abroad
/əˈbrɔːd
/chiefly British
adverb
1In or to a foreign country or countries: we usually go abroad for a week in May competition from companies at home and abroad...
- Why do they think they are so much better than everyone else when they go abroad?
- That should lead to sharp reductions in market share and employment both at home and abroad, and a likely wave of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies.
- If we can hire foreign coaches why can't we go abroad to gain more experience and improve our form?
Synonyms
overseas, out of the country, to/in foreign parts, to/in a foreign country/land, over the sea, beyond the seas
2In different directions; over a wide area: millions of seeds are annually scattered abroad...
- Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did dare confound the language of all the Earth and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the Earth.
- The vast inflow and outflow of tourists and emigrants means millions of pounds of Irish notes and coins may be scattered abroad.
- They were scattered abroad over the face of the earth.
Synonyms
widely, far and wide, everywhere, {here, there, and everywhere}, in all directions;
about, around, forth;
publicly, extensively
informal every which way
2.1(Of a feeling or rumour) widely current: there is a new buccaneering spirit abroad...
- After all the bitterness in the game over the past few years, there seemed something of a new spirit abroad, to which the persona of Tony Gilbert, the Borders' Kiwi coach, has contributed.
- In short, at the top of the new century he caught a new spirit abroad.
- First, there may be an entrepreneurial spirit increasingly abroad in Sweden and its cultural industries that has led to a wave of start-ups.
Synonyms
at large, current, in circulation, circulating, in the air, about, afoot, around, astir
2.2Freely moving about: hospital inmates abroad on the streets of the town...
- Some wonder why, if the police knew of the businessman's illegal activities, he was abroad in the streets, in his luxury car or designer bar, rather than in jail.
- They could only walk abroad in the streets if accompanied by a slave or other attendant.
- It's impossible to read of the terrors abroad in her shabby streetscapes without total emotional involvement.
3 archaic Out of doors: few people ventured abroad from their warm houses...
- There wouldn't be enough time to drop by the Academy before nightfall, and he didn't particularly want to be abroad in the streets then.
4 archaic Wide of the mark; in error.
noun [mass noun]
Foreign countries considered collectively: servicemen returning from abroad...
- I believe it a positive development when people from abroad buy land in a country, it can help economically.
- Anyone who begins to have recurring, shaking chills up to one year after returning home from abroad should seek professional medical care.
- Their latest move was divulged yesterday at the same time as the National Farmers Union warned that bringing home food or plants from abroad could bring a serious risk of spreading disease.
Origin
Middle English: from a-2 'on' + broad.