english

Less common meanings

8. 8
   ball spinnounCanadaUSuncountable

   Spinning motion around the vertical axis given to a ball, as in pool, billiards, or bowling.

   She put left english on the cue ball to bring it off the cushion toward the corner pocket.

   With a little english, the bowler made the ball hook into the pocket at the last moment.

   UsageCommon in put (some) english on the ball, and in left english or right english.

   Similarspin, side

   Note

   In casual talk it can take in topspin and backspin too, as in bottom-right english. Where the word came from is uncertain; one guess credits people from England with bringing the technique to American billiard and bowling halls, another a person surnamed English. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The origin of the ball-spin sense is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org
   • One proposed origin credits people from England with introducing the technique in the United States. en.wiktionary.org
   • Another proposed origin connects the term with someone surnamed English. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   plain wordsnoun · Englishcountable or uncountable

   A clear, readily understood way of putting an idea in English.

   After ten minutes of technical talk, the engineer finally put it in plain English: the bridge was unsafe.

   In English, please: what does this clause actually mean for me?

   UsageCommon in in plain English and the request In English, please, aimed at jargon.

   Note

   The request for something in English is aimed at jargon, not at a foreign language: in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dr. Crusher answers Data's "multi-phasic temporal convergence in the space-time continuum" with "In English, Data." Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data describes the anomaly as a multi-phasic temporal convergence in the space-time continuum. st-minutiae.com
   • Dr. Crusher responds to Data's technical explanation with the words "In English, Data." en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    new twistnounfigurativelyuncountable

    An unusual or unexpected slant or nuance given to the interpretation of a text or idea.

    The director puts some english on the familiar fairy tale by setting it in a small-town diner.

    The columnist put a little english on the governor's remarks to make them sound like an endorsement.

    UsageUsually put some english on an idea or story.

    Similarspin, twist, slant

    Note

    The pool player's trick carried over to ideas: a writer who puts some english on a story sends it off at an angle nobody expected, just as sidespin does a cue ball. Put some english on is the usual frame, followed by the idea that gets the twist, as in Thomas Cripps's Making Movies Black, where a filmmaker "put some english on the idea". Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The figurative sense of english extends the meaning referring to spin applied to a ball in pool or billiards. en.wiktionary.org
    • Sidespin can change the angle of a cue ball's path. drdavepoolinfo.com
    • Thomas Cripps wrote Making Movies Black. academic.oup.com
    • Making Movies Black describes a filmmaker as having "put some english on the idea". en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    verb · Englishraretransitive

    To translate or adapt something into English.

    Here, the poems are Englished by twelve different translators

    2011, Colin Cheney, 'Where Should I Start with Tomas Tranströmer?'

    Mamma is an adaptation of a French farce by Mr. Sydney Grundy, made in the time when his chief claim to recognition as a playwright lay in his ingenious aptitude for Englishing the un-Englishable.

    1901, The Speaker, the Liberal Review - Volume 3

    Note

    The verb still surfaces in writing about translation, usually as a flourish: one collection of Tomas Tranströmer's poems was described in 2011 as Englished by twelve different translators, and The Speaker of 1901 credits Sydney Grundy with Englishing the un-Englishable. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • In 2011, a collection of Tomas Tranströmer's poems was described as Englished by twelve different translators. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Speaker in 1901 credited Sydney Grundy with Englishing the un-Englishable. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    weightsadjective · English

    Of or measured in the traditional non-metric units, such as inches, feet, pounds and gallons, used in Britain and the US.

    Old shipping records give each cargo's weight in English tons.

    The old engineering drawings were all in English measurements, so every inch and foot had to be converted for the new metric machines.

13. 13
    non-Amish folknoun · Englishcountable or uncountableplural

    Among the Amish, the people who live outside the Amish faith and community.

    Few of the English understand why the Amish will not own cars.

    At eighteen he left his Amish farm to live among the English for a year.

    OppositeAmish

14. 14
    adjective · English

    Among the Amish, not Amish; so called because outsiders speak English rather than a form of German.

    Many Amish families hire an English driver for trips to the doctor.

    The Amish bishop warned the young people against spending too much time with their English friends.

    OppositeAmish

    Note

    Amish usage draws the line by language, not by country, so a neighbor of any background counts as English simply for not being Amish. Outsiders who adopt the label for themselves are borrowing the community's word for them, and the same logic gives the noun: to live among the English is to live among people outside the faith. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The Amish designation English comes from language differences rather than the outsider's nationality. groups.etown.edu
    • English can designate non-Amish people regardless of their national background; outsiders using it for themselves adopt the Amish designation. amishamerica.com
    • The plural noun the English denotes people outside the Amish faith and community. en.wiktionary.org
    • It means living among non-Amish people; Amish people themselves can live among the English while retaining their faith. files.eric.ed.gov
15. 15
    verb · Englisharchaictransitive

    To make someone or something English, or to claim something for England.

    While the man Clive—he fought Plassy, spoiled the clever foreign game, Conquered and annexed and Englished!

    1880, Robert Browning, “Clive”

    Note

    Its setting is conquest: Browning's "Clive" (1880) has the general who "Conquered and annexed and Englished!", the last of three verbs of empire. Where the translator's verb works on words, this one works on land and people, and today it reads as plainly old-fashioned. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Robert Browning wrote Clive, first published in 1880. catalog.freelibrary.org
    • Clive contains the exact words "Conquered and annexed and Englished!", describing Clive's conquests. en.wikisource.org
    • Englished is the last of three coordinated verbs describing conquest and annexation. en.wikisource.org
    • English has distinct verb senses meaning to translate into English and to make English or claim for England. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    type sizenoun · Englishdatedcountable or uncountable

    A size of type standardized as 14-point, falling between pica (12-point) and great primer (18-point).

    The preface is set in English, two points larger than the pica used for the main text.

    The printer's inventory lists two cases of English roman and one of great primer.

    Note

    Printers once named their type sizes instead of numbering them, and English was one of those names. When the point system took over, it was fixed at 14 points and the number won: a modern printer simply asks for 14-point type. The old name is now a historian's word, used without an article, as in a preface set in English. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Printers formerly named type sizes rather than specifying them by point number, and English was one such name. britishletterpress.co.uk
    • English was standardized as 14-point type, between pica (12-point) and great primer (18-point). en.wiktionary.org
    • Point-size numbers displaced the old type-size names. c82.net