was

For the verb: "to be"

Simple Past:	was
Past Participle:	been

Multiple Entries:
  was    be  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
was/wəz/

first and third person singular past of be.

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.