that
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 7
- Words With Friends
- 6
- Letters
- 4
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Definition of that
23 senses · 5 parts of speech · etymology included
conj
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Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc.
“He told me that the book is a good read.”
“I believe that it is true.”
“I can see that the ladder won't reach.”
“Pidgin is a combination of expressions and phrases that are recognizable to those who speak it. To non-Pidgin speakers, it may sound like slang. For example, “dat” means that and “fadda” means father or dad.”
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conj
-
Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc.
“He told me that the book is a good read.”
“I believe that it is true.”
“I can see that the ladder won't reach.”
“Pidgin is a combination of expressions and phrases that are recognizable to those who speak it. To non-Pidgin speakers, it may sound like slang. For example, “dat” means that and “fadda” means father or dad.”
-
Introducing a clause that is the subject of a verb, especially the 'be' verb or a verb expressing judgement, opinion, etc.
“It is almost certain that she will come.”
“It amazes me that people still believe this nonsense.”
“The boss ordered that the worker enter the room.”
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(literary)Introducing a clause that is the subject of a verb, especially the 'be' verb or a verb expressing judgement, opinion, etc.
“That she will come is almost certain.”
“That people still believe this nonsense amazes me.”
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Introducing a clause that complements an adjective or passive participle.
“I'm sure that you are right.”
“She is convinced that he is British.”
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Introducing a clause that complements an adjective or passive participle.
“Be glad that you have enough to eat.”
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Introducing a subordinate clause modifying an adverb.
“Was John there? — Not that I saw.”
“How often did she visit him? — Twice that I saw.”
“"[…”
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Introducing a clause that describes the information content of a preceding reporting noun.
“I heard a rumour that they got married.”
“Reports that he left the country are circulating.”
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Introducing — especially, but not exclusively, with an antecedent like so or such — a subordinate clause expressing a result, consequence, or effect.
“The noise was so loud that she woke up.”
“The problem was sufficiently important that it had to be addressed.”
“My dad apparently always said that no child of his would ever be harassed for its poor eating habits, and then I arrived, and I was so disgusting that he revised his opinion.”
-
(dated)Introducing a subordinate clause that expresses an aim, purpose, or goal ("final"), and usually contains the auxiliaries may, might, or should: so, so that, in order that.
“He fought that others might have peace.”
“Baſſ[anio]. Be aſſured you may. / Shy[lock]. I will be aſſured I may: and that I may be aſſured, I will bethinke me, may I ſpeake with Anthonio?”
“When hungry Judges ſoon the Sentence ſign, / And Wretches hang that Jury-men may Dine; […]”
“Ellen's mamma was going out to pay a visit, but she left the children a large piece of rich plumcake to divide between them, that they might play at making feasts.”
“That he might ascertain whether any of the cloths of ancient Egypt were made of hemp, M. Dutrochet has examined with the microscope the weavable filaments of this last vegetable.”
-
(archaic, poetic)Introducing a premise or supposition for consideration: seeing as; inasmuch as; given that; as would appear from the fact that.
“What are you mad, that you doe reaſon ſo?”
“[I]n short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
““She must be wonderfully fascinating,” said Mrs Morel, with scathing satire. “She must be very wonderful, that you should trail eight miles, backward and forward, after eight o’clock at night.””
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(archaic, poetic)Introducing an exclamation expressing a desire or wish.
“Oh that spring would come!”
“O that they were wiſe, and vnderſtoode, […]”
“'Would that my rage and wrath would somehow stir me, / Here as I am, to cut off thy raw flesh / And eat it, […]”
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(archaic, poetic)Introducing an exclamation expressing a strong emotion such as sadness or surprise.
“That men should behave in such a way!”
“Oh that I'd never set eyes on him!”
“That you could think such a thing!”
“I pray thee marke me, that a brother ſhould / Be ſo perfidious: […]”
det
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(demonstrative)The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.
“That book is a good read. This one isn't.”
“That battle was in 1450.”
“That cat of yours is evil.”
“The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.”
“She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creation, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.”
pron
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(demonstrative)The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action, or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.
“That's my car over there.”
“He went home, and after that I never saw him again.”
“‘Who's that?’ ‘It’s me.’.”
“To be, or not to be, that is the queſtion, / Whether tis nobler in the minde to ſuffer / The ſlings and arrowes of outragious fortune, / Or to take Armes againſt a ſea of troubles, / And by oppoſing, end them, […]”
“[A] second man—[…]—was qualified and fitted, both intellectually and morally,—and that to an exceptional extent—to be the Head […]”
-
(demonstrative)The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action, or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.
“They're getting divorced. What do you think about that?”
“They gave me the book about whales. That I've not yet read.”
“She asked me to lend him my tools. That I couldn't do.”
“I got fed up, and that to a great degree.”
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(demonstrative)The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action, or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.
“The water is so cold! — That it is.”
“Would you like another piece of cake? — That I would!”
“We think that you stole the tarts. — That I did not!”
-
(relative)In a relative clause, referring to a previously mentioned noun, as subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition; which, who.
“I didn't see the car that hit me.”
“The CPR course that she took really came in handy.”
“The house that he lived in was old and dilapidated.”
“This is the person that swore at me. (sometimes proscribed)”
“The poor cat, that had been trapped for three days, was freed this morning. (non-restrictive use; sometimes proscribed; see usage notes)”
-
(colloquial, relative)Used in place of relative adverbs such as where or when; often omitted.
“the place that [= where or to which] I went last year”
“the last time that [= when] I went to Europe”
adv
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(not-comparable)To a given extent or degree.
“Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.”
-
(not-comparable)To a given extent or degree.
“She said we waited for three hours, but I'm sure it wasn't that long.”
“It didn't seem like ten miles, but actually it was that far.”
-
(not-comparable)To a great extent or degree; very, particularly.
“I was seen quite quickly — I didn't have to wait that long.”
“I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult.”
“How was the play? ~ Not all that good.”
“You're fun to spend time with, but I'm not that into you.”
-
(Australia, British, informal, not-comparable)To such an extent; so.
“Ooh, I was that happy I nearly kissed her.”
“This was carried with that little noise that for a good space the vigilant Bishop was not awak'd with it.”
noun
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Something being indicated that is there; one of those.
“As such, they do not have the ontological weight of "Being" and "Not-being," but serve simply as an explanatory vocabulary necessary to describe our world of thises and thats.”
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
Etymology tree Old English þæt Middle English that English that From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *þat,…
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Etymology tree Old English þæt Middle English that English that From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *þat, from Proto-Germanic *þat. Cognate to Scots that, Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat and datt, German dass and das, Danish det, Swedish det, Icelandic það, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata). Further from Proto-Indo-European *tód; compare Ancient Greek τό (tó), Sanskrit तद् (tád), Waigali ta, Lithuanian tai̇̃, Polish to.
Words you can make from that
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