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being:


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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
being/ˈbiːɪŋ/
noun
  • 1 existence.

    ■ living; being alive.

  • 2 the nature or essence of a person.
  • 3 a real or imaginary living creature: alien beings.



Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
be/bi/
verb (sing. present am; are; is; pl. present are; 1st and 3rd sing. past was; 2nd sing. past and pl. past were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive were; present participle being; past part. been)
  • 1 (usu. there is/are) exist; be present.
  • 2 take place.

    ■ occupy a position in space.

    ■ stay in the same place or condition.

    ■ come; go; visit.

  • 3 (when connecting a subject and complement) having the specified state, nature, or role: Amy was 91.

    ■ represent or signify.

  • 4 informal say: last time I saw her she was all ‘You need to quit smoking!’.
auxiliary verb
  • 1 used with a present participle to form continuous tenses.
  • 2 used with a past participle to form the passive voice.
  • 3 used to indicate something that is due to happen.

    ■ used to express obligation or necessity.

    ■ used to hypothesize about something that might happen.

– phrases
the be-all and end-all informal a feature of an activity that is of greater importance than any other.
not be oneself not feel in one's usual physical or mental state.
-to-be of the future: his bride-to-be.
– origin OE bēon, an irregular verb whose full conjugation derives from several orig. distinct verbs; the forms am and is are rel. to L. sum and est.



'being' also found in these Oxford entries:
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