the possessive form of he (used as an attributive or predicative adjective).
His coat is the brown one. This brown coat is his. Do you mind his speaking first?
that or those belonging to him.
His was the cleverest remark of all. I borrowed a tie of his.
of, belonging to, or associated with him
his own fault
his knee
I don't like his being out so late
as pronoun
his is on the left
that book is his
(of paired objects) for a man and woman respectively
before 900; Middle English, Old English, genitive of hē he 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He’s been throwing weighted plyo balls to keep his arm strength up without aggravating his knee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Krishna Guha of Evercore ISI said his base case remains that Warsh narrowly avoids an increase in September, though he described it as a knife-edge call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Durov was also arrested and placed under formal investigation in France in 2024 for his alleged failure to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s timeline back to the mound is the biggest unknown, but Friedman insisted that his lingering knee injury didn’t change the Dodgers’ evaluation of its rotation heading into the deadline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
He lies down on his own bed so Dr. Harlow can shave his head and examine the wound more closely.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
His own children can look ahead to high-paying jobs without leaving home, a future he never thought possible while growing up there.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
His wife suggested that he go online, order a lot of envelopes and keep the surplus for next time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
His comments to me are like … ‘Any other lifeguard on duty would do the same thing I did.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
His $1.4 billion in earnings last year from such ventures has been drawing considerable attention ever since those earnings were detailed a month ago in his annual financial disclosure.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“He was. His name was Kevin,” Candie replies.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
