her
/həː
/pronoun [third person singular]
1Used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a female person or animal previously mentioned or easily identified: she knew I hated her I told Hannah I would wait for her...
- So, all I had to do was look out for the lady who picked up her phone to identify her.
- As an adult she's learnt to say no to herself, but it hasn't come easily to her.
- No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain.
1.1Referring to a ship, country, or other inanimate thing regarded as female: the crew tried to sail her through a narrow gap...
- So, as usual we wish good speed to The Highfield Mole and all who sail in her.
- It was another bad week for the insurance world and all who sail in her in Scotland.
- The American ship put up such resistance that Stier, after sinking her, went down too.
1.2Used after the verb ‘to be’ and after ‘than’ or ‘as’: it must be her he was younger than her...See usage.
- I know I can sing better than a screaming psychopath with messed up hair - OK, I didn't mean to be that harsh, but I know I can sing better than her.
- I know it's her, because she has one shoe heel missing and you can hear it when she walks.
- If I train really hard can I be as fast as her next year?
1.3West Indian She: she will get all her wants
2 archaic or North American dialect Herself: peevishly she flung her on her face
possessive determiner
1Belonging to or associated with a female person or animal previously mentioned or easily identified: Patricia loved her job...
- She loved her own company, loved her animals and would do anything for anybody.
- Thank God that her love of meat flavoured treats is greater than her love of chasing chucks.
- Until a few years ago my own sister was a primary school teacher who loved her job.
1.1Belonging to or associated with a ship, country, or other inanimate thing regarded as female: at her launch, she was the ultimate in luxury transatlantic travel...
- Usually lunch is back on board as the ship makes her stately progress to the next port.
- It shows the ship lying forlornly on her starboard side, almost completely capsized.
- The Island-class vessel has won the Jersey Cup, awarded every year to a ship of her type.
2 (Her) Used in titles: Her Majesty...
- In an act of petty vindictiveness she was deprived of the title of Her Royal Highness.
- To suggest that it was an alternative to the Queen's Christmas message is frankly insulting to Her Majesty.
- I'm willing to go along with the idea that maybe it might be nice to welcome Her Majesty to one of her Realms.
Usage
Is it incorrect to say I am older than her (rather than I am older than she) or it’s her all right (rather than it’s she all right) and, if so, why? For a discussion of this issue, see personal pronoun (usage).
Phrases
her indoors
Origin
Old English hire, genitive and dative of hīo, hēo 'she'.
Rhymes
- psycho-philosopher
- psycho-philosophical
- psycho-philosophy
- psychophonetic
- psychophonetics
- psychophony
- psychophysic
- psychophysical
- psychophysical isomorphism
- psychophysical law
- psychophysically
- psychophysical method
- psychophysical parallelism
- psychophysicist
- psychophysics
- psychophysiologic
- psychophysiological
- psychophysiologist
- psychophysiology
- psychopolitical
- psychopolitics
- psychopomp
- psychopompal
- psychopompos
- psychopompous