# What English word has the most definitions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794 "2005-04-17T21:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/1 "2005-04-17T21:06:41Z")
That’s pretty much the question, there in the title bar. I debated whether to put this in GQ or IMHO, but technically there is a factual answer to the question so here it be. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/2 "2005-04-17T21:47:50Z")
Not authoratative at all, but I seem to remember this as a triva question, the answer being “set”. Darn long entry at > **[Definition of set | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/set)** > > Definition of set from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/3 "2005-04-17T21:51:24Z")
> **[Dictionary.com Is The World’s Favorite Online Dictionary](https://www.dictionary.com/)** > > Dictionary.com is the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. ---
**Author:** ![mr.meman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@mr.meman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.meman)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/4 "2005-04-17T22:11:40Z")
Couple more for “it” > **[Definition of it | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/it)** > > Definition of it from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/5 "2005-04-17T22:41:25Z")
There was a thread on this very topic in July 2003. > **[Word with the most definitions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=197026)** > > Does anyone know what word has the most distinct definitions in the standard American English dictionary? Before we get into a debate on which dictionary, let’s just say the Cambridge Dictionary of American English. Any ideas? As you can see the winners seemed to be “set” “run” and “jack”. (I have NO idea why Guiness, at one time considered “jack” to have many meanings and definitions but you can see what they say in that thread). ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/6 "2005-04-17T22:46:14Z")
[_Run_](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=run) has only 10 entries in [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com), but 46 in M-W ([http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=run&x=12&y=17.)](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=run&x=12&y=17.))[has only 35. _It_ http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=it&x=19&y=16](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=set&x=17&y=17*Set*%5B/url) has only four. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/7 "2005-04-17T23:34:50Z")
obviously this is something that varies quite a bit according to the specific dictionary and editor… which kind of makes sense. The more common terms that have fairly few definitions would probably change less, while one editor might take a look and go “46 definitions for _run_?? Heck, we can cut that down to 20 or better!!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/8 "2005-04-17T23:42:20Z")
I also recall “bay” being in the running for most definitions. Alas, I don’t have a big unabridged dictionary so I can’t check. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/9 "2005-04-18T00:25:11Z")
Depends on the dictionary. In the OED, it’s _set_; in Webster’s Third, it’s _take_; in Random House Unabridged 2nd Edition, it’s _run_. And the word with the most parts of speech is _like_ which can be any of about 7 different parts of speech (exact number depending on the dictionary). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/10 "2005-04-18T09:04:11Z")
[potential hijack] Be careful when selecting verbs like ‘set’ and ‘run’ - if you look at the definitions you’ll see that a lot of them refer to combinations with other words eg run over, run out, run through, run in, run into etc. These are known as ‘phrasal’ or ‘Multi-word verbs’ and I’m not sure that, strictly speaking, they fit in with the OP. [/potential hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/11 "2005-04-18T14:18:17Z")
I’ll look at the links (they’re in back tabs) – but I’m suprised not to see “get” as a contender. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-word-has-the-most-definitions/299794/12 "2005-04-18T15:05:50Z")
“go” has 25 entries at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com).