THING

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thing mean? 

• THING (noun)
  The noun THING has 12 senses:

1. a special situation

2. an action

3. a special abstraction

4. an artifact

5. an event

6. a vaguely specified concern

7. a statement regarded as an object

8. an entity that is not named specifically

9. any attribute or quality considered as having its own existence

10. a special objective

11. a persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion

12. a separate and self-contained entity

  Familiarity information: THING used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A special situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

it is a remarkable thing

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

situation; state of affairs (the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

how could you do such a thing?

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A special abstraction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

things of the heart

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

abstract; abstraction (a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An artifact

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

how does this thing work?

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thing"):

variation (an artifact that deviates from a norm or standard)

wobbler (something that wobbles)

standby (something that can be relied on when needed)

snorter (something that is extraordinary or remarkable or prominent)

pill (something that resembles a tablet of medicine in shape or size)

flagship (the chief one of a related group)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An event

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

a funny thing happened on the way to the...

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thing"):

feast (something experienced with great delight)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A vaguely specified concern

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

affair; matter; thing

Context example:

things are going well

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

concern (something that interests you because it is important or affects you)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thing"):

least (something that is of no importance)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A statement regarded as an object

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

how can you say such a thing?

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

statement (a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An entity that is not named specifically

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

I couldn't tell what the thing was

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

entity (that which is perceived or known or inferred to have its own distinct existence (living or nonliving))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thing"):

change (a thing that is different)

freshener (anything that freshens)

horror (something that inspires horror; something horrible)

crackerjack; jimdandy; jimhickey (something excellent of its kind)

pacifier (anything that serves to pacify)

security blanket (anything that an adult person uses to reduce anxiety)

stinker (anything that gives off an offensive odor (especially a cheap cigar))

whacker; whopper (something especially big or impressive of its kind)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Any attribute or quality considered as having its own existence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the thing I like about her is ...

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

attribute (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A special objective

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

the thing is to stay in bounds

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

aim; object; objective; target (the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable))

Sense 11

Meaning:

A persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Context example:

she has a thing about him

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Sense 12

Meaning:

A separate and self-contained entity

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Hypernyms ("thing" is a kind of...):

physical entity (an entity that has physical existence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thing"):

body of water; water (the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean))

inessential; nonessential (anything that is not essential)

essential; necessary; necessity; requirement; requisite (anything indispensable)

part; piece (a portion of a natural object)

reservoir; source (anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies)

building block; unit (a single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else)

variable (something that is likely to vary; something that is subject to variation)

content; depicted object; subject (something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation)

 Context examples 

It was not the first time in his long and successful life that this thing had happened.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It's a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you may lay to that.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The poor things got no other lunch and were seldom home before two.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Things cannot continue as they are.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Will you promise me one thing, Peggotty?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He was glad for one thing: the rope was off his neck.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The thing moved forward with a dreadful snarl.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have not nerves for the sort of thing.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Nothing, as things turned out, but everything had they gone another way.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Still I felt that Helen Burns considered things by a light invisible to my eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)