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RELATED WORDS
experienced, skillful, licensed, efficient, qualified, competent, good, solid, positive, sincere, safe, steady, honest, respectable, predictable, stable, dependable, decisive, strong, decent
Nearby words
Idioms
been there, done that, Informal. (used to say that you have experienced or are familiar with something and now think it is boring or of little worth): A big house in the suburbs? Been there, done that.
Origin of there
before 900; Middle English (adv.), Old English thǣr thēr, cognate with Dutch daar, Old High German dār; akin to Gothic, Old Norse thar; cf. that
Usage note
7. The verb following there is singular or plural according to the number of the subject that follows the verb: There is a message for you. There are patients in the waiting room. With compound subjects in which all the coordinate words are singular, a singular verb often occurs, although the plural may also be used: There was (or were ) a horse and a cow in the pasture. When a compound subject contains both singular and plural words, the verb usually agrees with the subject closest to the verb, although a plural verb sometimes occurs regardless, especially if the compound has more than two elements: There were staff meetings and a press conference daily. There was (or were ) a glass, two plates, two cups, and a teapot on the shelf.
11. It is nonstandard usage to place there between a demonstrative adjective and the noun it modifies: that there car. The same is true of here : these here nails. Placed after the noun, both there and here are entirely standard: that car there; these nails here.
11. It is nonstandard usage to place there between a demonstrative adjective and the noun it modifies: that there car. The same is true of here : these here nails. Placed after the noun, both there and here are entirely standard: that car there; these nails here.
Definition for there (2 of 3)
-there
a combining form meaning “wild animal, beast,” used in the formation of compound words, usually denoting extinct mammals, as adaptions of zoological taxa ending in -therium or -theria: baluchithere.
Definition for there (3 of 3)
there's
[ th airz ]
/ ðɛərz /
contraction of there is: There's the hotel we were looking for.
contraction of there has: There's been entirely too much said on the subject.
Can be confused
theirs there'sUsage note
See contraction.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for there
Word Origin for there
Old English thǣr; related to Old Frisian thēr, Old Saxon, Old High German thār, Old Norse, Gothic thar
usage
In correct usage, the verb should agree with the number of the subject in such constructions as there is a man waiting and there are several people waiting. However, where the subject is compound, it is common in speech to use the singular as in there's a police car and an ambulance outside
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with there
there
In addition to the idioms beginning with there
- there but for the grace of God go I
also see:
- all there
- get there
- hang in (there)
- here and there
- here, there, and everywhere
- in there pitching
- neither here nor there
- no smoke without (where there's smoke there's) fire
- nothing to it (there's)
- somebody up there loves me
- take it from here (there)
- then and there
- where there's a will
- while there's life there's hope
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.