Definition of "at"

"Hirtius and Pansa, who were good men and admirers of Cicero, begged him not to desert them, and undertook to put down Antony if Cicero would remain at Rome."

1919, Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "The Life of Cicero", 43 (Bernadotte Perrin, trans.)

(b) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page 4

Today my friend Marsha is at her friend's house. Audio (US)(file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

Lafayette was major-general in the American army at the age of 18 […]

1838, The Family Magazine

Other global taboos, such as sex and suicide, manifest themselves widely online, with websites offering suicide guides and Hot XXX Action seconds away at the click of a button. The UK government will come under pressure to block access to pornographic websites this year when a committee of MPs publishes its report on protecting children online.

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian

Hi, Anne. Are you busy? — Hi, Anna. Yes. At 10 a.m. I am writing. Audio (US)(file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company

[...] to be sold at auction for sixty gold francs.

1995, Richard Klein, Cigarettes are Sublime, page 41

A few days later, on 1 October, King Hussein opened the Jordanian Parliament by speaking at length about the crisis in Syria,

2012, Sami Moubayed, Syria and the USA: Washington's Relations with Damascus

She's good at playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

2015, Sanyan Stories: Favorites from a Ming Dynasty Collection, page 157

I think 'Jesus, my back is at me'. Then I get the ball. Off you go for 10 yards and you don't feel a thing. Then you stop and think: `Jesus, it's at me again'[.]

1995 Keith Wood, quoted in David Hughes, "Wood odds-on to take one against the head", in The Independent (London) 18 January

He seems to be saying. “Ah, go on, you’re making the other lads feel bad.” But the 4th fella says, “No. Don’t be ‘at’ me. I’m just not in the form right now, I’ll stay where I am, thanks.”

2014 Marian Keyes "Antarctic Diary - Part 2" personal website (January 2014)

balance as at 20th March 1999

n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary

If you have questions or observations on my discussion questions, feel free to reply to this email, at me on Twitter, or comment on the companion post on AMV.

2022, William Morris, Motley Vision

Tak us t' foxes, t' little foxes at spoils t' veynes: fer our veynes hev tender grapes.

1860, Robert Gordon Latham, Song of Solomon, as spoken in Durham [by Thomas Moore], in A hand-book of the English language