the

article

1. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “I’m reading the book Mary reviewed. (Compare I’m reading a book Mary reviewed.)”

   “You live on Main Street, don't you? You know, you should tell the mayor the street needs cleaning.”

   “The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.”

   “the street that runs all the way through my hometown”

   “A car is parked right outside my house. Since it's difficult to find a parking space, I hope the car won't be there later. the cow jumped over the moon (1760 (date first published), Mother Goose's Melody (the book title), "Hey Diddle Diddle" (the rhyme title))”

2. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe.”

   “God save the Queen!”

   “Lets go to the park”

   “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

3. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “No one in the whole country had seen it before.”

   “I don't think I'll get to it until the morning.”

   “Take me to the airport/station/hospital/office/park/match/meeting/et cetera.”

4. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”)”

   “(informal) How's the wife? (= "How is your wife?")”

5. (colloquial)Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “How's the Sal today?”

6. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “square the circle; feel the pinch; beat around the bush; throw the baby out with the bathwater”

7. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.”

   “"Good Heavens, man! Why, he is the authority. If you want pure laboratory experiments those are the books."”

   ““New Kid On The Block” doubles as a terrific showcase for the Sea Captain who, in the grand tradition of Simpsons supporting characters, quickly goes from being a stereotype to an archetype, from being a crusty sea-captain character to the crusty sea-captain character.”

8. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “"My name," he said, "is Hercule Poirot." "Not," the Commissary stammered, "not the Hercule Poirot?"”

   “‘[…] he introduced us to Gwenog Jones.’ ‘Gwenog Jones?’ said Ron, his eyes widening under his own goggles. ‘The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?’”

9. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

   “That was the juiciest apple pie ever.”

   “May the better man win.”

   “Starting today through September 30, guests can wow their taste buds with the "swiciest" sensation of the season, the Nashville-Style Hot Honey Pizza.”

10. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

    “Stern and God-fearing, the Afrikaner takes his religion seriously.”

    “The downy woodpecker can be found in the same environments as the hairy woodpecker.”

11. Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun

    “The Bushes have held political office for several decades and the Kennedys longer.”

12. Used with an adjective

    “That apple pie was the best.”

13. Used with an adjective

    “Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.”

    “One doesn't choose the color of one's chess pieces; the white are assigned to the player who moves first.”

14. Used with an adjective

    “the Irish are...; the Chinese are...; the French are...”

adv

1. (not-comparable)With a comparative or with more and a verb phrase, establishes a correlation with one or more other such comparatives.

   “The hotter(,) the better. (comma usually omitted in such very short expressions)”

   “The more I think about it, the weaker it looks.”

   “The more money donated, the more books purchased, and the more happy children.”

   “It looks weaker and weaker, the more I think about it.”

2. (not-comparable)With a comparative, and often with for it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated with none.

   “It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it.”

   “It was a difficult time, and I’m {none - not any} the wiser for it.”

   “I'm much the wiser for having had a difficult time like that.”

3. (not-comparable)Beyond all others.

   “We went the furthest under her leadership.”

   “They trusted him the most.”

prep

1. For each; per.

   “valued at half a pound the bushel; paying seven dollars the year interest”

   “Next morning I was up at an early hour, to see the market held near the water gate. The beef was excellent: but at the high prices of ten-pence and one shilling the pound; mutton at the same price; fowls a dollar the couple, and showing “more feathers than flesh.””

pron

1. (alt-of, obsolete)Obsolete form of thee.

   “Feſtus ſayde with a lowde voyce: Paul / thou arte beſides thy ſilfe. Moche learnynge hath made the mad.”