english
English meaning: English
Definition
Spinning or rotary motion given to a ball around the vertical axis, as in billiards or bowling.
Example
“You can't hit it directly, but maybe if you give it some english.”
Another example: “He put a bit of english on the cue ball to make it curve.”
Usage — When, Where & How
Most commonly the language and the people of England (capitalised as 'English'). Lowercase, in US billiards/bowling, it means spin imparted to a ball. Also an adjective ('English breakfast'). The 'spin' sense is informal and chiefly American.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
From Old English 'Englisc', meaning 'of the Angles', from 'Engle' (the Angles, a Germanic people); the billiards sense is a 19th-century American usage.
Synonyms
- spin
- side
- the english language
- english people
Related Words
- subtitles
- batsman
- dub
- translation
- footballer
- dictionary
- hindi
- language
- literature
- ancestry
Common Collocations
- english language
- speak english
- english breakfast
- plain english
- put some english on it
- english literature
Word Forms
English (n & adj); Englishness (n)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
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- Indo-European
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