Most

//ˈməʊst// adj, adv, det, noun, pron, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    The greatest; the best. dated, not-comparable, slang

    "PATTY:They announced this year's nominees for student council. And guess who's up for vice-president? Me! Isn't that the most to say the least?"

Adjective
  1. 1
    the superlative of ‘much’ that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by ‘the’; a quantifier meaning the greatest in amount or extent or degree wordnet
  2. 2
    (superlative of ‘many’ used with count nouns and often preceded by ‘the’) quantifier meaning the greatest in number wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Forms the superlative of many adjectives. not-comparable

    "This is the most important example."

  2. 2
    Almost. US, informal, not-comparable

    "A well-daiquiried redhead eyed him from across the room at Jilly's one night in 1963 — although it could have been most any night ever […]"

  3. 3
    To a great extent or degree; highly; very. not-comparable

    "This is a most unusual specimen."

  4. 4
    superlative degree of much form-of, not-comparable, superlative

    "Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too."

Adverb
  1. 1
    used to give emphasis wordnet
  2. 2
    (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but wordnet
  3. 3
    used to form the superlative, greatest in size or degree wordnet
Determiner
  1. 1
    superlative degree of much. form-of, superlative

    "The teams competed to see who could collect (the) most money."

  2. 2
    superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article) form-of, superlative

    "The team with the most points wins."

  3. 3
    superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article) form-of, superlative

    "Most bakers and dairy farmers have to get up early."

Noun
  1. 1
    The greatest amount. uncountable, usually

    "The most I can offer for the house is $150,000."

  2. 2
    The greater part. countable, uncountable, usually

    "Most of the penguins were friendly and curious."

  3. 3
    A record-setting amount. countable, usually

    "Along with their massive size will come other “mosts”: they will likely be the longest living, the best educated, the wealthiest and the most wired/ wireless."

Pronoun
  1. 1
    The greater part of a group, especially a group of people.

    "Most want the best for their children."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

Etymology 4

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

Etymology 5

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

Etymology 6

Reduction of almost.

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