about
- adverb
- /əˈbaʊt/
- Oh yeah, I'm about to make some spaghetti.
- come about
Examples
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I am about to read for a long time.
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I was, uh, I was about nine or ten.
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Well, your world is about to turn upside down.
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We're in Phoenix, we're about to hit the road.
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Now I'm about to be off the road.
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And it was just like I was about to burst.
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But right now we're about to go on the Guardians ride.
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And of course, you can imagine sitting there aware that you're about to go up there.
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The vehicle is rated for depths of 4,000 meters, or about 2.5 miles.
Academic text (2008) -
The cat turned about to chase the mouse when it heard a noise.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
To stay alert and think quickly in difficult or unexpected situations
- Slur
People say it when something seems typical of white people and shows white privilege
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
About comes from old English parts a- 'on' and butan 'outside', which gave the idea of being 'around' something; so when people turn about they turn 'around' to face the other way.