■ cardinal number
1》 the lowest cardinal number; half of two; 1. (Roman numeral: i or I .)
2》 a single person or thing.
↘single; sole.
↘denoting a particular item of a pair or number of items.
↘(before a person's name) a certain.
3》 identical; the same.
4》 informal a joke or story.
5》 informal, chiefly N. Amer. a noteworthy example of: he was ~ smart-mouthed troublemaker.
■ pronoun
1》 referring to a person or thing previously menti~d or easily identified.
2》 a person of a specified kind.
3》 [ third person singular ] used to refer to the speaker, or any person, as representing people in general.
Phrases
at ~ in agreement or harmony.
be ~ up on informal have an advantage over (some~).
~ after another (or the other ) following ~ another in quick succession.
~ and all every~.
~ and only unique; single.
~ another each other.
~ by ~ separately and in succession.
~ day at a particular but unspecified time in the past or future.
~ or two informal a few.
Derivatives
~fold adjective
Origin
OE ān , of Gmc origin.
Usage
In modern English ~ as a pronoun meaning ‘any~’ or ‘me and people in general’, as in ~ must try ~'s best , is generally only used in formal and written contexts, and can be regarded as pompous or over-formal. In informal and spoken contexts the normal alternative is you , as in you have to do what you can, don't you?