Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'More' is often considered to be the comparative form of 'much' and 'many'.
1.
You use ~ to indicate that there is a greater amount of something than before or than average, or than something else. You can use ‘a little’, ‘a lot’, ‘a bit’, ‘far’, and ‘much’ in front of ~.
More and ~ people are surviving heart attacks...
He spent ~ time perfecting his dance moves instead of gym work.
...teaching ~ children foreign languages other than English...
? less
DET: DET pl-n/n-uncount
•
More is also a pronoun.
As the level of work increased from light to heavy, workers ate ~...
He had four hundred dollars in his pocket. Billy had ~.
PRON
•
More is also a quantifier.
Employees may face increasing pressure to take on ~ of their own medical costs in retirement...
QUANT: QUANT of def-n
2.
You use ~ than before a number or amount to say that the actual number or amount is even greater.
The Afghan authorities say the airport had been closed for ~ than a year.
...classy leather and silk jackets at ~ than ?250.
= over
PREP-PHRASE: PREP amount
3.
You use ~ to indicate that something or someone has a greater amount of a quality than they used to or than is average or usual.
Prison conditions have become ~ brutal...
We can satisfy our basic wants ~ easily than in the past.
? less
ADV: ADV adj/adv
4.
If you say that something is ~ one thing than another, you mean that it is like the first thing rather than the second.
The exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is ~ a production than it is a museum display...
He’s ~ like a film star than a life-guard, really...
She looked ~ sad than in pain...
Sue screamed, not loudly, ~ in surprise than terror...
She’s ~ of a social animal than me.
? less
ADV: ADV group than group/cl, ADV of a n
5.
If you do something ~ than before or ~ than someone else, you do it to a greater extent or ~ often.
When we are tired, tense, depressed or unwell, we feel pain much ~...
What impressed me ~ was that she knew Tennessee Williams.
? less
ADV: ADV with v
6.
You can use ~ to indicate that something continues to happen for a further period of time.
Things might have been different if I’d talked a bit ~.
ADV: ADV after v
•
You can use some ~ to indicate that something continues to happen for a further period of time.
We walked some ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v
7.
You use ~ to indicate that something is repeated. For example, if you do something ‘once ~’, you do it again once.
This train would stop twice ~ in the suburbs before rolling southeast toward Munich...
The breathing exercises should be repeated several times ~.
ADV: adv ADV, n ADV
8.
You use ~ to refer to an additional thing or amount. You can use ‘a little’, ‘a lot’, ‘a bit’, ‘far’ and ‘much’ in front of ~.
They needed ~ time to consider whether to hold an inquiry.
DET: DET pl-n/n-uncount
•
More is also an adjective.
We stayed in Danville two ~ days...
Are you sure you wouldn’t like some ~ wine?
ADJ: ADJ n
•
More is also a pronoun.
Oxfam has appealed to western nations to do ~ to help the refugees...
‘None of them are very nice folks.’—‘Tell me ~.’
PRON
9.
You use ~ in conversations when you want to draw someone’s attention to something interesting or important that you are about to say.
Europe’s economies have converged in several areas. More interestingly, there has been convergence in economic growth rates...
More seriously for him, there are members who say he is wrong on this issue.
? less
ADV: ADV adv/adj
10.
You can use ~ and ~ to indicate that something is becoming greater in amount, extent, or degree all the time.
Her life was heading ~ and ~ where she wanted it to go...
PHRASE: usu PHR with v, PHR group/cl
11.
If something is ~ or less true, it is true in a general way, but is not completely true.
The Conference is ~ or less over...
He ~ or less started the firm...
PHRASE: PHR with group/cl, PHR before v vagueness
12.
If something is ~ than a particular thing, it has greater value or importance than this thing.
He’s ~ than a coach, he’s a friend.
PHRASE: v-link PHR n
13.
You use ~ than to say that something is true to a greater degree than is necessary or than average.
Lithuania produces ~ than enough food to feed itself.
PHRASE: PHR n, PHR adj
14.
You use no ~ than or not ~ than when you want to emphasize how small a number or amount is.
He was a kid really, not ~ than eighteen or nineteen.
? no less than
PHRASE: PHR amount emphasis
15.
If you say that someone or something is nothing ~ than a particular thing, you are emphasizing that they are only that thing, and nothing ~ interesting or important.
The newly discovered notes are nothing ~ than Lang’s personal journal.
PHRASE: v-link PHR n emphasis
16.
You can use what is ~ or what’s ~ to introduce an extra piece of information which supports or emphasizes the point you are making.
You should remember it, and what’s ~, you should get it right.
= ~over, further~
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR cl emphasis
17.
all the ~: see all
any ~: see any