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| expletive [ ik spltiv ] |
noun (plural expletives) |
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1. linguistics swearword: an exclamation, especially a swearword
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2. grammar word with no meaning: a word that carries no meaning but has a grammatical function in a sentence. In the sentence 'There are three books on the table', 'there' is an expletive.
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3. poetry meaningless word in line of poetry: a word added to a line of verse in order to fill it out, usually for the sake of the metre. In the line 'When and that I was a little tiny lad', the words 'and that' are expletives.
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adjective |
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| Definition: |
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grammar poetry used as expletive: functioning as an expletive in a sentence or poem
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| [Early 17th century. < late Latin expletivus< explet-, past participle of explere 'fill up' < plere 'to fill'] |
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