their
a form of the possessive case of plural they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun: their home;their rights as citizens;their departure for Rome.
a form of the possessive case of singular they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun:
(used to refer to a generic or unspecified person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): Someone left their book on the table.A parent should read to their child.
(used to refer to a specific or known person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): I’m glad my teacher last year had high expectations for their students.
(used to refer to a nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): My cousin Sam is bad at math, but their other grades are good.
Origin of their
1Grammar notes for their
- Compare theirs.
Words that may be confused with their
Words Nearby their
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use their in a sentence
The force that inspires defiant videos and top-of-their-lungs screeching tweens is, in fact, a media-shy 43-year old Swedish… man.
Taylor Swift’s Secret Music Man: Max Martin, Elusive Hitmaker | Debra A. Klein | October 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere were housing projects, and some truly derelict hotels where the very-down-on-their-luck lived.
Issa is in the Republicans-lost-their-way camp, saying his party spent way too much in the Bush years.
One daring exception to this lineup of standees-by-their men was the second wife of Newt Gingrich.
I call that one: The Canadians-Are-Indeed-Nicer-and-their-Side-of-the-Falls-More-Spectacular-Too One.
Again Rome had to gasp for breath, and again the two were fiercely locked-their corded arms as tense as serpents.
A Cumberland Vendetta | John Fox, Jr.We may, however, settle it that Mr. Plan-others-their-work could put all the harvest he ever had in his waistcoat pocket!
Broken Bread | Thomas ChampnessSuch was the education of the Spartans with regard to one of the greatest of their-kings.
The Social Contract & Discourses | Jean-Jacques RousseauOak, hickory and beech—clean, vast, in-their-prime forest-men—with thorn and dogwood growing between.
Child and Country | Will Levington ComfortIn our desperate state, anything seemed fair in love or war with such hard, worth-their-weight-in-gold people.
Everyman's Land | C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
British Dictionary definitions for their
/ (ðɛə) /
of, belonging to, or associated in some way with them: their finest hour; their own clothes; she tried to combat their mocking her
belonging to or associated in some way with people in general not including the speaker or people addressed: in many countries they wash their clothes in the river
belonging to or associated in some way with an indefinite antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybody: everyone should bring their own lunch
Origin of their
1their
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
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