- exactly
- They look precisely the same to me.
- That's precisely what I meant.
- It's not clear precisely how the accident happened.
- The meeting starts at 2 o'clock precisely.
Definitions on the go
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- accurately; carefully
- to describe something precisely
- She pronounced the word very slowly and precisely.
- used to emphasize that something is very true or obvious
- It's precisely because I care about you that I don't like you staying out late.
- The children are precisely the ones who will suffer if they get divorced.
- used to emphasize that you agree with a statement, especially because you think it is obvious or is similar to what you have just said
- ‘It's not that easy, is it?’ ‘No, precisely.’
Idioms
See precisely in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee precisely in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishmore precisely
- used to show that you are giving more detailed and accurate information about something you have just mentioned
- The problem is due to discipline, or, more precisely, the lack of discipline, in schools.
Language Bank i.e.i.e.Explaining what you mean- Some poems are mnemonics, i.e. they are designed to help you remember something.
- Some poems are mnemonics, that is to say, they are designed to help you remember something.
- Mnemonic poems, that is, poems designed to help you remember something, are an excellent way to learn lists.
- A limerick’s rhyme scheme is A–A–B–B–A. In other words, the first, second and fifth lines all rhyme with one another, while the third and fourth lines have their own rhyme.
- In this exercise the reader is encouraged to work out the meaning, or rather the range of meanings, of the poem.
- This is a poem about death, or, more precisely, dying.
- He says his poems deal with ‘the big issues’, by which he means love, loss, grief and death.
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precisely