away
Adjective · AdverbOpen English WordNet
Adverb (11)
- from a particular thing or place or position (‘forth’ is obsolete)“ran away from the lion”“wanted to get away from there”“sent the children away to boarding school”“the teacher waved the children away from the dead animal”“went off to school”“they drove off”“go forth and preach”Synonyms: offforth
- from one's possession“he gave out money to the poor”“gave away the tickets”Synonyms: out
- out of the way (especially away from one's thoughts)“brush the objections aside”“pushed all doubts away”Synonyms: aside
- out of existence“the music faded away”“tried to explain away the affair of the letter — H.E.Scudder”“idled the hours away”“her fingernails were worn away”
- at a distance in space or time“the boat was 5 miles off (or away)”“the party is still 2 weeks off (or away)”“away back in the 18th century”Synonyms: off
- indicating continuing action; continuously or steadily“he worked away at the project for more than a year”“the child kept hammering away as if his life depended on it”
- so as to be removed or gotten rid of“cleared the mess away”“the rotted wood had to be cut away”
- freely or at will“fire away!”
- in or into a proper place (especially for storage or safekeeping)“put the toys away”“her jewels are locked away in a safe”“filed the letter away”
- in a different direction“turn aside”“turn away one's face”“glanced away”Synonyms: aside
- in reserve; not for immediate use“started setting aside money to buy a car”“put something by for her old age”“has a nest egg tucked away for a rainy day”Synonyms: asideby
Adjective (3)
- not present; having left“he's away right now”“you must not allow a stranger into the house when your mother is away”Opposite presentSimilar absent
- used of an opponent's ground“an away game”Opposite home
- (of a baseball pitch) on the far side of home plate from the batter“the pitch was away (or wide)”“an outside pitch”Synonyms: outsideOpposite accurateSimilar inaccurate
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adverb from a place
Adjective not here
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: AS. aweg, anweg, onweg; on on + weg way.
1. From a place; hence.
The sound is going away.— William Shakespeare
Have me away, for I am sore wounded.— 2 Chron. xxxv. 23.
2. Absent; gone; at a distance; as, the master is away from home.
3. Aside; off; in another direction.
The axis of rotation is inclined away from the sun.— Joseph Norman Lockyer
4. From a state or condition of being; out of existence.
Be near me when I fade away.— Alfred Tennyson
5. By ellipsis of the verb, equivalent to an imperative: Go or come away; begone; take away.
And the Lord said... Away, get thee down.— Exod. xix. 24.
6. On; in continuance; without intermission or delay; as, sing away. colloquial
☞ It is much used in phrases signifying moving or going from; as, go away, run away, etc.; all signifying departure, or separation to a distance. Sometimes without the verb; as, whither away so fast ? “Love hath wings, and will away.” Edmund Waller It serves to modify the sense of certain verbs by adding that of removal, loss, parting with, etc.; as, to throw away; to trifle away; to squander away, etc. Sometimes it has merely an intensive force; as, to blaze away.
Away with, bear, abide. Obs. or Archaic “The calling of assemblies, I can not away with.” (Isa. i. 13), i. e., “I can not bear or endure [it].” — Away with one, signifies, take him away. “Away with him, crucify him.” John xix. 15. — To make away with. (a) To kill or destroy. (b) To carry off.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54