someplace
1326
(likes you): Wow! What a lucky shot! I think somebody up
there likes you. -> see EVERYONE (USAGE), SOME² (USAGE),
SOMETHING (USAGE)
some-place /'sʌmpleɪs/ adv especially AmE for SOMEWHERE
Som-er-field /'sʌməfi:ld||-ər-/ a British company with
SUPERMARKETS in many towns. In 1998, Somerfield bought
another supermarket company called Kwik Save.
som-er-sault /'sʌməsɔ:lt||-ər-/ n a jump or rolling back-
ward or forward (not sideways) movement in which the feet
go over the head before the body returns upright: He did a
triple somersault. | to turn a somersault in mid-air ->
compare CARTWHEEL —somersault v [I] He somersaulted
through the window.
Som-er-set /'sʌməset||-ər-/ a COUNTY in southwest Eng-
land, known especially for producing very good CIDER. Its
local government is based in Taunton.
,Somerset 'House a building in the STRAND in London
where documents were kept containing information about
British people, such as their names and their date and place
of birth etc. The office dealing with these documents is now
at St Catherine's House in Kingsway in London, but people
still often call it Somerset House.
Somerset Maugham, W. -> see MAUGHAM, SOMERSET
some-thing /'sʌmθɪŋ/ pron 1 some unstated or unknown
thing: I've got something in my eye. | I was looking for
something a little cheaper. | If there's no bread, we'll eat
something else. (=some other thing) | We'll get something to
eat at that snack bar. | I've got a little something for you. (=a
small present) -> compare SOME; see SOME² (USAGE) 2 a
thing of some value: At least we didn't lose any money. That's
something. | You can't get something for nothing. (=a profit
without any risk or effort) | There's something in (=some
truth in) what you say; I'll take your advice. | It's quite
something to have sailed across the Atlantic on your own. (=it
is a brave/clever thing to have done) 3 or something infml
(used when the speaker is not sure): He said he was going
shopping or something. | The train gets in at 3.17 or something
(like that). 4 something like a) rather like: The building
looked something like a church. b) infml about; approximately
(APPROXIMATE): There were something like 1000 people
present. 5 something of a/an infml rather a/an; a fairly good:
He's something of an expert on growing vegetables. 6 some-
thing old, something new, something borrowed, some-
thing blue a phrase describing what a woman should wear at
her wedding, according to TRADITION 7 something over/
under rather more/less than: It cost something over
£500. 8 something to do with (having) a connection with:
His job has/is something to do with oil. 9 -something some-
times humor (used after a number, especially one showing
someone's age, to show that one does not know or need to
give it exactly): There are more fifty-something Europeans
than ever before.
USAGE Notice the position of the adjective after words like
something, someone, anything, anywhere, nobody,
nowhere, somewhere: I'm looking for something
different. | Have you got anything new? No nothing
special. | Let's go somewhere warm.
some-time¹ /'sʌmtam/ adv at some uncertain or unstated
time a) in the future: We'll take our holiday sometime in
August, I think. b) in the past: Our house was built some-
time around 1905.
sometime² adj [A] fml having been once but now no longer;
former: Sir Richard Marsh, (the) sometime chairman of Brit-
ish Rail
some-times /'sʌmtaɪmz/ adv on some occasions but not all:
Sometimes I come by train, but usually I come by car. -> see
NEVER (USAGE)
some-way /'sʌmwe/ adv AmE infml for SOMEHOW
some-what /'sʌmwɒt||-wɑ:t/ adv 1 by some degree or
amount; a little; rather: The price was somewhat higher than
I'd expected. | They were suffering somewhat from the
heat. 2 more than somewhat BrE pomp to quite a large
degree: His behaviour displeased me more than some-
what. 3 somewhat of pomp a kind of; rather: The cake we
made was somewhat of a failure.
some-where /'sʌmweər/ || also someplace especially AmE —
adv 1 {in, at, or to} some place: He's somewhere in the
garden. | I don't like this restaurant – let's go somewhere else.
(=to some other place) | They're looking for somewhere to
stay. | He's finally told us the price – now we're getting
somewhere! (=some result) 2 some number or amount: some-
where between 40 and 60 students | somewhere in the region of
£1 million 3 or somewhere or in/at/to some other place: I'd
like to go away, perhaps to Greece or somewhere. -> see SOME²
(USAGE), SOMETHING (USAGE)
Somme, the /sɒm||sɑ:m/ a river in northeastern France, or
the area close to this river where several important battles
were fought during World War I. The biggest of these began
in July 1916, when 60,000 British soldiers were killed or
injured on the first day of the battle. After five months of
fighting, the British army had moved forward by just a few
miles, and had lost hundreds of thousands of men. Because
of this, the Somme is connected in people's minds with the
terrible waste of life in World War I. -> see Cultural Note at
WORLD WAR I
som·nam·bu·lism /sɒm'næmbjʊlɪzəm||sɑ:m-/ n [U] fml or
tech the action or habit of walking about while asleep —list
n
som·no·lent /'sɒmnələnt||'sɑ:m-/ adj fml or lit 1 nearly falling
asleep; DROWSY 2 causing or suggesting sleep: a somnolent
summer's afternoon —ly adv
So·mo·za, An·as·ta·si·o /sə'məʊzə, ˌænə'stɑ:siəʊ/ (1896–
1956) a Nicaraguan solider and politician. Supported by the
US, he took control of Nicaragua in the 1930s and ruled as a
DICTATOR until he was killed by political opponents. His son
Anastasio Somoza Debayle (1925–80) then took control, and
remained in power until he was removed by the SANDINIS-
TAS in 1979.
son /sʌn/ n 1 [C] someone's male child: Mr and Mrs Jones
have three sons. | Their eldest son is a teacher. | the king's son
and heir | (fig.) sons of Britain who fell in battle 2 [C usually pl.]
a male descendant: The sons of the first discoverers are still
on the islands after centuries. 3 [the] (usually cap.) (in the
Christian religion) the second person of the TRINITY;
Christ 4 a) (used as an informal form of address by an
older man or woman to a much younger man or boy):
What's your name, son? b) (used by a Roman Catholic priest
to a man who has come to admit his SINS): Are you willing to
do penance for your sins, my son?
so·nar /'səʊnɑ:r, -nɔ:r/ n [U] an apparatus using sound waves
for finding the position of underwater objects, such as MINES
or SUBMARINES
so·na·ta /sə'nɑ:tə/ n a piece of music for one or two
instruments, one of which is usually a piano, made up of
usually three or four short parts of varying speeds: the slow
movement of Beethoven's fifth piano sonata
Sond-heim, Ste-phen /'sɒndhaɪm||'sɑ:-, 'sti:vən/ (1930–)
a US songwriter and COMPOSER known especially for the
clever and amusing words he uses in his songs. He wrote the
words for the musical show West Side Story (1957), and the
words and music for many successful musical shows, includ-
ing A Little Light Music (1973).
son et lu-mi-ere /ˌsɒn eɪ 'lu:miɛər||ˌsɑ:n eɪ 'lu:miɛər/ n
[U] especially BrE a performance which uses recorded sounds
and coloured lights to tell the story of a historical place or
event -> compare ILLUMINATIONS
song /sɒŋ||s:ŋ/ n 1 [C] (often in comb.) a usually short piece of
music with words for singing: Sing us a song. | a lovesong |
songs with intelligent lyrics | a famous songwriter 2 [U] the
act or art of singing: She suddenly burst into song. (=started
singing) 3 [C;U] the music-like sound of a bird or birds: the
song of the lark | birdsong 4 (going) for a song infml (being
offered for sale) very cheaply 5 on song BrE performing at
one's best: The team was really on song this afternoon, and
won easily. -> see also SWANSONG
,song and 'dance n [S;U] infml 1 especially BrE an unnecessary
or useless show of confusion, anger, excitement etc; FUSS:
There's no need to make such a song and dance about a tiny
scratch on the car. 2 AmE a complicated or misleading expla-
nation: She gave us a song and dance about where she'd been
all day.
song-bird /'sɒŋbɜ:d||'sɔ:ŋbɜ:rd/ n a bird that can produce
musical sounds: Thrushes and nightingales are songbirds.