thing

noun

1. That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.

   “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...”

   “The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […], "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.”

2. A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
3. An individual object or distinct entity.
4. Whatever can be owned.
5. Corporeal object.
6. (in-plural)Possessions or equipment; stuff; gear.

   “Hold on, let me just grab my things.”

7. (dated)The latest fad or fashion.

   “To go to bed late, to rise late, to breakfast late, to dine late, and to visit late, is to be “quite the thing,” or in good English, which you may understand better than the first phrase, to be in the fashion.”

   “After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi[…]'”

8. (informal)A custom or practice.

   “Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.”

9. (informal)A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief).

   “Q: Bacon pie? Is that a thing? A: Yes, I checked into it, and it's a thing. Some people are even connoisseurs about it.”

   “Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... (Laughter) Well, it's a thing. I mean, there's a -- it's a -- there's a feminist professor down in Tampa who's discovered a male lesbian”

   “Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not a thing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' (as each essay subtly shows) simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of race is at place […]”

   “Clémence would say that his style was normcore before normcore became a thing. She had to admit that she still found him attractive.”

   “Conservative philosophy, in other words, is, as we say now, a thing and deserves a serious listen.”

10. (informal)A unit or container, usually containing consumable goods.

    “Could you get me a thing of apple juice at the store?”

    “I just ate a whole thing of jelly beans.”

    “And he invited us all in there and then he kicked the girls out a little bit later and brought me in a couple things of alcohol. And just before he brought in my second bottle of alcohol[…]”

    “I remember my friend Ben saying in the old days that he would never go to Costco and buy one of those big things of toilet paper[…]”

    “I came home and ate a whole thing of ice cream.”

11. (informal)A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.

    “The car looks cheap, but the thing is, I have doubts about its safety.”

    “That's the thing: we don't know where he is.”

    “We can't exactly die; that's like, the whole thing here?”

12. (euphemistic, slang)A penis.

    ““Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.””

13. (euphemistic, slang)A vulva or vagina.

    “‘They reckon she lets her dogs lick her thing.’”

14. A living being or creature.

    “you poor thing”

    “sweet young thing”

    “she's a funny old thing, but her heart's in the right place”

    “I met a pretty blond thing at the bar”

15. Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.

    “Oh yeah, I'm supposed to promote that vision thing.”

    “Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shooting thing. (in reference to the execution of Fernandez)”

16. (informal)That which is favoured; personal preference.

    “it's not really my thing”

    “Tool talk [is] not my thing.”

    “The Internet isn't my thing. I so much rather talk on the phone.”

17. (informal)One's typical routine, habits, or manner.

    “let me do my thing; I'm here doing my thing”

    “But I'm just a guy from Missoula, Montana, doing my thing, going down the road like everybody else.”

18. (historical)A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.

    “In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to the thing fully armed, [...]”

    “The goðar seem both to have received payment of thing-fararkaup from those who stayed home and at the same time compensated those who went to the thing, and it cannot be seen whether they had any profit from these transactions.”

    “All Icelandic things were skap-thing, meaning that they were governed by established procedure and met at regular legally designated intevals at predetermined meeting places.”

19. (informal)A romantic relationship.

    “I can screw you in front of everyone. I don't care, we have a thing going on, you know. I love you,” she said.”

20. (informal)A romantic couple.

    “Are John and Jennifer a thing again? I thought they broke up.”

21. (Multicultural-London-English, alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of ting.
22. (Multicultural-London-English)Girl; attractive woman.

    “Look at the nyash on that thing!”

23. (historical)A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.

    “But when the earl held a Thing, then Thorkell spoke on behalf of the freemen, told the need of the men, and bade the earl spare his people.”

    “The supreme political unit of the tribe was the assembly of its free male warriors. This assembly, called the "Thing", served as the court of highest instance for dealing with individuals who had broken fundamental elements of the tribal pact, an occasion to meet and to reinforce ties among members, and, often, an assembly which preceded a military campaign.”

    “Before Thorstein left home, he and Asgerd decided to take Arinbjorn's gift, the silk cloak, out of Egil's chest, and Thorstein wore it to the Thing.”

    “1928 The Executive Committee of the Law Thing is created to assume executive powers from the Governor.”

24. (informal)Nickname or appellative for numerous "things", including fictional characters.
25. (US, informal, slang)Nickname for the Volkswagen 181.

verb

1. (rare)To express as a thing; to reify.