Was

/wəz/ · verb

Meaning

first-person singular simple past indicative of be..

Definitions by Sense

1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
3. (now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
4. (now colloquial or nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
5. (colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
6. (colloquial, nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.

Example Sentences

I was castigated and scorned.

It was a really humongous slice of cake.

I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that.

He saw it clear enough, now that the lordling had pointed it out. “They couldn't have froze. Not if the Wall was weeping. It wasn't cold enough."

There was three of them there.

And in the vppermoſt baſket there was of all maner of †bake-meats foꝛ Pharaoh,and the birds did eat them out of the baſket vpon my head.

You was pleased to cast a favourable eye upon me.

"Was you outside the Bank of England, sir?"

Synonyms for was

Antonyms for was

Related Words

Word Forms

• wus
• wuz

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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