world
• noun 1 (the world) the earth with all its countries and peoples. 2 a region or group of countries: the English-speaking world. 3 all that belongs to a particular period or sphere of activity: the theatre world. 4 (one’s world) a person’s life and activities. 5 (the world) secular or material matters as opposed to spiritual ones. 6 a planet. 7 (a/the world) a very large amount of: that makes a world of difference. — PHRASES the best of both (or all possible) worlds the benefits of widely differing situations, enjoyed at the same time. bring into the world give birth to or assist at the birth of. man (or woman) of the world a person who is experienced in the ways of sophisticated society. out of this world informal extremely enjoyable or impressive. the world and his wife Brit. informal everybody. the world, the flesh, and the devil all forms of temptation to sin. — ORIGIN Old English.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
