some

[ suhm; unstressed suhm ]
See synonyms for some on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. being an undetermined or unspecified one: Some person may object.

  2. (used with plural nouns) certain: Some days I stay home.

  1. of a certain unspecified number, amount, degree, etc.: to some extent.

  2. unspecified but considerable in number, amount, degree, etc.: We talked for some time. He was here some weeks.

  3. Informal. of impressive or remarkable quality, consequence, extent, etc.: That was some storm.

pronoun
  1. certain persons, individuals, instances, etc., not specified: Some think he is dead.

  2. an unspecified number, amount, etc., as distinguished from the rest or in addition: He paid a thousand dollars and then some.

adverb
  1. (used with numerals and with words expressing degree, extent, etc.) approximately; about: Some 300 were present.

  2. Informal. to some degree or extent; somewhat: I like baseball some. She is feeling some better today.

  1. Informal. to a great degree or extent; considerably: That's going some.

Origin of some

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective and pronoun); Old English sum originally, “someone”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle High German sum, Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums

confusables note For some

As pronouns, both some and any may be used in affirmative or negative questions: Will you ( won't you ) have some? Do you ( don't you ) have any? But some is used in affirmative statements and answers: You may have some. Yes, I'd like some. And in negative statements and answers, any is the usual choice: I don't care for any. No, I can't take any.

Words that may be confused with some

Words Nearby some

Other definitions for -some (2 of 4)

-some1

  1. a native English suffix formerly used in the formation of adjectives: quarrelsome; burdensome.

Origin of -some

2
Middle English; Old English -sum; akin to Gothic -sama,German -sam;see same

Other definitions for -some (3 of 4)

-some2

  1. a collective suffix used with numerals: twosome; threesome.

Origin of -some

3
Middle English -sum,Old English sum; special use of some (pronoun)

Other definitions for -some (4 of 4)

-some3

  1. a combining form meaning “body,” used in the formation of compound words: chromosome.

Origin of -some

4
<Greek sôma body; see soma1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use some in a sentence

  • He was like a fly condemned to spend his life in the irk-some society of the spider.

    American Sketches | Charles Whibley
  • He also thanked him for his good service, and told him to choose some-one of his possessions, for he would get whatever he wanted.

  • We had in our box the hand-some ambassador and late tutor of the Mahararana of Oodeypore.

    From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan | Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky
  • They were twenty small red demons rather like Billy, and the same number of tiny skeletons, all with waggle-some hands and feet.

    Winona of the Camp Fire | Margaret Widdemer
  • Wed all be subjected to a force of twenty-some gravities for a period of several seconds.

    A Place in the Sun | C.H. Thames

British Dictionary definitions for some (1 of 4)

some

/ (sʌm, unstressed səm) /


determiner
    • (a) certain unknown or unspecified: some lunatic drove into my car; some people never learn

    • (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): some can teach and others can't

    • an unknown or unspecified quantity or amount of: there's some rice on the table; he owns some horses

    • (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): we'll buy some

    • a considerable number or amount of: he lived some years afterwards

    • a little: show him some respect

  1. (usually stressed) informal an impressive or remarkable: that was some game!

  2. a certain amount (more) (in the phrases some more and (informal) and then some)

  3. about; approximately: he owes me some thirty pounds

adverb
  1. US not standard to a certain degree or extent: I guess I like him some

Origin of some

1
Old English sum; related to Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums, Old High German sum some, Sanskrit samá any, Greek hamē somehow

British Dictionary definitions for -some (2 of 4)

-some1

suffix forming adjectives
  1. characterized by; tending to: awesome; tiresome

Origin of -some

2
Old English -sum; related to Gothic -sama, German -sam

British Dictionary definitions for -some (3 of 4)

-some2

suffix forming nouns
  1. indicating a group of a specified number of members: threesome

Origin of -some

3
Old English sum, special use of some (determiner)

British Dictionary definitions for -some (4 of 4)

-some3

/ (-səʊm) /


n combining form
  1. a body: chromosome

Origin of -some

4
from Greek sōma body

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with some

some

see and then some; catch some rays; catch some z's; dig up (some dirt); in a (some) sense; in some measure; one of these days (some day); take some doing; to some degree; win some, lose some.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.