Cornerstone - English meaning

noun

The lowest part or edge of something, especially the part on which it rests or is supported.

Usage examples:

She sat down at the base of a tree

verb

Use (something specified) as the foundation or starting point for something.

Usage examples:

The film is based on a novel by pat conroy

adjective

Without moral principles; ignoble.

Usage examples:

The electorate's baser instincts of greed and selfishness

noun

The underlying support or foundation for an idea, argument, or process.

Usage examples:

Trust is the only basis for a good working relationship

noun

The most important facts, ideas, etc. from which something is developed

Usage examples:

Form the basis for this document will form the basis for our discussion., on the basis of decisions…

noun

A way or method of doing something

Usage examples:

On a voluntary basis most of our staff work for us on a voluntary basis (= they work without being …

noun

Solid rock underlying loose deposits such as soil or alluvium.

Usage examples:

Flat or slightly rolling terrain is the rule here, and thick soil deposits overlay cretaceous shale…

noun

The hard area of rock in the ground that holds up the loose soil above

noun

The main principles on which something is based

Usage examples:

Some people believe that the family is the bedrock of society.

noun

The point that is equally distant from every point on the circumference of a circle or sphere.

Usage examples:

She was so angered by this thought that she had changed forms and was halfway to the center of the …

verb

Occur mainly in or around (a specified place).

Usage examples:

The textile industry was centred in lancashire and yorkshire

proper noun

A region of central france, including the cities of orleans, tours, and chartres.

noun

An ornament or display placed in the middle of a dining table.

Usage examples:

Noelle lifted her eyes from the table's centerpiece, a flower display.

noun

The most important or attractive part or feature of something

Usage examples:

The reduction of crime levels is the centrepiece of the president's domestic policies., the centrep…

noun

A decorative object put in the centre of a table, especially for a formal meal

noun

The tough central part of various fruits, containing the seeds.

Usage examples:

A pineapple core

verb

Remove the tough central part and seeds from (a fruit).

Usage examples:

Peel and core the pears

combining form

Denoting types of rock or dance music, typically those with an aggressive or extreme style.

Usage examples:

Emocore

noun

The decisive or most important point at issue.

Usage examples:

The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed

proper noun

The smallest constellation (the cross or southern cross), but the most familiar one to observers in the southern hemisphere. it contains the bright star acrux, the ‘jewel box’ star cluster, and most of the coalsack nebula.

adjective

Used with preceding greek letter or numeral to designate a star in the constellation crux.

Usage examples:

The star beta crucis

noun

The centre of interest or activity.

Usage examples:

This generation has made the environment a focus of attention

verb

Adapt to the prevailing level of light and become able to see clearly.

Usage examples:

Try to focus on a stationary object

noun

The main object or interest, or the attention given something

Usage examples:

The focus of attention has shifted from the economy to improving the public schools., state officia…

noun

The lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.

Usage examples:

Foundations were being dug for a block of flats

noun

The base that is built below the surface of the ground to support a building

Usage examples:

A concrete foundation, fig. the two leaders have laid the foundations of a new era of cooperation b…

noun

An organization that has been started in order to provide money for a particular group of people or for a particular type of research

Usage examples:

He gave £1m to set up a charitable foundation to help vulnerable young people., he helped lead the …

noun

The foundation or basis of something.

Usage examples:

Most of these nations base the fundaments of their society on their religion, and try to live by it…

noun

The most important facts, ideas, etc. from which something is developed

Usage examples:

Loss is the underlying fundament of romantic music.

noun

A person's bottom

noun

A hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation. in vertebrates there may be up to four chambers (as in humans), with two atria and two ventricles.

Usage examples:

It rises to a peak, called the systolic pressure, at the height of the contraction of each heartbea…

verb

Like very much; love.

Usage examples:

I totally heart this song

noun

The organ in your chest that sends the blood around your body

Usage examples:

He's got a weak/bad heart (= his heart is not healthy)., isabel's heart was beating fast with fright.

noun

A small piece of shaped metal with incisions cut to fit the wards of a particular lock, which is inserted into a lock and turned to open or close it.

Usage examples:

There were two keys to the cupboard

adjective

Of crucial importance.

Usage examples:

She became a key figure in the suffragette movement

verb

Enter or operate on (data) by means of a computer keyboard or telephone keypad.

Usage examples:

Not everyone can key data quickly and accurately

noun

A central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together.

Usage examples:

The final seven rusticated bands are precisely linked to the voussoirs and keystones that define th…

proper noun

A us film company formed in 1912, remembered for its silent slapstick comedy films, many featuring the bumbling keystone kops police characters.

noun

The most important part of a plan, idea, etc. on which everything else depends

Usage examples:

Selling overseas has been, and always will remain, one of the keystones of our national prosperity.…

noun

A person or thing vital to an enterprise or organization.

Usage examples:

Nurses are the linchpin of the national health service

noun

A person or thing that is the most important part of a group or system’s operation

Usage examples:

The city’s river park is the linchpin of its efforts to sell itself as a vacation destination.

noun

The most important member of a group or part of a system, that holds together the other members or parts or makes it possible for them to operate as intended

Usage examples:

Linchpin of sth consumer spending is the linchpin of the economy.

noun

The main agent of motivation.

Usage examples:

Innovation is the mainspring of the new economy

noun

The most important reason for something; the thing that makes something else happen

Usage examples:

Work was the mainspring of his life.

noun

A person or thing on which something else is based or depends.

Usage examples:

Farming is the mainstay of the rural economy

noun

The most important part of something, providing support for everything else

Usage examples:

In the early 1900s, farming was the mainstay of the national economy.

noun

The most important part of something, providing support for everything else

Usage examples:

The mainstay of sth antibiotic therapy is the mainstay of treatment for many infections., cattle fa…

noun

A pole or beam used as a temporary support or to keep something in position.

Usage examples:

He looked around for a prop to pin the door open

verb

Support or keep in position.

Usage examples:

She propped her chin in the palm of her right hand

noun

A portable object other than furniture or costumes used on the set of a play or film.

Usage examples:

The exhibition features props and costumes from the show's incredible 49-year history