ɔv prep. connecting a
noun (often a
verbal noun) or
pronoun with a preceding noun,
adjective,
adverb, or
verb, expressing a
wide range of relations
broadly describable as follows: 1
origin,
cause, or
authorship (paintings of
Turner;
people of Rome; died of malnutrition). 2
the material or
substance constituting or identifying a
thing (a
house of cards;
was built of bricks). 3 belonging,
connection, or
possession (a thing of the
past; articles of
clothing; the
head of the
business; the tip of the iceberg). 4
identity or close
relation (the
city of Rome; a pound of apples; a fool of a man). 5
removal,
separation, or
privation (north of the city;
got rid of
them; robbed us of ø1000). 6
reference,
direction, or
respect (beware of the
dog; suspected of lying;
very good of
you;
short of
money; the selling of goods). 7
objective relation (love of
music; in
search of peace). 8
partition, classification, or inclusion (no
more of
that;
part of the story; a
friend of mine;
this sort of
book;
some of us will stay). 9
description,
quality, or
condition (the
hour of prayer; a
person of
tact; a
girl of
ten; on the
point of leaving). 10 US
time in relation to the
following hour (a
quarter of three). øbe of
possess intrinsically;
give rise to (is of
great interest). of
all designating the (nominally)
least likely or expected
example (you of all people!). of all the
nerve (or
cheek etc.) an
exclamation of
indignation at a person's impudence etc. of an
evening (or
morning etc.) colloq. 1 on
most evenings (or mornings etc.). 2 at some time in the evenings (or mornings etc.). of
late recently. of
old formerly; long
ago. [OE,
unaccented form of óf, f. Gmc]