Meaning meaning in English
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Definition
the meaning: the significance, the message, the interpretation
What's the meaning of this word? Do you know the significance of it?
(the) meaning (of life): (the) purpose, significance (of life), (the) reason why (life) is important
Examples
- "You have a $500 deductible on your comprehensive and collision coverage, meaning that Ouch Insurance will pay for any damages above this amount."
- "Our HR Department has just recently issued a hiring freeze, meaning that I won't be hiring a Personal Assistant at all."
- "I've got an alternative meaning for GDP, and this room is full of them: genuinely disgusting people!"
- "Jean : Edward, what is the meaning of this?"
- "Bruno : What is the meaning of this?"
- "Brian : Ah, next, Philip usually tells us about the true meaning of Christmas."
- "Philip : I think I understand the meaning of life."
- "Expect strange shapes, serious faces, and deep meanings."
Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks below with terms from the dialogue. Use the definitions to help you!
This is the organ that controls thinking and movement, located in the head. "I was told to wear a helmet when riding my motorcycle to protect my ."
This term describes "significance" or "purpose". "I didn't understand the of the term, so I looked it up in the dictionary."
This term describes a feeling of anticipation, hope, or belief that something will happen. "I many gifts for my birthday from my parents, because they know I'm poor and need things."
This is the organ that controls thinking and movement, located in the head. "I was told to wear a helmet when riding my motorcycle to protect my ."
This term describes "significance" or "purpose". "I didn't understand the of the term, so I looked it up in the dictionary."
This term describes a feeling of anticipation, hope, or belief that something will happen. "I many gifts for my birthday from my parents, because they know I'm poor and need things."
Fill in the blanks below with terms from the dialogue. Use the definitions to help you!
This is the organ that controls thinking and movement, located in the head. "I was told to wear a helmet when riding my motorcycle to protect my brain 1."
This term describes "significance" or "purpose". "I didn't understand the meaning 2 of the term, so I looked it up in the dictionary."
This term describes a feeling of anticipation, hope, or belief that something will happen. "I [not done] expect 3 many gifts for my birthday from my parents, because they know I'm poor and need things."
This is the organ that controls thinking and movement, located in the head. "I was told to wear a helmet when riding my motorcycle to protect my brain 1."
This term describes "significance" or "purpose". "I didn't understand the meaning 2 of the term, so I looked it up in the dictionary."
This term describes a feeling of anticipation, hope, or belief that something will happen. "I [not done] expect 3 many gifts for my birthday from my parents, because they know I'm poor and need things."
1 brain: The "brain" or "brains" are the organ within many animals which controls movement, speech, feeling, etc. In this dialogue, Hannah tells Brian that women "have brains", and aren't "sex objects".
2 meaning: The "meaning" of a word is its "significance" or "definition". It is what you find next to a word when you look it up in a dictionary or see it in your Gymglish corrections! Example: "I've just learnt the meaning of the word "meaning"!".
3 expect: To "expect (a phone call)" is to anticipate a phone call, or to wait for a phone call. It is a common verb which is used to express anticipation or belief that an event will occur. In this dialogue, Hannah remarks that she didn't "expect" sexist behavior from Brian Jones.
Exercise 2
In the first sentence of this email, Bruno is expressing that:
In the first sentence of this email, Bruno is expressing that:
Bruno does in fact understand the meaning of Barbara's email, just not the reasoning behind it.
Bruno is not expressing that he doesn't understand the "timing" of Barbara's letter, but that he doesn't understand "why" she sent it.
Bruno is not expressing that he doesn't understand the "wording" of Barbara's letter, but that he doesn't understand "why" she sent it.
This is the best choice here. Bruno writes that he is "not quite sure what (Barbara) expected to achieve from such an email". Bruno is expressing that he doesn't understand "why" Barbara would write such an email, or what she hoped to accomplish by writing this type of email.
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