- most
- [[t]mo͟ʊst[/t]]
♦(Most is often considered to be the superlative form of and many.)1) QUANT: QUANT of def-n You use most to refer to the majority of a group of things or people or the largest part of something.
Most of the houses in the capital don't have piped water...
By stopping smoking you are undoing most of the damage smoking has caused...
Sadly, most of the house was destroyed by fire in 1828.
Syn:the majorityDET: DET pl-nMost is also a determiner.Most people think the Queen has done a good job over the last 40 years... Most companies are looking to sponsor students on specific courses.
PRONMost is also a pronoun.Seventeen civilians were hurt. Most are students who had been attending a twenty-first birthday party... All of the rooms have private baths, and most have radios and TV.
2) ADJ-SUPERL: the ADJ n You use the most to mean a larger amount than anyone or anything else, or the largest amount possible.The President himself won the most votes...
The skippers get the most money, and after them the cooks...
Tom had the most authority of all.
Ant:the leastPRONMost is also a pronoun.The most they earn in a day is ten roubles.
3) ADV-SUPERL: ADV with v You use most to indicate that something is true or happens to a greater degree or extent than anything else.What she feared most was becoming like her mother...
What they wanted most from the president was a leader who at least would try to educate the country.
...Professor Morris, the person he most hated.
Ant:●PHRASE: PHR with v You use most of all to indicate that something happens or is true to a greater extent than anything else.She said she wanted most of all to be fair.
4) ADV-SUPERL: ADV adj/adv You use most to indicate that someone or something has a greater amount of a particular quality than most other things of its kind.Her children had the best, most elaborate birthday parties in the neighborhood...
He was one of the most influential performers of modern jazz...
If anything, swimming will appeal to her most strongly...
Keeping pace with the litter during summer, when the park is most heavily used, is also a huge task.
...the most junior of the New York Times music critics.
Ant:5) ADV-SUPERL: the ADV after v If you do something the most, you do it to the greatest extent possible or with the greatest frequency.What question are you asked the most?...
Inevitably those who suffer the most are the mothers and children...
Among the subjects for which the pass rate has risen the most are art and design, business studies, and music.
Ant:the least6) ADV-SUPERL: ADV adv/adj You use most in conversations when you want to draw someone's attention to something very interesting or important that you are about to say.Most surprisingly, quite a few said they don't intend to vote at all...
Most interestingly, they are demanding that a national working party on crimes against women and children be established.
7) ADV-SUPERL: ADV adj/adv (emphasis) You use most to emphasize an adjective or adverb. [FORMAL]From tomorrow evening onwards I'll be most pleased to speak to them...
I believe he is most painfully anxious about Diana.
8) PHRASE: amount PHR, PHR with cl You use at most or at the most to say that a number or amount is the maximum that is possible and that the actual number or amount may be smaller.Poach the pears in apple juice or water and sugar for perhaps ten minutes at most.
...staying on at school for two extra years to study only three, or at the most four subjects...
Many companies are expecting flat sales or at most a 1 to 2 percent increase over last year.
Ant:at least, at the least9) PHRASE: V inflects If you make the most of something, you get the maximum use or advantage from it.Happiness is the ability to make the most of what you have...
Making the most of your hair means getting the cut and shape right.
English dictionary. 2008.
