The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Be \Be\ (b[=e]), v. i. [imp. Was (w[o^]z); p. p. Been
   (b[i^]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Being.] [OE. been, beon, AS.
   be['o]n to be, be['o]m I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I
   am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav.
   by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be,
   fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, Gr.
   fy^nai to be born, to be, Skr. bh[=u] to be. This verb is
   defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from
   other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with
   be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are
   considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which,
   with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive
   verb. [root]97. Cf. Future, Physic.]
   1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have
      existence.
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            To be contents his natural desire.    --Pope.
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            To be, or not to be: that is the question. --Shak.
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   2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a
      reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the
      subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a
      certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or
      as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words
      for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be
      here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a
      hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five;
      annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the
      man.
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   3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.
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   4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
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            The field is the world.               --Matt. xiii.
                                                  38.
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            The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the
            seven churches.                       --Rev. i. 20.
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   Note: The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is
         used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as,
         John has been struck by James. It is also used with the
         past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a
         state of the subject. But have is now more commonly
         used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different
         sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. "
         "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and
         imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a
         particular future tense, which expresses necessity,
         duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we
         are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed
         to-morrow.
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   Note: Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I
         have been to Paris." --Sydney Smith. "Have you been to
         Franchard ?" --R. L. Stevenson.
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   Note: Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the
         indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world."
         --Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in
         our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they
         that be with them." --2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the
         old infinitive: "To ben of such power." --R. of
         Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present
         subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and
         names." --Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is
         and are, with if, are more commonly used.
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   Be it so, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it
      to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so.
      --Shak.

   If so be, in case.

   To be from, to have come from; as, from what place are you?
      I am from Chicago.

   To let be, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. "Let
      be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade." --Spenser.
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   Syn: To be, Exist.

   Usage: The verb to be, except in a few rare cases, like that
          of Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be", is used simply
          as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate;
          as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to
          exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but
          points to things that stand forth, or have a
          substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all
          corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not,
          therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as
          a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers
          for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there
          exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes." We may,
          indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between
          them," instead of saying, "there has long been a
          friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is
          not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense
          to mark the friendship as having been long in
          existence.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Being \Be"ing\, p. pr. from Be.
   Existing.
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   Note: Being was formerly used where we now use having. "Being
         to go to a ball in a few days." --Miss Edgeworth.
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   Note: In modern usage, is, are, was or were being, with a
         past participle following (as built, made, etc.)
         indicates the process toward the completed result
         expressed by the participle. The form is or was
         building, in this passive signification, is idiomatic,
         and, if free from ambiguity, is commonly preferable to
         the modern is or was being built. The last form of
         speech is, however, sufficiently authorized by approved
         writers. The older expression was is, or was,
         a-building or in building.
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               A man who is being strangled.      --Lamb.
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               While the article on Burns was being written.
                                                  --Froude.
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               Fresh experience is always being gained. --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd. )
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Being \Be"ing\, adv.
   Since; inasmuch as. [Obs. or Colloq.]
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         And being you have
         Declined his means, you have increased his malice.
                                                  --Beau. & Fl.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Being \Be"ing\, n.
   1. Existence, as opposed to nonexistence; state or sphere of
      existence.
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            In Him we live, and move, and have our being. --Acts
                                                  xvii. 28.
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   2. That which exists in any form, whether it be material or
      spiritual, actual or ideal; living existence, as
      distinguished from a thing without life; as, a human
      being; spiritual beings.
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            What a sweet being is an honest mind ! --Beau. & Fl.
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            A Being of infinite benevolence and power.
                                                  --Wordsworth.
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   3. Lifetime; mortal existence. [Obs.]
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            Claudius, thou
            Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.
                                                  --Webster
                                                  (1654).
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   4. An abode; a cottage. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
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            It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's
            servants] into little beings within my manor.
                                                  --Steele.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

being
    n 1: the state or fact of existing; "a point of view gradually
         coming into being"; "laws in existence for centuries" [syn:
         being, beingness, existence] [ant: nonbeing,
         nonentity, nonexistence]
    2: a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act
       or function independently [syn: organism, being]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

140 Moby Thesaurus words for "being":
   Adamite, actual, actuality, aerobic organism, an existence,
   anaerobic organism, as, as is, as long as, autotrophic organism,
   body, bones, bosom, breast, cat, cause, chap, character,
   considering, contemporaneous, contemporary, creature, critter,
   current, customer, duck, earthling, ens, entelechy, entity, esprit,
   esse, essence, essentiality, existence, existent, existing, extant,
   fellow, for, fresh, genetic individual, groundling, guts, guy,
   hand, head, heart, heart of hearts, heartstrings,
   heterotrophic organism, homo, human, human being, immanent,
   immediate, in being, in effect, in existence, in force,
   inasmuch as, individual, individuality, inmost heart, inmost soul,
   innermost being, instant, joker, latest, life, living,
   living being, living soul, living thing, man, material,
   materiality, matter, microbe, microorganism, modern, monad,
   morphological individual, mortal, nature, new, nose, object,
   occurrence, on foot, one, ont, organic being, organism,
   organization, party, person, persona, personage, personality,
   physiological individual, presence, present, present-age,
   present-day, present-time, prevalent, running, secret places,
   seeing, since, single, somebody, someone, something, soul, spirit,
   stuff, subsistence, subsistent, subsisting, substance,
   substantiality, tellurian, terran, texture, that be, that is,
   thing, topical, under the sun, unit, up-to-date, up-to-the-minute,
   virus, viscera, whereas, worldling, zooid, zoon