adjective, noun, plural -nar⋅ies.| 1. | of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional: One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person. |
| 2. | plain or undistinguished: ordinary clothes. |
| 3. | somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre. |
| 4. | customary; usual; normal: We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend. |
| 5. | Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable. |
| 6. | (of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated. |
| 7. | (of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class. |
| 8. | the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.: ability far above the ordinary. |
| 9. | something regular, customary, or usual. |
| 10. | Ecclesiastical.
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| 11. | History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death. |
| 12. | English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority. |
| 13. | (in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate. |
| 14. | British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service. |
| 15. | a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare. |
| 16. | a high bicycle of an early type, with one large wheel in front and one small wheel behind. |
| 17. | Heraldry.
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| 18. | in ordinary, in regular service: a physician in ordinary to the king. |
| 19. | out of the ordinary,
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out of the ordinary
Unusual, uncommon, exceptional, as in The venison they served was certainly out of the ordinary. This expression sometimes, but not always, indicates that something is better than the usual. However, the negative version, nothing out of the ordinary, usually indicates that something is not special or outstanding, as in It was an interesting lecture, but nothing out of the ordinary.