Than
[ðæn;ð(ə)n] or [ðæn]
Definition
(conj.) A particle expressing comparison, used after certain adjectives and adverbs which express comparison or diversity, as more, better, other, otherwise, and the like. It is usually followed by the object compared in the nominative case. Sometimes, however, the object compared is placed in the objective case, and than is then considered by some grammarians as a preposition. Sometimes the object is expressed in a sentence, usually introduced by that; as, I would rather suffer than that you should want.
(adv.) Then. See Then.
Editor: Rosanne
Definition
conj. when as if compared with—a word placed after the comparative of an adjective or adverb between the things compared.
Typed by Julie
Examples
- He was undeniably a prosperous man, bore his drinking better than others bore their moderation, and, on the whole, flourished like the green bay-tree. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- They are purging more than the epsom salts in this epoch. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Father's a sweeter singer than ever; you'd never have forgotten it, if you'd aheard him just now. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Nothing, he said, can be more just than such a description of him. Plato. The Republic.
- Have you found your first day's work harder than you expected? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Better than he thought,--except the last clause. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- They mostly began to reign as old men, and their reigns were short, averaging less than two years each. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- They are a smaller horde than the Tharks but much more ferocious. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- There is more in it than thou dost guess, Conrade; thy simplicity is no match for this deep abyss of wickedness. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- You never noticed it, any more than you noticed me. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Women are certainly quicker in some things than men. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The vestry was larger than I should have supposed it to be, judging from the outside only. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He perhaps knows more of Mr. Rochester than you do. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands, said Mrs. March decidedly. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- And Gerald would be freer, more dauntless than Bismarck. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Such companies, therefore, commonly draw to themselves much greater stocks, than any private copartnery can boast of. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Mrs. Bulstrode did not wish to go nearer to the facts than in the phrase make some amends; knowing that her husband must understand her. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- They are worse than a goring, for the injury is internal and it does not heal. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- King George III, who had begun his reign in 1760, was resolved to be much more of a king than his two German predecessors. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- No, it is not selfishness or conceit, said he, answering, as was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Love covers a multitude of sins, and of whom could you ask more freely than of him? Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I suppose it's smarter to use these rocks and build a good blind for this gun than to make a proper emplacement for it. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Each female cod has more than 9,000,000 eggs, but the numbers are kept down by a host of enemies. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Chance set me free of my London engagements to-day sooner than I had expected, and I have got here, in consequence, earlier than my appointed time. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- But in 1562, the year at which he ends with it, it contained no more than the same nominal sum does at present. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I beg you will not do anything of the kind, Tertius, said Rosamond, looking at him with something more marked than usual in her speech. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He had done worse than listen, as I privately thought to myself. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner. Plato. The Republic.
- Nothing could be more precise, exact, and orderly than Greenleaf. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- This expense, however, it must be acknowledged, is more moderate in Great Britain than in most other countries. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Typed by Julie