
The car looks cheap, but the thing is, I have doubts about its safety.
That's the thing: we don't know where he is.
More examples (1)
We can't exactly die; that's like, the whole thing here?
A penis.
Usage- euphemistic
- Slang
- Examples
-
“Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.”
A vulva or vagina.
Usage- euphemistic
- Slang
- Examples
-
‘They reckon she lets her dogs lick her thing.’
A living being or creature.
- Examples
-
you poor thing
sweet young thing
More examples (2)
she's a funny old thing, but her heart's in the right place
I met a pretty blond thing at the bar
Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.
- Examples
-
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to promote that vision thing.
Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shooting thing. (in reference to the execution of Fernandez)
That which is favoured; personal preference.
Usage- Informal
- in the negative
- used possessively
- Examples
-
it's not really my thing
Tool talk [is] not my thing.
More examples (1)
The Internet isn't my thing. I so much rather talk on the phone.
One's typical routine, habits, or manner.
Usage- Informal
- used possessively
- with "do"
- Examples
-
let me do my thing; I'm here doing my thing
But I'm just a guy from Missoula, Montana, doing my thing, going down the road like everybody else.
A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.
Usage- Historical
- Examples
-
In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to the thing fully armed, [...]
More examples (2)
The goðar seem both to have received payment of thing-fararkaup from those who stayed home and at the same time compensated those who went to the thing, and it cannot be seen whether they had any profit from these transactions.
All Icelandic things were skap-thing, meaning that they were governed by established procedure and met at regular legally designated intevals at predetermined meeting places.
A romantic relationship.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
I can screw you in front of everyone. I don't care, we have a thing going on, you know. I love you,” she said.
A romantic couple.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
Are John and Jennifer a thing again? I thought they broke up.
Girl; attractive woman.
Usage- Multicultural-London-English
- Examples
-
Look at the nyash on that thing!
Verb
To express as a thing; to reify.
Usage- Rare
Noun
a special situation
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
this thing has got to end
it is a remarkable thing
an action
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
how could you do such a thing?
a special abstraction
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
a thing of the spirit
things of the heart
an artifact
- Examples
-
how does this thing work?
an event
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
a funny thing happened on the way to the …
a vaguely specified concern
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
several matters to attend to
it is none of your affair
More examples (1)
things are going well
a statement regarded as an object
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
to say the same thing in other terms
how can you say such a thing?
an entity that is not named specifically
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
I couldn't tell what the thing was
any attribute or quality considered as having its own existence
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
the thing I like about her is …
a special objective
- Examples
-
the thing is to stay in bounds
a persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
he has a thing about seafood
she has a thing about him
a separate and self-contained entity
- Broader terms