definite article

noun Grammar.

an article, as English the, that classes as identified or definite the noun it modifies.

Origin:
1755–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Collins

World English Dictionary

definite article

—n
	grammar Compare indefinite article a determiner that expresses specificity of reference, such as the in English

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

00:10

Definite article is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

definite article definition

The word the; the article that precedes names of specific items: “the dog,” “the boats,” “the heavy anchor.” (Compare indefinite article.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Example sentences

In addition, the definite article must agree in gender number and case with the noun.

Students might need to know that the possessive has the same function as the definite article.

The use of the definite article shows that the concluding sentence refers back to the same search described in the first sentence.

Use Dictionary.com faster without ads >>

Matching Quote

"Consider what stuff history is made of,—that for the most part it is merely a story agreed on by posterity. Who will tell us even how many Russians were engaged in the battle of Chernaya, the other day? Yet, no doubt, Mr. Scriblerus, the historian, will fix on a definite number for the schoolboys to commit to their excellent memories. What, then, of the number of Persians at Salamis? The historian whom I read knew as much about the position of the parties and their tactics in the last-mentioned affair as they who describe a recent battle in an article for the press nowadays before the particulars have arrived. I believe that, if I were to live the life of mankind over again myself (which I would not be hired to do), with the Universal History in my hands, I should not be able to tell what was what."

-Henry David Thoreau

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Home Advisor

About PRIVACY POLICY Terms API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Suggest a Word Help