already

already
al|read|y [ ɔl`redi ] adverb ***
1. ) before now used for saying that something has happened before now or before another point in time:
He's only 24, but he's already achieved worldwide fame.
The gang leader had already left the country.
Put your wallet away. I've already paid for everything.
2. ) continuing from the past used for saying that a situation has started to exist and still continues:
By the time the doctor arrived, I was already beginning to feel better.
Why waste time telling people things that they already know?
3. ) before you expected sooner than you were expecting:
What, tired already? I don't believe it!
Is it twelve o'clock already?
4. ) used for emphasizing a bad situation if you say that a bad situation exists already, you mean that you do not want it to get any worse:
Look, I already have enough problems as it is.
We'd better hurry we're twenty minutes late already.
5. ) immediately AMERICAN SPOKEN used for telling someone that they should do something immediately:
Stop messing around and get in here already!
=> ENOUGH 2A
=> YET

Usage of the words and phrases in modern English. 2013.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • already — 1. As an adverb (I have already paid), already is spelt as one word, and is not to be confused with the two separate words all ready (We are all ready to start now). 2. Already is sometimes used in AmE and other varieties, and informally in BrE… …   Modern English usage

  • Already — Al*read y, adv. [All (OE. al) + ready.] Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously. Joseph was in Egypt already. Exod. i. 5. [1913 Webster] I say unto you, that Elias is come already. Matt. xvii. 12.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • already — c.1300, compound of ALL (Cf. all) + READY (Cf. ready), lit. fully ready. Cf. Norw., Dan. allerede already. Colloquial use in U.S. as a terminal emphatic (e.g. enough, already!) is attested from 1903, translating Yiddish shoyn, which is used in… …   Etymology dictionary

  • already — [ôl red′ē] adv. 1. by or before the given or implied time 2. even now or even then [already two days late]: Also used informally after a phr. to express impatience [ that s enough already!] …   English World dictionary

  • already — [adv] before expected time as of now, at present, before, before now, but now, by now, by that time, by then, by the time mentioned, by this time, earlier, even now, formerly, heretofore, in the past, just now, now, once, previously, then, up to… …   New thesaurus

  • already — ► ADVERB 1) before the time in question. 2) as surprisingly soon or early as this …   English terms dictionary

  • already — [[t]ɔ͟ːlre̱di[/t]] ♦ 1) ADV: ADV before v, cl ADV You use already to show that something has happened, or that something had happened before the moment you are referring to. Speakers of British English use already with a verb in a perfect tense,… …   English dictionary

  • already */*/*/ — UK [ɔːlˈredɪ] / US [ɔlˈredɪ] adverb 1) before now used for saying that something has happened before now or before another point in time He s only 24, but he s already achieved worldwide fame. The gang leader had already left the country. Put… …   English dictionary

  • already — /awl red ee/, adv. 1. by this or that time; previously; prior to or at some specified or implied time: When we came in, we found they had already arrived. 2. now; so soon; so early: Is it noon already? 3. Informal. (used as an intensifier to… …   Universalium

  • already — al|read|y W1S1 [o:lˈredi US o:l ] adv [Date: 1300 1400; Origin: all ready completely ready ] 1.) before now, or before a particular time ▪ The design of the new house is similar to those that have already been built. ▪ The performance had already …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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