about

Less common meanings

7. 7
   moving aroundadverb

   Around; in various directions or in various places, here and there, especially after verbs of moving, looking or lying.

   The children ran about in the garden until dark.

   He paced about, waiting for the call.

   UsageAround means the same and is more usual in American English: run around, pace around.

   Similararound

8. 8
   without purposeadverb

   Used after verbs to suggest aimless or unproductive activity, chiefly in informal British use.

   They were just larking about in the pool.

   He's been lazing about all day.

   UsageFollows verbs like mess, lark and laze: stop messing about. Around works the same way.

   Similararound

9. 9
   nearbyadverb

   Nearby, or present in the area.

   Keep your voice down, there may be guards about.

   The village was quiet, with no one about.

   UsageUsually comes at the end, after the noun: no one about, guards about.

   Similararound

10. 10
    preposition

    Around a place or thing: on every side of it, here and there in it, or near it; now chiefly literary or British.

    He wore a heavy chain about his neck.

    The soldiers gathered about the fire.

    UsageIn everyday speech around is more usual: a chain around his neck.

    Similararound, round

    Note

    The oldest picture in the word comes from Old English onbūtan, which joined on ("in, on") to būtan ("outside of"). The first meaning was therefore "on the outside of": something that encloses a thing from without. A snake coiled about an ankle, or mercy and truth bound about the neck, keeps that image exactly. Nearness to a place and the "approximately" meaning are looser versions of the same circle. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • About derives from Old English onbūtan, formed from on meaning 'in, on' and būtan meaning 'outside of'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The original spatial image was being on the outside of or around something. en.wiktionary.org
    • A snake coiled about an ankle illustrates the surrounding sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • Mercy and truth bound about the neck is a biblical image, found in Proverbs 3:3. en.wikisource.org
    • The senses of nearness and approximation extend the spatial sense of 'around'. archive.org
11. 11
    in circulationadjective

    In existence, in circulation or in evidence; chiefly British.

    Cheap imitations have been about for years.

    There are some good bargains about at the moment.

    UsageOften after there is or there are: there are fakes about. Around is the common alternative.

    Similararound

12. 12
    adjective

    Moving around and active, especially out of bed after rest or illness, or out of the house.

    The farmer was up and about before dawn.

    We were out and about all weekend.

    UsageMostly in up and about (active again after illness or sleep) and out and about (going places).

    Note

    Older English could also use the word alone as a command to get moving: Hamlet's About, my brain! urges his own wits into action. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Older English used about independently as an exhortation to activity. en.wiktionary.org
    • Hamlet says 'About, my brain!' as an exhortation to his own mind, before developing his plan to test the king through a play. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    carried with youpreposition

    On one's person, carried with or near one.

    The prisoner had nothing about him but a comb.

    She always kept a pencil about her.

    UsageUsually with a pronoun: a pen about you, nothing about him. Everyday English more often says on or with.

    Similaron, with

14. 14
    opposite directionadverb

    Turned around so as to face or move the opposite way, or so that an order or situation is reversed.

    The sergeant barked, and the platoon turned about.

    You've got it the wrong way about: she left him.

    UsageMostly in turn about and the wrong way about; everyday speech more often uses around or round.

    Similararound, round

15. 15
    into beingadverb

    In the course of events, into being or happening; now found only in the set phrases bring about (to cause) and come about (to happen).

    UsageBring about takes an object: The talks brought about peace. Come about does not: How did this come about?

    Note

    In both, the particle carries no meaning a speaker can isolate; each phrase works as a single verb.

16. 16
    turn (a ship)adverb

    In sailing, onto the opposite tack by turning the bow through the wind, chiefly with go, come or put.

    The helmsman put the ship about to avoid the reef.

    Tacking means going about again and again.

    Note

    Sailing has its own use for the reversal idea: a vessel that goes about swings onto the opposite tack. The word can also describe the finished state. An old set of signaling orders says that before he goes about he fires a gun, and being about, he shows a light. So about names both the maneuver and its result. The rarer verb is "to about a ship". Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Historical signaling orders prescribe firing a gun before going about and displaying a light afterward. en.wiktionary.org
    • The historical passage uses about for both the maneuver and the resulting state. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    verbraretransitive or intransitive

    To turn or be turned round to face or head the opposite way, as a soldier on parade or a sailing ship changing tack.

    Mr. Whalen:] they had "abouted ship." They had changed the course to put her into the wind—

    1937, United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Amending the Merchant Marine Act of 1936

    Note

    This uncommon verb is formed from the sailing adverb and inflects regularly: abouts, abouting, abouted. A 1937 Senate hearing has they had abouted ship, and a 1950 issue of the magazine Sea Breezes has we were abouting ship every watch. Its usual object is ship, with no article. The more ordinary wording is go about or bring her about, from the tacking adverb. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The verb has the regular forms abouts, abouting and abouted. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    adverbarchaic

    In circumference, measured all the way around.

    Indeede I am in the waste two yards about.

    c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

    The island was a mile about, and a third of a mile across.

    Note

    This is measurement taken round the outside: a mile about is a mile in circumference, with the word placed after the number. The usage is archaic, and Falstaff in Shakespeare's Merry Wives turns it into a boast of girth: I am in the waist two yards about. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • 'A mile about' describes circumference, with about following the measurement. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor. gutenberg.org
19. 19
    indirect wayadverbarchaic

    By a roundabout route, not directly.

    With the bridge washed out, our guide had to take us a long way about.

    God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea.

    1790, The Christian's Complete Family Bible: Containin the Whole of the Sacred Text of the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocrypha at…

    Note

    Taking the long way is the idea: God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness, rather than straight across. A modern reader would likely hear went about as the sailing maneuver or as "set to work". Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The biblical wording says that God led the people about through the wilderness. en.wikisource.org
    • The narrative describes taking an indirect route instead of the nearer route. en.wikisource.org
20. 20
    adverbobsolete

    One after another, in succession or by turns.

    Note

    Taking turns is the idea, and the lone adverb is obsolete or rare. A reader is far more likely to meet it frozen in turn and turn about, as in the saying turn and turn about is fair play. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The saying “turn and turn about is fair play” is attested with the quoted wording. en.wikisource.org
21. 21
    adverbobsolete

    Round and round, in rotation or revolution.

    Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.

    1897, William Shakespeare, The Tempest

    What an Arme he has, he turn'd me about with his finger and his thumbe, as one would set up a Top.

    1908, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Coriolanus

    Note

    The motion here is spinning, not reversing. Shakespeare's turn'd me about with his finger and his thumbe, as one would set up a top describes a full rotation, and in The Tempest a queasy speaker begs not to be turned about. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • This sense denotes rotation rather than reversal and is labelled obsolete or rare. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation is Shakespeare's, spoken by the First Servingman in Coriolanus, Act 4, Scene 5; the comparison with a top supports the spinning interpretation. en.wikisource.org
    • In The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 2, Stephano asks not to be turned about because his stomach is unsettled. shakespeare.mit.edu