about

prep

1. In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of; around.

   “The snake was coiled about his ankle.”

   “So look about you; know you any here?”

   “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:”

   “Pagondas […] sent two companies of horse secretly about the hill; whereby that wing of the Athenians which was victorious, apprehending upon their sudden appearing that they had been a fresh army, was put into affright:[…]”

   “[…] for they could not get about the cape, because the wind on this coast is commonly between the NW. and SW., which makes it very difficult getting to the westward; but they left four canoes with forty-six men at the cape,[…]”

2. Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout.

   “Rubbish was strewn about the place.”

   “The children were running about the room.”

   “He was well known about town.”

   “[I]n likeneſs of a Dove / The Spirit deſcended, while the Fathers voice / From Heav'n pronounc'd him his beloved Son. / That heard the Adverſary, who roving ſtill / About the world, at that aſſembly fam'd / Would not be laſt, […]”

   “He had been known, during several years, as a small poet; and some of the most savage lampoons which were handed about the coffeehouses were imputed to him.”

3. Indicates that something will happen very soon; indicates a plan or intention to do something.
4. (dialectal, obsolete)Indicates that something will happen very soon; indicates a plan or intention to do something.

   “[It] was held, that the latter requirement was fulfilled by an affidavit declaring that "the defendant was about leaving the State permanently."”

5. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of.

   “He talked a lot about his childhood.”

   “We must do something about this problem.”

   “He is very mad about all the pranks.”

   “Doe you meane to stoppe any of Williams wages, about the Sacke he lost the other day?”

   “I already have made way / To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat / About thy ransom.”

6. Concerned or occupied with; engaged in; intent on.

   “just going about their business”

   “Have you much hay about?”

   ““What’s Mary doin'?” “Oh! oo’s about th’ butter.””

   “... these Machines ... must be the Work of one, who knew what he was about. And what is it, to work, and know what one is about? Tis to have an Idea of what one is doing; to possess A FORM INTERNAL, correspondent to the EXTERNAL,[…]”

   “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?”

7. Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.

   “I can’t find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.”

   “John’s in the garden, probably somewhere about the woodshed.”

   “Carausius was born of mean parentage about Cleves in Germany, he rose in the Army by his bravery, and was appointed [...] Governor of Bononia or Bolougne in France, and Admiral […]”

   “The Saffron Crocus (C. sativus) grows in meadows about Essex, where it is cultivated for its fragrant stigmas, which constitute saffron.”

   “... small dipterous insects, which are abundant about the heaps of sea-weed.”

8. On one’s person; nearby the person.

   “I had no weapon about me but a stick.”

   “The policy covers all belongings and other personal things that somebody can carry about them.”

   “At this assurance the traveller rose, and approached Alice softly. He drew away her hands from her face, when she said gently, "Have you much money about you?" / "Oh the mercenary baggage!" said the traveller to himself; and then replied aloud, "Why, pretty one?—Do you sell your kisses so high, then?"”

9. (figuratively)On or near (one's person); attached as an attribute to; in the makeup of, or at the command of.

   “He has his wits about him.”

   “There was an air of confidence about the woman.”

   “Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.”

   “And there is a mature wisdom about him which, without being new, is newly refreshed. I did not know how profoundly my emotional loyalties were engaged to him until these days. Our plans are simple. We stay here until Thursday; then Amherst[…]”

   “... there was a mature air about him that also suggested vacationing professional. He wore a button-down, collared shirt open a few more interesting buttons than most, revealing a small spatter of blondish-reddish hair on a broad chest[…]”

adv

1. (not-comparable)On all sides, or in every or any direction from a point; around.

   “I looked about at the scenery that surrounded me.”

   “Why, then, I see, ’tis time to look about, / When every boy Alphonsus dares control.”

   “all the blessings / Of a glad father compass thee about”

   “Dunkerk is […] well-built and populous, strongly fortified all about where it is capable: only toward the Downs or sandy Hills on the Southwest side of the Town, though there had been much Cost bestowed in raising Forts, yet were they almost filled up and spoiled with Sand driven in by the force of stormy Winds, against which it will be very hard to secure any Fort that shall be there erected.”

   “And from the middle Darkness flashing out, By fits he deals his fiery Bolts about. Earth feels the Motions of her angry God, Her Entrails tremble, and her Mountains nod;[…]”

2. (not-comparable)Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down.

   “Bits of old machinery were lying about.”

   “... the tocsins of immemorial strife were sounding all about, the fierce old bell pealing out its periodical summons from the airy heights of the Palazzo Vecchio, and armed men, fierce and furious, swarming about the streets.”

   “Feathers were strewn about—white feathers! With them were several splotches of dried blood splattered across the dirt. Matthew's heart sank. He knew whose feathers those were! Something terrible had happened here.”

3. (not-comparable)From one place or position to another in succession; indicating repeated movement or activity.

   “walking about;  rushing about;  jumping about;  thrashing about”

   “1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, 1 Timothy, v,13, And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.”

   “He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous,[…].”

   “He bustled about and about, speaking to every one, but declined listening for a single moment to any.”

   “She was [...] moving furniture about, and marching into the apartment at the front even before the tenants had left.”

4. (not-comparable)Indicating unproductive or unstructured activity.

   “messing about;  fooling about;  loafing about”

5. (not-comparable)Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.

   “It’s about as cold as it was last winter.”

   “He owes me about three hundred dollars.”

   “Dinner’s about ready.”

   “I was so scared, I about fainted.”

   “I’ll see you at about 4 o'clock; I'll see you about a year from now.”

6. (not-comparable)Near; in the vicinity.

   “I looked round at the people standing about, and observed them curiously in their peculiar relation to it all.”

7. (not-comparable)To a reversed order, direction, or condition; half round; in (or to, or from) the opposite direction.

   “to face about;  to turn oneself about”

   “Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his niece.”

   “Dykhuizen has the story the other way about, that Dewey decided in 1939 that he wished no longer to continue as "Emeritus Professor in Residence" and so informed Columbia in the knowledge that this would involve a substantial reduction in his income.”

   “I am sorry to hear of his illness. But I know she will bring him about. And if I smile, it is not out of disregard for your worries but only because mine are somewhat eased. I am relieved to know why I have not heard from her.”

8. (not-comparable)To a reversed order, direction, or condition; half round; in (or to, or from) the opposite direction.

   “We went about and headed offshore.”

   “Before he goeth about, he will shoot off a piece; and, being about, will put forth another light, upon the poop […]”

9. (not-comparable, obsolete, rare)In succession, one after another.

   “When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.”

10. (not-comparable, obsolete, rare)In rotation or revolution.

    “What an Arme he has, he turn'd me about with his finger and his thumbe, as one would set up a Top.”

    “Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.”

    “"turn and turn about is fair play : you saw the rat that was killed in the parlor." "Turn about [is] fair play, indeed!" cried the cat. "Then all of you get to your spits; I am sure that is turn about!" "Nay, "said the turnspits, wagging their tails and laughing. "That is over and over again,which is not fair play. 'T is the coffee-mill that is turn and turn about."”

    “I was driving by myself. The only hard part was shifting, I did grind the gears a few times until I got used to it. I practiced going about in circles and backing in and out of the barn.”

11. (not-comparable, obsolete, possibly)In the course of events.

    “to bring about, to come about”

12. (archaic, not-comparable)In circuit or circumference; circularly.

    “The island was a mile about, and a third of a mile across.”

    “Indeede I am in the waste two yards about.”

    “... a more easie way, though it were farther about.”

    “... the sure way, though most about, to make gold, is to know the causes of the several natures before rehearsed, […]”

13. (archaic, not-comparable)By a circuitous way; circuitously.

    “God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Moving around or in motion; astir.

   “out and about;  up and about”

   “After my bout with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it took me 6 months to be up and about again.”

   “'John, I have observed that you are often out and about of nights, sometimes as late as half past seven or eight.[…]'”

   “About, my Braine!”

   “About, about; Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out.”

2. (not-comparable)In existence; being in evidence; apparent.

   “This idea has been about for a while but has only recently become fashionable.”

   “To my mind, transportation engineering is similar to flying in the 1930s — it has been about for some time but it has taken the present economic jolt to shake it out of its infancy, in the same way that the war started the development of flying to its current stage.”

   “Although it has been about for some time now, I like the typeface Sauna.”

   “2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP, Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO₂ — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?”

3. (not-comparable)Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.

   “I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.”

   “Watch out, there's a thief about.”

verb

1. (uncommon)To change the course of (a ship) to the other tack; to bring (a ship) about.

   “The Channel at Archer's Hope Point lies close by the Shoar, and makes such an Angle there by reason of Hog Island, that going up or down the River, let the Wind be where it will, they must there bring the contrary Tack on Board, and generally when they About the Ship as they call it, they are so nigh the Shoar, that a Man may almost fling a Finger-stone on Board.”

   “Mr. Whalen:] they had "abouted ship." They had changed the course to put her into the wind—”

   “... and we were abouting ship every watch or so.”

2. (humorous, possibly, uncommon)To about-face (turn 180 degrees, like a soldier).

   “For quotations using this term, see Citations:about.”