Stick to
stick to & sticks to sticking to stuck to stuck to
1. stick to p.v. When one thingsticks to another, it remains attached to it.
The magnet sticksto the chalkboard because there's metal underneath.
I used the wrong glue, and the tiles didn'tstick to the floor.
2. stick to p.v. When you are speaking or writing and youstick to a certain subject, you talk or write about that subject only.
The teacher said, "Do this paper over andstick to the point — don't talk about 100 other things that aren't important."
In his news conference, the Presidentstuck to the new tax legislation, but the reporters kept asking about the latest scandal.
3. stick to p.v. When youstick to a certain belief, claim, policy, habit, plan, type of work, and so on, you continue as before, without change.Stick with is similar tostick to.
Jake claimed he was innocent of Hank's murder. Hestuck to his alibi that he had been at the racetrack when the murder occurred.
After the audition, the director told me I was a terrible actor and that I should stick to singing.
4. stick... to p.v. [informal] When you stick it to people, you deliberately try to tease, annoy, or embarrass them with an accusation, provocative statement, or difficult question.
Sam thinks the new manager is an idiot, and he likes tostick itto him.
One woman at the shareholders' meeting reallystuck itto the president of the company.
She asked why he deserved a $19 million bonus even though the company had lost money that year and 4,000 workers had been laid off.
| Infinitive | ||||
| present tense | -ing form | past tense | past participle | |
| take back | take back & takes back | taking back | took back | taken back |
1. take... back (to) p.v. When youtake somethingback ortake somethingback to a place, you take it to where it was before.
If you're finished working on the car, don't leave your tools here;take themback to the garage.
Do you usuallytake the shopping cartsback after you've put your groceries in your car?
2. take... back (to) p.v. When you take something that you have bought to the place where you bought it and ask to have it repaired, to exchange it for something else, or for the money you paid for it, youtake itback ortake itback to the place where you bought it.
/ have totake back these pants that I bought yesterday because the zipper's already broken.
That new TV that Nancy bought was a piece of junk; shetook itback to the store and demanded her money back.
3. take... back (from) p.v. When youtake somethingback ortake somethingbackfrom someone else, you accept it from the person you gave, sold, or lent it to.
The guy at the store said he wouldn'ttake my answering machineback because I had bought it on sale.
The lady I bought this Persian rug from said she would be happy totake itback from me if I changed my mind.
4. take ... back (to) p.v. When youtake back something that you have borrowed ortake back something that you have borrowed to the person or place that you borrowed it from, you return it.
Lydia borrowed this book from the library six months ago, and she still hasn'ttakenitback.
I need totake Jim's lawn mowerback to him.
5. take... back (to) p.v. When youtake peopleback ortake peopleback to a place where they were before, you go with them to that place.
Our son was home from college for the summer, and we'retaking him back tomorrow.
Mike got sick again, so wetook himback to the hospital.
6. take ... back p.v. When youtake back something that you have said, you admit that what you said was untrue, unfair, or rude.
That's not true! Youtake thatback right now!
I'm sorry, that was very rude of me. Itake itback.
7. take ... back (to) p.v. When something reminds you of a place where you were in the past or of something you experienced in the past, ittakes youback ortakes you back to a time in the past.
Looking through my high school year book suretakes meback.
My grandfather found his old uniform in the attic, and he said ittook himback to when he was stationed in England during the war.