[seym] 
| 1. | identical with what is about to be or has just been mentioned: This street is the same one we were on yesterday. |
| 2. | being one or identical though having different names, aspects, etc.: These are the same rules though differently worded. |
| 3. | agreeing in kind, amount, etc.; corresponding: two boxes of the same dimensions. |
| 4. | unchanged in character, condition, etc.: It's the same town after all these years. |
| 5. | the same person or thing. |
| 6. | the same kind or category of thing: You're having steak? I'll have the same, but very rare. |
| 7. | the very person, thing, or set just mentioned: Sighted sub sank same. |
| 8. | the same, in the same manner; in an identical or similar way: I see the same through your glasses as I do through mine. |
| 9. | all the same,
|
| 10. | just the same,
|
| all (ôl) adj.
pron.
[Middle English al, from Old English eall; see al-3 in Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: The construction all that is used informally in questions and negative sentences to mean "to the degree expected." In the late 1960s, the Usage Panel rejected its use, but evidently resistance to all that is crumbling. Seventy-two percent of the Panel now finds the construction acceptable in the sentence The movie is not all that interesting. · Sentences of the form All X's are not Y may be ambiguous. All of the departments did not file a report may mean that some departments did not file, or that none did. The first meaning can be expressed unambiguously by the sentence Not all of the departments filed a report. The second meaning requires a paraphrase such as None of the departments filed a report or All of the departments failed to file a report. The same problem can arise with other universal terms such as every in negated sentences, as in the ambiguous Every department did not file a report. See Usage Note at every. Our Living Language : Among the newest ways of introducing direct speech in the United States is the construction consisting of a form of be with all, as in I'm all, "I'm not gonna do that!" And she's all, "Yes you are!" This construction is particularly common in the animated speech of young people in California and elsewhere on the West Coast, who use it more frequently than the informal East Coast alternatives, be like and go, as in He's like (or goes), "I'm not gonna do that!" These indicators of direct speech tend to be used more often with pronoun subjects (He's all, "I'm not....") than with nouns (The man's all, "I'm not...."), and with the historical present (He's all....) than with the past (He was all....). All of these locutions can introduce a gesture or facial expression rather than a quotation, as in He's all.... followed by a shrug of the shoulders. Be all and be like can also preface a statement that sums up an attitude, as in "I'm all 'No way!'" See Notes at go1, like2. |
all the same
Also, all one. Equally acceptable, making no difference. For example, If it's all the same to you I'd prefer the blue car, or Hot or cold, it's all one to me. [Late 1700s]
Also, just the same. Nevertheless, still. For example, John wants to stay another week, but I'm going home all the same, or Even if you vote against it, this measure will pass just the same. [c. 1800]