Nearby Words
noun
1.
a.
a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.
b.
a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
2.
the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family.
3.
the spouse and children of one person: We're taking the family on vacation next week.
4.
any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins: to marry into a socially prominent family.
5.
EXPANDall those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.
6.
Chiefly British. approved lineage, especially noble, titled, famous, or wealthy ancestry: young men of family.
7.
a group of persons who form a household under one head, including parents, children, and servants.
8.
the staff, or body of assistants, of an official: the office family.
9.
a group of related things or people: the family of romantic poets; the halogen family of elements.
10.
a group of people who are generally not blood relations but who share common attitudes, interests, or goals and, frequently, live together: Many hippie communes of the sixties regarded themselves as families.
11.
a group of products or product models made by the same manufacturer or producer.
12.
Biology. the usual major subdivision of an order or suborder in the classification of plants, animals, fungi, etc., usually consisting of several genera.
13.
Slang. a unit of the Mafia or Cosa Nostra operating in one area under a local leader.
14.
15.
COLLAPSEMathematics.
a.
a given class of solutions of the same basic equation, differing from one another only by the different values assigned to the constants in the equation.
b.
a class of functions or the like defined by an expression containing a parameter.
c.
a set.
adjective
16.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a family: a family trait.
17.
belonging to or used by a family: a family automobile; a family room.
18.
suitable or appropriate for adults and children: a family amusement park.
19.
not containing obscene language: a family newspaper.
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In the family way
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
20.
in a/the family way, pregnant.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English familie < Latin familia a household, the slaves of a household, equivalent to famul(us) servant, slave + -ia -y3
1350–1400; Middle English familie < Latin familia a household, the slaves of a household, equivalent to famul(us) servant, slave + -ia -y3
Related forms
an·ti·fam·i·ly, adjective
in·ter·fam·i·ly, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To in the family way
Slang Dictionary
in a family way definitionand in the family way
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
in the family way
Pregnant, as in Mary's in the family way again. This euphemistic expression dates from the late 1700s and may be dying out.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
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