that

  • pronoun & determiner (pl. those) 1 used to identify a specific person or thing observed or heard by the speaker. 2 referring to the more distant of two things near to the speaker. 3 referring to a specific thing previously mentioned or known. 4 used in singling out someone or something with a particular feature. 5 as pronoun (pl. that) used instead of which, who, when, etc. to introduce a defining clause.

  • adverb 1 to such a degree. 2 informal very: he wasn’t that far away.

  • conjunction 1 introducing a subordinate clause. 2 literary expressing a wish or regret.

  — PHRASES and all that (or and that) informal and so on. like that informal instantly or effortlessly. that is (or that is to say) a formula introducing or following an explanation or further clarification. that said even so. that’s that there is nothing more to do or say about the matter.

  — ORIGIN Old English, related to THE.

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