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Webster 1913 Edition


Abroad

A-broad′

,
adv.
[Pref.
a-
+
broad
.]
1.
At large; widely; broadly; over a wide space;
as, a tree spreads its branches
abroad
.
The fox roams far
abroad
.
Prior.
2.
Without a certain confine; outside the house; away from one’s abode;
as, to walk
abroad
.
I went to St. James', where another was preaching in the court
abroad
.
Evelyn.
3.
Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries;
as, we have broils at home and enemies
abroad
.
“Another prince . . . was living abroad.”
Macaulay.
4.
Before the public at large; throughout society or the world; here and there; widely.
He went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze
abroad
the matter.
Mark i. 45.
To be abroad
.
(a)
To be wide of the mark; to be at fault; as, you are all abroad in your guess.
(b)
To be at a loss or nonplused.

Webster 1828 Edition


Abroad

ABROAD

,
adv.
abrawd'. [See Broad]
In a general sense, at large; widely; not confined to narrow limits. Hence,
1.
In the open air.
2.
Beyond or out of the walls of a house, as to walk abroad.
3.
Beyond the limits of a camp. Deut. xxiii. 10
4.
Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries - as to go abroad for an education. We have broils at home and enemies abroad.
5.
Extensively; before the public at large.
He began to blaze abroad the matter. Mark i. 45.
Esther i.
6.
Widely; with expansion; as a tree spreads its branches abroad.

Definition 2024


abroad

abroad

English

Adverb

abroad (comparative more abroad, superlative most abroad)

  1. (dated) At large; widely; broadly; over a wide space. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350.)][1]
    A tree spreads its branches abroad.
    • 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon, and other Poems on several Occasions:
      Again: The lonely fox roams far abroad, / On ſecret rapine bend and midnight fraud; []
  2. (dated) Without a certain confine; outside the house; away from one's abode. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350.)][1]
    to walk abroad
    • p. 1650,, John Evelyn, William Bray, editor, Diary, Frederic Warne and Company, published 1818, entry for 1650 July 7, page 207:
      I went to St. James', where another was preaching in the court abroad.
    • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter 1, in The House Behind the Cedars:
      Was it so irreconcilable, Warwick wondered, as still to peal out the curfew bell, which at nine o'clock at night had clamorously warned all negroes, slave or free, that it was unlawful for them to be abroad after that hour, under penalty of imprisonment or whipping?
  3. Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470.)][1]
    • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times:
      A closer look at North Korean history reveals what Pyongyang’s leaders really want their near-farcical belligerence to achieve — a reminder to the world that North Korea exists, and an impression abroad that its leaders are irrational and unpredictable.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Thomas Babington Macaulay, (Please provide the title of the work):
      Another prince [] was living abroad []
  4. (dated) Before the public at large; throughout society or the world; here and there; moving without restriction. [First attested in the late 15th century.][1]
    • (Can we date this quote?) Mark 1-45:
      He went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter.
  5. Not on target; astray; in error; confused; dazed. [First attested in the early 19th century.][1]
  6. (sports) Played elsewhere than one's home grounds.

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • be abroad

Translations

Noun

abroad

  1. (rare) Countries or lands abroad. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]
    • 1929, King George V, widely (and variously) quoted:
      I hate abroad, abroad’s bloody.
    • c. 1991, New Statesman & Society, volume 3–4, page 180:
      I am not, however, a xenophobe: obviously, abroad has some good ideas—arranged marriages, violent revolutions and so on.
    • 2001 March 13, The Earl of Onslow, speaking in the House of Lords, quoted in Hansard:
      That is not a xenophobic remark. I am a xenophiliac; I love abroad. I love foreigners. I just do not like the way that they are running the European agricultural policy.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

abroad

  1. Throughout, over.

Translations

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 8
  • "Now abroad has entered English as a noun" - The New York Times, "ON LANGUAGE; The Near Abroad", William Safire, May 22, 1994, quoting Christian Caryl

Anagrams