Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective One, some, every, or all without specification.
- adjective Exceeding normal limits, as in size or duration.
- pronoun Any one or more persons, things, or quantities.
- adverb To any degree or extent; at all.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In the singular, one, a or an, some; in the plural, some: indeterminately distributed, implying unlimited choice as to the particular unit, number, or quantity, and hence subordinately as to quality, whichever, of whatever quantity or kind; an indeterminate unit or number of units out of many or all.
- [In affirmative sentences, any, being indeterminate in application, in effect has reference to every unit of the sort mentioned, and thus may be nearly equivalent to every: as, any schoolboy would know that; any attempt to evade the law will be resisted: so in anybody, any one, anything, etc.
- When any is preceded by a negative, expressed or implied, the two are together equivalent to an emphatic negative, ‘none at all,’ ‘not even one’: as, there has never been any doubt about that.
- In the singular, one, some; in the plural, some: indeterminately distributed in the same uses as the adjective, and used absolutely or followed by of in partitive construction: with reference to persons, any one, anybody; in the plural, any persons.
- [In this sense it might formerly have a possessive.
- In any degree; to any extent; at all: especially used with comparatives, as any better, any worse, any more, any less, any sooner, any later, any longer, etc.
- Also, in negative and interrogative sentences, used absolutely: as, it didn't rain any here; did it hurt him any?
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb To any extent; in any degree; at all.
- adjective One indifferently, out of an indefinite number; one indefinitely, whosoever or whatsoever it may be.
- adjective Some, of whatever kind, quantity, or number; as, are there
any witnesses present? are thereany other houses like it? - adjective whatever may be the state of affairs; anyhow.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb To even the slightest extent,
at all . - determiner At
least one; of at least one kind. Oneat all . - determiner No matter what kind.
- pronoun Any thing(s) or person(s).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb to any degree or extent
- adjective one or some or every or all without specification
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I think it's especially egregious that McDonnell's proclamation omitted any mention of slavery his explanation for doing so was that he thought slavery was not a "significant" issue for Virginia and its history because Virginia had more slaves than _any_ other state at the time of the Civil War.
Avlon: Ugliness & absurdities in American politics continue 2010
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Forget any racism involved, I can see how the "You don't know who I am" thing could get *any* cop's back up and make him or her want to let the person attempting to coerce or intimidate them know that they are not above the law. . .
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His thesis was that the media's misbehavior will be directed any *any* Democratic candidate for president, because the Democratic Party is less for the privileges of the elites than the Republican Party is.
Last Dance, Last Chance for Loooove Rogers 2008
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People don\'t want to hear their names, see their faces or hear about any more of their previous or future escapades ... let alone \'any\ 'further information about them.
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And, considering that the pressure profile within an object can be dialed up or down almost arbitrarily (within limits) _without_ causing any change in its apparent gravity, it is hard to see how pressure can make _any_ appearance in the calculation at all.
Dark Matter: Still Existing Sean 2007
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My point is that any elite athlete or athletic team — professional or collegiate — is considered newsworthy by the national media for *any* alleged run-in with the law and that this has been the case for at least 20 years.
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Can't we simply agree it's usenet and people (any people) with an agenda (any agenda) will use _any_ means to steal the light for a minute ?
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I'm also never particularly impressed by articles that claim to be about students - what they're doing or thinking - without any sign that the writer has actually bothered to communicate with *any* students let alone made any attempt to be representative on the subject...
Let Me Entertain You 2004
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At that point, he would accost her without any fear of attracting any attention.
TEDBUNDY Michaud, S G & Aynesworth H 1989
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The slave is not allowed to resist any free man under _any_ circumstances, _his_ only safety consists in the fact that his _owner_ may bring suit and recover the price of his body, in case his life is taken, or his limbs rendered unfit for labor.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society
kewpid commented on the word any
boy
May 6, 2008