ðɪs pron.,
adj., & adv. --demons.pron. (pl. these) 1
the person or
thing close at
hand or indicated or
already named or
understood (can
you see this?; this is my cousin). 2 (contrasted
with that) the person or thing nearer to hand or
more immediately in
mind. 3 the
action,
behaviour, or circumstances
under consideration (this won't do at
all;
what do you
think of this?). 4 (on the telephone): a
Brit. the person
speaking. b US the person
spoken to. --demons.adj. (pl. these) 1 designating the person or thing close at hand etc. (cf. senses 1, 2 of pron.). 2 (of time): a the present or
current (am
busy all this week). b relating to
today (this morning). c
just past or to
come (have
been asking
for it
these three weeks). 3 colloq. (in narrative) designating a person or thing previously
unspecified (then up
came this policeman). --adv. to this
degree or
extent (knew
him when he
was this
high;
did not reach this far). øthis
and that colloq.
various unspecified examples of things (esp. trivial). this
here sl. this
particular (person or thing). this
much the
amount or extent
about to be stated (I
know this much, that he was not there). this
world mortal life. [OE, neut. of thes]
