about

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1.
as a preposition.
In the meaning 'roughly, approximately' (eg. It took about ten minutes, about is the usual British English word; around is also used, and is much more common in American English. Round about is more informal, and is largely confined to British English.

2.
meaning 'concerning'.
In this meaning, about is either a preposition or a conjunction (followed by which, how, etc.): (preposition) The quarrels were about money / (conjunction) There was a great deal of discussion about which versions should be used. Since the 1930s, the phrase to be about (something) has developed a special meaning 'to be primarily concerned with' and even 'to have as its aim', as in

Love and war were about winning, not fair play—A. Price, 1982.

When precision is important, it is better to use a less ambiguous phrase, e.g. Love and war had winning as their purpose, and did not involve fair play.

The phrase what it's all about is a cliché, and should be restricted to less formal contexts:

They like the feeling that they have had to fight other men for possession. That is what it is all about, really.—Anita Brookner, 1984.

3.
used instead of of.
About is tending to replace of in uses such as We're more aware about it / The Vietnamese are disdainful about Chinese cooking / The issue about how such things are monitored.

4.
be about to.
In affirmative contexts, to be about to denotes intention: I am about to go shopping. A more idiomatic negative use, not about to (do something), should only be used informally:

I'm not about to foist something on the general public just for the sake of releasing something—Record Mirror, 1982.

In more formal usage, it is better to use one of several alternatives such as do not intend to (or, more emphatically, have no intention of), am not likely to, etc.

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adverb

1. Near to in quantity or amount: almost, approximately, nearly, roughly. Idioms: on the order of. See near/far/distance.
2. In or toward a former location or condition: around, back, backward, backwards, rearward, round. See approach/retreat.
3. Toward the back: around, back, backward, backwards, rearward. See precede/follow.

Idioms beginning with about:
about time

See also at about; beat about the bush; bring about; cast about; come about; do an about-face; get about; go about (one's business); how about (that); just about; knock about; lay about; man about town; nose about (around); no two ways about it; order someone about; out and about; see about; send someone about someone's business; set about; that's about the size of it; up and about; what about someone (something).

adv

Definition: approximately
Antonyms: exactly, precisely

prep

Definition: near or close to in position
Antonyms: afar, away, distant, far, remote

Origin: 1991

It was in about 1991 that familiar old about took on a new connection. It had long been used to relate the subject matter of something written, said or thought: a book about Noah Webster, a question about silk stockings, or an idea about dinner. Anything that told a story could be about: a mural about the hardships of the poor, or a movie about Robin Hood.

But could cities, clothes, sports, religion, a rock group, parts of the body, and life itself contain messages too? In the early 1990s, Americans began to say so. "St. Louis is about families," said one writer. "Jeans are about sex," declared Calvin Klein. "Wrestling is about pushing your mind and body to their limits," wrote an athletic supporter in Ithaca, New York. "Our Jewishness is about attending services," said a woman in West Virginia. "The Grateful Dead are about celebration and freedom," said their spokesman. "Hair is about power; hair is about rebellion," wrote a newspaper columnist. "Perhaps breasts were always about power," mused a woman in Esquire. "Fun was for the Eighties. The Nineties are about survival," announced Playboy.

All these were new ways of using about. They came from the what it's all about so often said in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, more often than not, what and all are left behind. "Around here the holiday spirit means more than picking out a great gift at the mall. It's about giving of ourselves," wrote a reader to Seventeen magazine in 1991. "Food is not just about a party. It's about a quality of life," said the chef of the year in 1992. "This campaign is not about the outside world. It's about the U.S. of A.," said presidential candidate Pat Buchanan that year. And how do you develop your sense of humor? "It's not about telling jokes," lecturer Julie Kurnitz explained in 1994. "It's about seeing the absurdity of life."

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IN BRIEF: Having to do with; concerning.

Thinking about solutions is more energizing than thinking about problems. — Unknown from www.zaadz.com.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

as in: concerning or regarding
sign description: The right index finger makes a forward circle around the left modified O-handshape (and hand).

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For a list of words related to about, see:

• Prepositions
• Comparisons
• Approximations and Generalizations
• Relative Positions - about: (adv) near to; on every side

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See words rhyming with "about."

  See crossword solutions for the clue About.

Common misspelling(s) of about

• boaut
• baout

Dansk (Danish)
prep. - om, omhandlende
adv. - omkring, omtrent, cirka
adj. - omkring, omtrent, cirka

idioms:

• about face    omkringvending
• about to    være lige ved at, skulle til at
• about turn    omkringvending
• it's about time    det var på tide

Nederlands (Dutch)
omstreeks, over, om, rond(om), ongeveer, , verspreid, op zak, in de buurt, gedraaid

Français (French)
prep. - au sujet de, avec, envers, autour de, vers, concernant, à propos de
adv. - vers, approximativement, presque, environ, à peu près, ici et là, de tous côtés, par ici, par là
adj. - ici et là

idioms:

• about face    (Mil) (faire) un demi-tour, (fig) (faire) volte-face
• about to    (être) sur le point de
• about turn    (Mil) (faire) un demi-tour
• be about    s'agir de, retourner (un sujet)
• it's about time    il était temps
• not about to    ne pas (être) prêt de, ne pas (être) sur le point de

Deutsch (German)
prep. - um ... herum, über
adv. - um, umher, gegen, etwa, ungefähr, in etwa, rund, beinahe, fast
adj. - auf, in Bewegung umdrehen, Meinungswechsel

idioms:

• about face    Kehrtwendung
• about to    im Begriff
• about turn    Kehrtwendung
• be about    klar zum Wenden sein
• it's about time    es wird aber auch Zeit
• not about to    gar keine Absicht haben, etw. zu tun

Ελληνική (Greek)
prep. - περί, για, σχετικά με, περίπου, πάνω κάτω, γύρω (από), ολόγυρα, κοντά
adv. - αντίθετα, αντίστροφα, πίσω, εδώ κι εκεί, πέριξ, γύρω, εκ περιτροπής

idioms:

• about face    μεταβολή, στροφή 180 μοιρών, πλήρης μεταστροφή απόψεων
• about to    έτοιμος να (κάνει κάτι)
• about turn    μεταβολή, στροφή 180 μοιρών
• come about    διαδραματίζομαι, συμβαίνω, (ναυτ.) αναστρέφω, παίρνω βόλτα
• it's about time    είναι καιρός.., ήρθε η ώρα..

Italiano (Italian)
circa, a proposito di, su, verso, intorno a, all'incirca, quasi, approssimativamente

idioms:

• be up and about    essere indaffarato
• it's about time    era ora

Português (Portuguese)
prep. - sobre, relativo a, perto de, em cima de
adv. - quase

idioms:

• about to    cerca de, prestes a
• be up and about    estar em movimento, ser medíocre
• get about    espalhar(-se) (rel. a notícias), viajar (rel. a pessoas)
• go about    tratar de, empreender, cuidar de, ter a intenção de fazer alguma coisa
• it's about time    está quase na hora
• out and about    absoluto, disponível após um período de ausência
• set about    começar

Русский (Russian)
о, на тему, в отношение, вокруг, кругом, около (о времени), приблизительно, почти, примерно

idioms:

• about to    собираться
• be up and about    поправиться после болезни
• get about    разъезжать, распространяться (о новостях, слухах), становиться известным
• go about    расхаживать, циркулировать (о слухах, деньгах), иметь дело (с кем-л. или чем-л.), подходить (к проблеме, работе и пр.), браться (за работу,дело и пр.), делать поворот кругом
• it's about time    пора
• out and about    в состоянии отправиться после болезни
• set about    начинать, побуждать начать, напасть, распространять (слухи)

Español (Spanish)
prep. - sobre, acerca de, alrededor de, cerca de, por aquí y por allá, casi, en
adv. - alrededor de, por aquí y por allá, aproximadamente, en torno, a punto de , en dirección opuesta
adj. - en movimiento, de un lado para otro

idioms:

• about face    media vuelta, cambio de actitud, cambio de partido
• about to    a punto de, en absoluto
• about turn    (mil) media vuelta
• be about    estar a punto de, estar para
• it's about time    ya es hora
• not about to    en absoluto

Svenska (Swedish)
prep. - angående, omkring
adv. - omkring, runt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
在附近, 在...周围, 关于, 在四周, 在近处, 到处, 大约, 活动中的, 在起作用的, 在传播或流行中的

idioms:

• about face    向后转, 彻底改变
• about to    快要, 正要, 刚要
• about turn    向后转
• it's about time    终于来了, 时间快到了

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
prep. - 在附近, 在...周圍, 關於
adv. - 在四周, 在附近, 在近處, 到處, 大約
adj. - 活動中的, 在起作用的, 在傳播或流行中的

idioms:

• about face    向後轉, 徹底改變
• about to    快要, 正要, 剛要
• about turn    向後轉
• it's about time    終於來了, 時間快到了

한국어 (Korean)
prep. - ~에 대하여, ~의 근처에, 여기 저기에, ~ 쯤에 , ~에 종사하여
adv. - 대략, 주위에, 여기 저기에, 삥 돌아서, 움직여서, 번갈아
adj. - 이리저리 움직여, 퍼져서, 방향.침로를 바꾸어

idioms:

• about to    막 ~하려 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
prep. - …について, …のあちこちに, 方々に, 身の回りに, 辺りに, 周りに, 従事して
adv. - およそ, ほとんど, あちこちに, ぐるりと回って, 順番に, 回りに
adj. - 今にも…しかけて, 動き回って, 広まって

idioms:

• about to    ～しそうな

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(حرف جر) عن, حول (ظرف) تقريبا, حوالي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
prep. - ‮בסביבה, קרוב ל-, על-אודות, ליד, פה ושם, בנוגע ל-, ביחס ל-, בסביבות (זמן), מסביב, נושא עם, עוסק ב-‬
adv. - ‮בערך, כמעט, בכל כיוון, פה ושם, בפעולה, בסיבוב, בהמשך, בפנייה לצד, אחורה‬
adj. - ‮מסתובב, קיים, נמצא, נפוץ‬

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