be

verb (sing. present am; are; is; plural present are; 1st and 3rd singular past was; 2nd singular past and plural past were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive were; present participle being; past participle been)

1》 (usu. there is/are) exist; be present.

2》 take place.

    ↘occupy a position in space.

    ↘stay in the same place or condition.

    ↘come; go; visit.

3》 (when connecting a subject and complement) having the specified state, nature, or role: Amy was 91.

    ↘represent or signify.

auxiliary verb

1》 used with a present participle to form continuous tenses.

2》 used with a past participle to form the passive voice.

3》 used to indicate something that is due to happen.

    ↘used to express obligation or necessity.

    ↘used to hypothesize about something that might happen.

Phrases

the be-all and end-all informal a feature of an activity that is of greater importance than any other.

not be oneself not feel in one's usual physical or mental state.

-to-be of the future: his bride-to-be.

Origin

OE bēon, an irregular verb whose full conjugation derives from several orig. distinct verbs; the forms am and is are related to L. sum and est.