be meaning

UK /bɪ/ US /bi/ 1 syllable

be (verb): have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun).

be has 14 meanings in this dictionary, as verb and noun.

be as a verb

  1. have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
    • John is rich
    • This is not a good answer

    Kinds: look, suffer, be well, feel, stay, continue, sparkle, confuse, rank, point, want, compact

  2. be identical to; be someone or something
    • The president of the company is John Smith
    • This is my house
  3. occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
    • Where is my umbrella?
    • The toolshed is in the back
    • What is behind this behavior?

    Kinds: stretch, attend, occupy, populate, inhabit, stand back, reach, run, go, cover, extend, lie

  4. have an existence, be extant
    • Is there a God?

    Synonyms: exist

    Kinds: come, preexist, kick around, coexist, indwell, prevail, dwell, endanger, flow, distribute

    Related forms: being

  5. happen, occur, take place
    • I lost my wallet; this was during the visit to my parents' house
    • There were two hundred people at his funeral
    • There was a lot of noise in the kitchen
  6. be identical or equivalent to
    • One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!

    Synonyms: equal

    Kinds: equate, match, represent, translate

  7. form or compose
    • This money is my only income
    • The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance
    • These constitute my entire belonging
    • The children made up the chorus
    • This sum represents my entire income for a year
    • These few men comprise his entire army

    Synonyms: constitute, represent, make up, comprise

    Kinds: make, compose, form, range, fall into, present, supplement

  8. work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
    • He is a herpetologist
    • She is our resident philosopher

    Synonyms: follow

    Kinds: vet, cox

  9. represent, as of a character on stage
    • Derek Jacobi was Hamlet

    Synonyms: embody, personify

    Type of: typify

    Kinds: body, exemplify

  10. spend or use time
    • I may be an hour

    Type of: take

  11. have life, be alive
    • Our great leader is no more
    • My grandfather lived until the end of war

    Synonyms: live

    Related forms: being

  12. to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
    • let her be

    Type of: stay

  13. be priced at
    • These shoes cost $100

    Synonyms: cost

    Kinds: set back

be as a noun

  1. a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element

    Synonyms: beryllium, glucinium, atomic number 4

    Type of: metallic element

How to pronounce be

be is pronounced /bɪ/ in British English and /bi/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with be

More about be on Wikipedia.