they

pron

1. (nominative, plural, singular, sometimes, third-person, usually)A group of entities previously mentioned.

   “Fred and Jane? They just arrived.”

   “Dogs may bark if they want to be fed.”

   “Plants wilt if they are not watered.”

   “I have a car and a truck, but they are both broken.”

   “But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; And they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; And they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away”

2. (nominative, plural, singular, sometimes, third-person, usually)A single person, previously mentioned, whose gender is unknown, irrelevant, or (since 20th c.) non-binary.

   “Somebody requested a seat at Friday's performance but didn't say if they preferred the balcony or the floor.”

   “Who says they care? —He himself does.”

   “If someone enters the restricted area, they are required to present identification.”

   “I asked my friend if they wanted to come, but they said no.”

   “One of the boys tripped over, and they hit their head on the door.”

3. (indefinite, nominative, plural, pronoun, singular, sometimes, third-person, usually)People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker.

   “They say it’s a good place to live.”

   “They didn’t have computers in the old days.”

   “They don't make 'em like they used to.”

   “Always get a second source, they tell us in investigative lexicography;[…]”

   “I am beautiful, no matter what they say”

4. (indefinite, nominative, plural, pronoun, singular, sometimes, third-person, usually)The authorities, the (power) elites, the powers that be, the establishment, the man, the system: government, police, employers, etc.

   “They'll tax us for the air we breathe next.”

   “They should increase our wages.”

   “Ha, you believe the moon is real? That's just what they want you to think.”

5. (nominative, plural, singular, sometimes, third-person, usually)The opponents of the side which is keeping score.
6. (US, dialectal)There (especially as an expletive subject of be).

   “They’s music in the twitter of the bluebird and the jay.”

   “MARY ELLEN is a different case from the others. She has five children and, she claims: "I don't know who they father is. I ain't never kept track. They is always another one. You know, I can catch me a guy[.]"”

   “They ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.”

   “But they ain’t nothin’ in there you didn’t already have.”

   “Well, they’s a lot of ‘em didn’t survive, if you believe me.”

7. (alt-of, honorific)Honorific alternative letter-case form of of they, sometimes used when referring to gods or other important figures who are understood from context.

   “Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the sky.”

   “The question arises in a practical way in two possible situations: either ‘here is Mr. A: he wants to do some research and has a grant of so much for X years’: or ‘here is a problem: They (capital T, please) want us to do research about it and are prepared to pay £X over a period of X years’. Of course these problems are not for the entrepreneur separate: if he can promote an association between Mr. A and Them he has to that extent stabilised and regularised his business.”

   “God is used as the mouthpiece of the parent. You come to feel that you can never be good enough or perfect enough in their eyes or in God’s. Even when you start to think for yourself, you have the dim fear that They (capital T) are right.”

   “They (capital T) are saying that while Saddam was not at all a good idea it was very bad that we were in the Gulf at all – latest was a bearded Canuck who did me for their TV this morning.”

   “Succinctly stated, your story is that nameless men from a faceless organization want to kill you for reasons which you cannot fathom. You’ve done nothing. You are an innocent and blameless man. But They—capital ‘T’ They—want you dead.”

det

1. (Southern-England, dialectal, nonstandard)The, those.

   “They rooks as you see … only coom a few year agoo.”

   “Darn'd if they Cockney Chaps can zee there worn't nort but lie in him.”

   “page 21: "But you spile [spoil] they gals - they won't be for no good, they won't." page 30: "'Twas all about they rewks [rooks]," he sobbed. page 54: "mucking the place up with they weeds"”

   “"Bodies and souls," she cried, "if I didn't reckon to have hidden they boots safe from un in the stick-rick." "Off wi' they tight-wasted shoes o' yours, Martha."”

   “Forty quid a fuckin ticket. No shy they British Rail cunts, ah kin fuckin tell ye.”

2. (US, dialectal)Their.

   “MARY ELLEN is a different case from the others. She has five children and, she claims: "I don't know who they father is. I ain't never kept track. They is always another one. You know, I can catch me a guy[.]"”

   “It's a shame to see someone talk so bad about the gays and lesbians in prison. She is brainwash to the fact that she think every gay and lesbian in prison is guilty of they crimes.”

   “But all they kids be listenin' to me religiously / So I'm signin' CDs while police fingerprint me”

   “I got bitches askin' me about the code for the Wi-Fi / So they can talk about they timeline / And show me pictures of they friends”

   “He guessed one of the well-off people living in these houses must have took a shine to Cody and decided how he'd look good stuck up on they roof.”

verb

1. (transitive)To refer to (someone, sometimes especially someone who does not use gender-neutral pronouns) using they/them pronouns.

   “I have a pin that says she/her, but I still get theyed all the time.”