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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Preposition 'as'

I'm confused about the meaning/usage of the preposition 'as' in the following sentence defining the word 'espionage':

The act or practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information, as about another government or a business competitor.



Please tell me the meaning of as, how it is used, and how the sentence would be different without it.



Thank you
  

Top answer

"as" introduces prototypical examples but leaves open the possibility that the word may apply to other things similar. Without "as", the meaning would be restricted to the two activities mentioned.

— Mr Wordy

  • "as" introduces prototypical examples but leaves open the possibility that the word may apply to other things similar.
  • Without "as", the meaning would be restricted to the two activities mentioned.
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10 Answers
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"as" introduces prototypical examples but leaves open the possibility that the word may apply to other things similar. Without "as", the meaning would be restricted to the two activities mentioned.
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Mr Wordy"as" introduces prototypical examples but leaves open the possibility that the word may apply to other things similar. Without "as", the meaning would be restricted to the two activities mentioned.
[H] Nice work! I think I knew that but couldn't articulate the meaning, nor could I find it in a dictionary... Can you??

Also, what about 'as' her
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English 1b3Also, what about 'as' here? Definition of paradigm:
an overall concept accepted by most people in an intellectual community, as those in one of the natural sciences, because of its effectiveness in explaining a complex process, idea, or set of data
Same meaning as far as I can see...
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Would you say there is no difference between 'as' and 'for example' or 'such as' in these sentences?
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English 1b3Would you say there is no difference between 'as' and 'for example' or 'such as' in these sentences?
This use of "as" is particularly a feature of dictionary definitions, and one reason for its use may be simply that it is shorter.

Apart from that, though, "as" in these sentences seems to me to more strongly mean "this or something analo
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Mr WordyThis use of "as" is particularly a feature of dictionary definitions, and one reason for its use may be simply that it is shorter.

That was my thought too.
Mr WordyApart from that, though, "as" in these sentences seems to me to more strongly mean "this or something analogous to it". (I'm talking nuances -- I know that "for
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English 1b3I'm confused about the meaning/usage of the preposition 'as' in the following sentence defining the word 'espionage':
The act or practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information, as about another government or a business competitor.
Please tell me the meaning of as, how it is used, and how the sentence would be different without
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BillJ Why are you asking us to explain the grammatical correctness of a dictionary definition?

Hi,

Am I?
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English 1b3
BillJ Why are you asking us to explain the grammatical correctness of a dictionary definition?

Hi,
Am I?
YES YOU ARE! It was a direct quote from 'The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language'. It is quite unreasonable of you to expect us to spend time parsing dictionary definit
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BillJIt is quite unreasonable of you to expect us to spend time parsing dictionary definitions

I don't expect anything.
BillJ(which use special condensed/abbreviated grammar in their definitions).

And thanks to Mr Wordy, I am now aware of this. I'm also aware that you dislike me, so maybe you should just avoid me l
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