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Used is the past participle of use. Among its meanings is "accustomed". The expression used to is in some spoken accents similar sounding to use to, leading to confusion. Standard: I always carry an umbrella because I am used to the weather being unpredictable in Melbourne. Standard: An umbrella is what I use to avoid getting wet.
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
Evasion or evade may refer to: Evade, a 1960s board game in the 3M bookshelf game series; Évadé, the term given to French and Belgian nationals fleeing German-occupied Europe; Évasion, a Canadian French-language travel and adventure television channel; Évasion FM, a French local radio station; Evasion (ethics), a deceptive act
Definitional retreat – changing the meaning of a word when an objection is raised. [23] Often paired with moving the goalposts (see below), as when an argument is challenged using a common definition of a term in the argument, and the arguer presents a different definition of the term and thereby demands different evidence to debunk the argument.
An illustration of a weasel using "weasel words". In this case, "some people" are a vague and undefined authority. In rhetoric, a weasel word, or anonymous authority, is a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated.
A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). [1] [2] Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitions (which try to list the objects that a term describes). [3]
Onomatopoeia: word that imitates a real sound (e.g. tick-tock or boom). Paradiastole: A rhetorical device using euphemistic or mild language to avoid offence or harsh reality. Parallelism: the use of similar structures in two or more clauses. Paraprosdokian: A sentence or phrase with an unexpected twist or surprise at the end.
Because the word there can also be a deictic adverb (meaning "at/to that place"), a sentence like There is a river could have either of two meanings: "a river exists" (with there as a pronoun), and "a river is in that place" (with there as an adverb).