meaningnoun
uk/ˈmiː.nɪŋ/us/ˈmiː.nɪŋ/meaning noun (OF WORD/WRITING/SIGN, ETC.)
B1 [ C or U ] The meaning of something is what it expresses or represents:
The word "flight" has two different meanings: a plane journey, and the act of running away.
The meaning of his gesture was clear.
His novels often have (a) hidden meaning.
More examples
- The meaning of a sentence often depends on stress and intonation.
- The literal meaning of 'television' is 'seeing from a distance'.
- It's sometimes very difficult to draw a clear distinction between the meanings of different words.
- Let's just say we had 'problems', if you get my meaning.
- The skull at the bottom of the picture has a symbolic meaning - it represents death.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Meaning & significance
- add
- add up to sth
- badge
- connotation
- denotation
- drift
- drive
- hermeneutic
- hermeneutics
- how
- loaded
- mean
- modality
- other
- pregnant
- put words in/into sb's mouth idiom
- significantly
- signify
- speak to sb idiom
- word
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meaning noun (IMPORTANCE)
B2 [ U ] importance or value:
The birth of her first grandchild gave new meaning to her life.
Education had no great meaning for him until much later in his life.
More examples
- Philosophers have searched for millennia but they haven't found the meaning of life.
- Since I started this job, my life has had new meaning.
- The work must be productive, to give it some meaning.
- These youngsters cannot see the meaning in education.
- Wealth has no meaning for them.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Importance - general words
- cornerstone
- focus
- grand
- gravitas
- importance
- magnitude
- meaningful
- momentous
- proportion
- seniority
- seriousness
- significance
- simple
- status
- substance
- substantial
- supremacy
- transcendent
- value
- weight
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