Any
one, a, an, or some; one or more without specification or identification:
If you have any witnesses, produce them. Pick out any six you like.
whatever or whichever it may be:
cheap at any price.
in whatever quantity or number, great or small; some:
Do you have any butter?
every; all:
Any schoolboy would know that. Read any books you find on the subject.
(following a negative) at all:
She can’t endure any criticism.
an unspecified person or persons; anybody; anyone:
He does better than any before him.
a single one or ones; an unspecified thing or things; a quantity or number:
We don’t have any left.
in whatever degree; to some extent; at all:
Do you feel any better?
any which way, in any manner whatever; indifferently or carelessly:
Doing your work any which way is just not good enough.
determiner
one, some, or several, as specified, no matter how much or many, what kind or quality, etc: any cheese in the cupboard is yours, you may take any clothes you like
(as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): take any you like
(usually used with a negative)
even the smallest amount or even one: I can’t stand any noise
(as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): don’t give her any
whatever or whichever; no matter what or which: any dictionary will do, any time of day
an indefinite or unlimited amount or number (esp in the phrases any amount or number): any number of friends
adverb
(usually used with a negative)
(foll by a comparative adjective) to even the smallest extent: it isn’t any worse now
(not standard) at all: he doesn’t care any
adj.
Old English ænig “any, anyone,” literally “one-y,” from Proto-Germanic *ainagas (cf. Old Saxon enig, Old Norse einigr, Old Frisian enich, Dutch enig, German einig), from PIE *oi-no- “one, unique” (see one). The -y may have diminutive force here.
Emphatic form any old ______ (British variant: any bloody ______) is recorded from 1896. At any rate is recorded from 1847. Among the large family of compounds beginning with any-, anykyn “any kind” (c.1300) did not survive, and Anywhen (1831) is rarely used, but OED calls it “common in Southern [British] dialects.”
any day
any longer
any number of
any old
any port in a storm
also see:
at any rate
by any means
go to any length
in any case
under any (no) circumstances
Read Also:
- Anigh
near; close to. nearby; close by. Historical Examples Ere for the knight his helmet / they undid again, From his head they drew the spear-point; / to death he was anigh. The Nibelungenlied Unknown But how could the beetle-powder have got anigh the children out of my pocket, sir? Johnny Ludlow, Second Series Mrs. Henry […]
- Anik
one of a series of Canadian geosynchronous communications satellites that provide telephone and television transmissions.
- Anil
a West Indian shrub, Indigofera suffruticosa, of the legume family, having elongated clusters of small, reddish-yellow flowers and yielding indigo. indigo; deep blue. Contemporary Examples And there was in fact somebody who fainted—anil Kumar, a former McKinsey & Co. executive vice president. Charles Gasparino Details Insider-Trading Investigations in New Book, ‘Circle of Friends’ William O’Connor […]
- Anile
of or like a foolish, doddering old woman. Historical Examples He is evidently childish, and breaks now and then into an anile laugh at the thought, no doubt, of some dead old pot-house jest. Nancy Rhoda Broughton Locke was now far too eminent a man to be troubled by so anile a demonstration of folly. […]
- Anilide
any compound containing the univalent group C 6 H 5 NH–, derived from aniline, as , C 8 H 9 NO. Historical Examples It yields an anilide; oxidation converts it into mesotartaric acid. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various anilide an·i·lide (ān’ə-lĭd, -līd’) n. An acyl derivative of aniline. An amide in […]