Free Online English Dictionary
Definitions, origins, usage examples, idioms, and more. Bee Dictionary keeps language simple and accessible.
Try: serendipity, ephemeral, perspicacious
An intense, involuntary state of longing for emotional reciprocation from another person, often accompanied by intrusive thoughts and a heightened awareness of that person's actions.
Coined in 1977 by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in her book Love and Limerence. Tennov built the word from Latin roots to describe a phenomenon she observed was distinct from love or infatuation.
"She recognised the limerence she felt for her colleague as something beyond a simple crush: every glance across the room felt charged with unbearable significance."
Bee Dictionary unpacks the English idioms that trip up native and non-native speakers alike.
To endure a painful or difficult situation with courage and without complaint.
The phrase dates to 19th-century battlefield surgery, when patients were given a bullet to clench between their teeth to bear the pain of an operation without anaesthesia.
Full entryTo upstage another person by taking attention or credit that was rightfully theirs.
The expression traces to playwright John Dennis, who invented a theatre sound effect for thunder in 1704, only to hear it used in a rival's production shortly after.
Full entryUndecided or uncommitted about an issue, remaining neutral between two opposing positions.
The image is literal: someone sitting atop a fence between two properties, belonging to neither side. The expression gained traction in 19th-century American political writing.
Full entryExtremely expensive, far beyond what one would consider a reasonable price.
Popularised in mid-20th-century American English, the idiom equates price with the most valuable things a person possesses, namely their own limbs.
Full entryBee Dictionary resolves the pairs and groups that cause the most trouble in everyday writing.
Affect is almost always a verb meaning to influence something. Effect is almost always a noun meaning the result or outcome of a change.
Tip: if you can replace it with "the result," use effect. If you can replace it with "to influence," use affect.
Full guideFewer applies to things you can count individually. Less applies to amounts or quantities measured as a whole.
Tip: fewer mistakes, fewer apples. Less noise, less water. If you can count individual units, choose fewer.
Full guideImply is what a speaker or writer does: they hint at something without stating it directly. Infer is what a listener or reader does: they draw a conclusion from what is said.
Tip: the speaker implies; the audience infers. The direction of communication decides the word.
Full guidePractice (with a c) is the noun: a medical practice, daily practice. Practise (with an s) is the verb in British English: to practise an instrument.
Tip: in American English practice covers both noun and verb. In British English the spelling signals the role.
Full guide
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