a lot

adverb

to a very great degree or extent (Freq. 17)

-

I feel a lot better

-

we enjoyed ourselves very much

-

she was very much interested

-

this would help a great deal

• Syn: ↑lots, ↑a good deal, ↑a great deal, ↑much, ↑very much

* * *

a lot

1 also (informal) lots : a large amount

She has done a lot to help other people.

I'd give a lot to be able to write like that!

I'm not asking for a lot. [=much]

They must have paid a lot for that car.

We did quite a lot this morning.

We still have a lot to do. = We still have lots (and lots) to do.

2 : very often

Do they hike a lot?

I've been seeing her a lot recently.

3

— used to say that you feel a particular emotion very strongly

“Did you like the movie?” “Yes, I liked it a lot.” [=very much]

I miss her a lot since she went away.

4 also (informal) lots : to a large degree or extent : ↑much

This is a lot nicer. [=this is much nicer]

There's a lot more to it than I realized at first. [=it's more complicated than it looks]

I'm feeling lots better.

Thanks a lot. [=very much]

• • •

Main Entry: ↑lot