Was \Was\ (w[o^]z). [AS. w[ae]s, 2d pers. w[=ae]re, 3d pers. w[ae]s, pl. w[=ae]ron, with the inf. wesan to be; akin to D. wezen, imp. was, OHG. wesan, imp. was, G. wesen, n., a being, essence, war was, Icel. vera to be, imp. var, Goth. wisan to be, to dwell, to remain, imp. was, Skr. vas to remain, to dwell. [root]148. Cf. {Vernacular}, {Wassail}, {Were}, v.] The first and third persons singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, preterit (imperfect) tense; as, I was; he was.
Be \Be\ (b[=e]), v. i. [imp. {Was} (w[o^]z); p. p. {Been} (b[i^]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Being}.] [OE. been, beon, AS. be['o]n to be, be['o]m I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav. by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be, fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, Gr. fy^nai to be born, to be, Skr. bh[=u] to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb ``to be'', which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. [root]97. Cf. {Future}, {Physic}.] 1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have existence.
To be contents his natural desire. --Pope.
To be, or not to be: that is the question. --Shak.
2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man.
3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.
4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
The field is the world. --Matt. xiii. 38.
The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. --Rev. i. 20.
Note: The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, ``Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. '' ``The minstrel boy to the war is gone.'' The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed to-morrow.
Note: Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. ``I have been to Paris.'' --Sydney Smith. ``Have you been to Franchard ?'' --R. L. Stevenson.
Note: Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. ``Ye ben light of the world.'' --Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: ``They that be with us are more than they that be with them.'' --2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: ``To ben of such power.'' --R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: ``But if it be a question of words and names.'' --Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used.
{Be it so}, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so. --Shak.
{If so be}, in case.
{To be from}, to have come from; as, from what place are you? I am from Chicago.
{To let be}, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. ``Let be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade.'' --Spenser.
Syn: {To be}, {Exist}.
Usage: The verb to be, except in a few rare cases, like that of Shakespeare's ``To be, or not to be'', is used simply as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate; as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but points to things that stand forth, or have a substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not, therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers for the sake of variety; as in the phrase ``there exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes.'' We may, indeed, say, ``a friendship has long existed between them,'' instead of saying, ``there has long been a friendship between them;'' but in this case, exist is not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense to mark the friendship as having been long in existence.
According to a study by the Marshall Institute, the average NASA employee's age in 1963 was 30; now most of its senior and middle-managers will be eligible to retire in five years.
The sterling value of overseas equities and bonds was also greatly increased. So, it all worked out well in the end, but, nevertheless, the fundamentals of UK equity market valuation are stretched.
'At the beginning, the Mexican attitude was very macho.
The leader of a one-man crusade to open a home for people with AIDS has left town, emotionally battered and financially strapped but insisting Wednesday that his was a successful fight to change attitudes.
Frank lied about how he met Gobie and he lied when he wrote that, as far as he knew, Gobie was obeying the law.
In May, the year-to-year rise was 4.8%.
He was hospitalized in serious condition.
He also said he did not know why the decision was made.
The Massachusetts governor spent most of Monday in Boston, while George Bush was in Washington, leaving the campaign trail to Jackson.
The U.S. government was among many to condemn these bannings.
It was founded by William Russell, a member of the Yale Class of 1833, apparently in reaction to the stripping of secrecy from Phi Beta Kappa, the honorary scholastic society, during the rise of a national anti-secrecy movement.
Meanwhile, the circus animals are stuck in Newburgh, N.Y. The company that was transporting the animals took them there, to its headquarters, when the tour broke off after performances in just two cities.
In early trading in Hong Kong on Friday, gold was quoted at $399.55.
Secondly, there was no desk to spare in the whole office and one had to be bought.
One exception was New York based Paramount Capital Group Inc., which runs a popular dividend-capture strategy called buy-writes.
"It was laced with humor, but it had a rebellious feeling about it and people responded to it.
Klan leaders said this year's rally in part was a celebration of the state's decision not to enforce the mask law, which a state judge ruled unconstitutional after Miller's arrest.
The new order was much broader and appeared directed at the millions of factories and commercial companies that have sprung up outside the state plan during a decade of economic reform.
They were printed while Mrs. Sutcliffe was pursuing a libel case against the magazine for alleging she tried to cash in on her husband's notoriety by agreeing to sell her story to a newspaper.
"It ostensibly was a good API number for crude.
Thus ended the campaign in the first of the industrial states to vote, a battle that seemed as clear-cut on the Republican side as it was complicated for the Democrats.
A woman was in critical condition today after nine hours of surgery to receive a new liver, following a plea from track star Carl Lewis to help locate an organ.
Perhaps Columbus, had been right, after all. I took my leave of the finest green refuge on New York City's outskirts: the evening bell was sounding and somebody was driving a car along the lower terrace to remind us that highway morals rule.
Perhaps Columbus, had been right, after all. I took my leave of the finest green refuge on New York City's outskirts: the evening bell was sounding and somebody was driving a car along the lower terrace to remind us that highway morals rule.
He called Helm's injuries "overwhelming." Helm, who commuted 250 miles to rural from the Oakland to rural Weaverville to visit his family on weekends, was trapped in his crushed car for 89 hours.
He quietly raised $200,000 for a black voter registration drive in the South that was instrumental in returning the Senate to Democratic control that fall.
Aboard the rocket was a communications satellite for the British military and a satellite for television and radio broadcasts to Europe.
One juvenile was in custody and warrants were issued for a second juvenile and Darryl Wilson, 22, of Denver, she said.
His first financial success came was the Servitron Robot, a vinyl, 4-feet-tall, remote-control toy that serves drinks at parties.
Last month was the city's coldest and snowiest December on record, pushing Syracuse's snowfall for the decade to 1,075 inches, according to meteorologist Peter Jung.