about

play

adverb \ ə-ˈbau̇t \

Definition of about

1 a :reasonably close to

about a year ago

b :almost

about starved

just about finished

c :on the verge of —usually used with be and a following infinitive

is about to join the army

—used with a negative to express intention or determination

not about to quit

2 :on all sides :around

looked about for a place to park

3 a :in rotation

They go about in circles.

b :around the outside

4 :in many different directions :here and there

walked about for hours

5 :in the vicinity :near

He spoke to the people standing about.

6 :in the opposite direction

face about

the other way about

See about defined for English-language learners

See about defined for kids

Examples of about in a Sentence

We're about ready to go.
This one is about as bad as that one.
That's about all I know at this point.
It's about time to go.
That's about all the time we have.
We tried just about everything we could think of.

Recent Examples of about from the Web

Floor coverings like rugs have probably been around for about as long as there have been floors.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "The Vacuum Cleaner Was Harder to Invent Than You Might Think," 30 Aug. 2017
The number of Walmart locations in the U.S. is about ____________—roughly 10 times the number of Whole Foods stores recently acquired by Amazon.

— rosa inocencio smith, The Atlantic, "The Atlantic Daily: Tests of Fortitude," 29 Aug. 2017
Cage is black and Rand is white; Cage cares for the disenfranchised of New York City while Rand zooms about in helicopters with an immobile look on his face.

— josephine livingstone, New Republic, "The Defenders Could Be a Good Show, if it Weren’t for its Awful Main Character," 29 Aug. 2017
Library staff said about 25 percent of all youth accounts had been locked due to late fees, preventing many families from taking advantage of the public library's full range of services.

— shawn r. beals, Courant Community, "Middletown's Russell Library Forgiving Late Fees In September," 29 Aug. 2017
Q: What excites you most about stepping into this new role?

— nicole miller-coleman, sandiegouniontribune.com, "New chief talks about her background, experience and priorities," 27 Aug. 2017
The Yard Goats' final home game is just about here, as is the UConn football season opener, which means summer is close to being eclipsed by fall.

— jeff otterbein, courant.com, "On The Fly: Yard Goats' Season Winds Down As UConn Football Winds Up," 24 Aug. 2017
The sophomore was about to be experience his first postgame interview.

— david carrillo peñaloza, Daily Pilot, "Pacheco makes debut, tops 200 yards in Los Amigos’ shutout of Fairmont Prep," 24 Aug. 2017
Four months later, Arpaio’s team scheduled a press conference to elaborate on their findings and distract from the racial-profiling case against his agency that was about to begin.

— adam k. raymond, Daily Intelligencer, "Birther Friends Forever: How Trump and Sheriff Joe Arpaio Became BFFs," 23 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'about.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of about

Middle English abuten, aboute, going back to Old English abūtan, abūton, from a- ¹a- + būtan "outside, without" — more at ¹but

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

about Synonyms

Synonyms

around, round

Antonyms

exactly, precisely

Related Words

all over, everyplace, everywhere; abroad, afloat, hereabouts (or hereabout)

Near Antonyms

clockwise, deasil

about

preposition

Definition of about

1 :in a circle around :on every side of :around

People gathered about him.

2 a :in the immediate neighborhood of :near

Fish are abundant about the reefs.

b :on or near the person of

had a pleasing fragrance about her

c :in the makeup of

a mature wisdom about him

d :at the command of

has his wits about him

3 :engaged in

… act as if they know what they're about …
—T. S. Matthews

4 a :with regard to :concerning

spoke about his past

b :concerned with

c :fundamentally concerned with or directed toward

… poker is about money.
—David Mamet

5 :over or in different parts of

He traveled about the country.

See about defined for English-language learners

Examples of about in a Sentence

a poignant story about a young man who goes off to war
about the hedge there was a picket fence

Origin and Etymology of about

Middle English, going back to Old English abūtan, derivative of abūtan ¹about

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

about Synonyms

Synonyms

apropos, apropos of, as far as, as for, as regards (also as respects), as to, concerning, of, on, regarding, respecting, touching, toward (or towards), in regard to, in respect to, in view of, with regard to, with respect to

Related Words

over

about

adjective

Definition of about

1 :moving from place to place; specifically :being out of bed

is up and about by 7 a.m.

2 :around 2

There is a scarcity of jobs about.

See about defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of about from the Web

The reporter was able to flag down a rescue crew, but as the rescue was about to take place, the station went dark.

— kevin sullivan, Washington Post, "Full extent of Harvey’s aftermath starts to come into chilling focus," 28 Aug. 2017
Needless to say, mainstream politicians who support high immigration levels talk only rarely about immigration as a means of bettering the lives of the world’s poor.

— reihan salam, National Review, "The Case for Skills-Based Immigration," 28 Aug. 2017
As a strengthening Hurricane Harvey approaches Texas amid increasingly dire forecasts of catastrophic, days-long flooding, a lot of people are about to learn the name of the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Brock Long.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s FEMA Director Doesn’t Seem Incompetent," 25 Aug. 2017
TE/DE Josh Bailey Key games: Aug. 31 vs. Bethel-Tate; Sept. 14 vs. Clermont Northeastern; Sept. 29 vs. New Miami; Oct. 5 at CCPA Outlook: All the players listed above are about to start for the Titans for the third straight season.

— adam baum, Cincinnati.com, "CHCA sets pace in MVC gridiron race," 15 Aug. 2017
Total volume traded was about 6 percent above the 100-day average.

— jessica summers, Bloomberg.com, "Oil Slips as Worries Over Rising U.S. Output Eclipse Supply Drop," 2 Aug. 2017
Japan is about to break itself off a piece of that Kit Kat business.

— elizabeth logan, CNT, "A Flavored Kit Kat Factory Is Coming to Japan," 27 July 2017
And Claire Saffitz, our beyond-brilliant senior food editor, is going to be on the-ones-and-twos down in the Test Kitchen, cranking out recipes that are about to be in heavy rotation in your kitchen.

— amiel stanek, Bon Appetit, "Welcome to Basically!," 24 July 2017
Here's something for Yankees fans to keep an eye on: Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and the MLB Network reports New York has been talking to the A's about first baseman Yonder Alonso, who has 21 homers.

— paul doyle, courant.com, "On The Fly: UConn Presence At Three-Point Contest At WNBA All-Star Game," 18 July 2017