[some] adj [ME som, adj. & pron., fr. OE sum; akin to OHG sum some, Gk hame somehow, homos same--more at same] (bef. 12c) 1: being an unknown, undetermined, or unspecified unit or thing "~ person knocked"
2. a: being one, a part, or an unspecified number of something (as a class or group) named or implied "~ gems are hard" b: being of an unspecified amount or number "give me ~ water" "have ~ apples"
3: remarkable, striking "that was ~ party"
4: being at least one--used to indicate that a logical proposition is asserted only of a subclass or certain members of the class denoted by the term which it modifies
[2]some pron, sing or pl in constr (bef. 12c) 1: one indeterminate quantity, portion, or number as distinguished from the rest
2: an indefinite additional amount "ran a mile and then ~" [3]some adv (bef. 12c) 1: about "~ 80 houses" "twenty-some people"
2. a: in some degree: somewhat "felt ~ better" b: to some degree or extent: a little "the cut bled ~" "I need to work on it ~ more" c--used as a mild intensive "that's going ~" usage When some is used to modify a number, it is almost always a round number "a community of some 150,000 inhabitants" but because some is slightly more emphatic than about or approximately it is occas. used with a more exact number in an intensive function "an expert parachutist, he has some 115 jumps to his credit --Current Biog.". When some is used without a number, most commentators feel that somewhat is to be preferred. Their advice is an oversimplification, however; only when some modifies an adjective, usu. a comparative, will somewhat always substitute smoothly. When some modifies a verb or adverb, and esp. when it follows a verb, substitution of somewhat may prove awkward "Italy forced me to grow up some --E. W. Brooke" "I'm not a prude; I've been around some in my day --Roy Rogers" "here in Newport, both Southern Cross and Courageous practiced some more --W. N. Wallace".