Word.ws English Dictionary

list

/lɪst/

list noun: a strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.

Noun (1)

list (plural lists)

  1. A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.
    • 1. Gent[leman]. Well: there went but a paire of ſheeres betweene vs. / Luc[io]. I grant: as there may betweene the Liſts, and the Veluet. Thou art the Liſt. / 1. Gent. And thou the Veluet. Thou art good Veluet; thou'rt a three pild-piece I warrant thee: I had as liefe be a Lyſt of an Engliſh...c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • “Listen! I see it all — down, down even to the stays! Such stays! Six-eight a pair, Polly, with red flannel — or list is it? — that they put into the tops of those fearful things. I can draw you a picture of them.”1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 20
  2. Material used for cloth selvage.
    • Previous to the offering up of prayer, however, the persons chosen for this office [of praying for the people] had divested themselves of their boots and put on list slippers, their hands being washed by "the descendants of Levi" at a basin near the Holy of Holies.1871 September 18, “The Jewish New Year”, in The Jewish Herald: A Record of Christian Effort for the Salvation of Israel, London: John Snow & Co., […]; and the British Society [for the Propagation of...
    • "How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about nine left to traces with her muddy boots?" / "I am glad you raise the point. It occurred to me at the time. The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the commissionaire's office, and putting on list slippers."1893, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Naval Treaty”, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt, →OCLC; republished London: John Murray, […], January 1950, →OCLC, page 255
  3. A register or roll of paper consisting of a compilation or enumeration of a set of possible items; the compilation or enumeration itself.
    • Natures that haue much Heat, and great and violent deſires and Perturbations, are not ripe for Action, till they haue paſſed the Meridian of their yeares: As it was with Iulius Cæſar, and Septimius Seuerus. […] And yet he [Septimus Severus] was the Ableſt Emperour, almoſt, of all the Liſt.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age. XLII.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, pages 247–248
    • "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe," said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. "Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?"1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 11–12
  4. (historical, in plural) The barriers or palisades used to fence off a space for jousting or tilting tournaments.
    • On pain of death, no person be so bold
      Or daring-hardy as to touch the lists,
      Except the marshal and such officers
      Appointed to direct these fair designs.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
    • With Truncheon tip'd with Iron head, / The Warrior to the Lists [he] led; […]1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...
  5. (historical, in plural) The scene of a military contest; the ground or field of combat; an enclosed space that serves as a battlefield; the site of a pitched battle.
    • The sun’s bright lances rout the mists of morning, and by George! Here’s Longstreet struggling in the lists, hemmed in an ugly gorge. Pope and his Yankees, whipped before, “Bay’nets and grape!” hear Stonewall roar; “Charge, Stuart! Pay off Ashby’s score!” in “Stonewall Jackson’s Way.”1862, John Williamson Palmer, Stonewall Jackson's Way
  6. A codified representation of a list used to store data or in processing; especially, in the Lisp programming language, a data structure consisting of a sequence of zero or more items.
    • Lisp is an applicative language. This means that it is structured around applying functions (operations) to a linked list of arguments that accompany those functions. […] A function call or function definition is only coded in the syntax of a list, which can be of an indefinite length. Thus, the...1985 March 10, Ed Acly, “A Tale of Three Languages: C, Ada & Lisp”, in Computerworld: The Newsweekly for the Computer Community, volume XIX, number 12, Framingham, Mass.: CW Communications, →ISSN...
  7. A little square moulding; a fillet or listel.
    • STRIÆ, in ancient architecture, the liſts, fillets or rays which ſeparate the ſtriges or flutings of columns.1788, [John Carter], “STRIÆ”, in The Builder’s Magazine: Or, A Universal Dictionary for Architects, Carpenters, Masons, Bricklayers, &c. […], new edition, London: Printed for E. Newbery, […], →OCLC...
    • A volute is a kind of spiral scroll, used in the Ionic and Composite capitals, of which it makes the principal characteristic and ornament. […] There are several diversities practised in the volute. In some, the list or edge, throughout all the circumvolutions, is in the same line or plane. […]...1876, Edward Shaw, Thomas W[illiam] Silloway, George M[ilford] Harding, “Introduction”, in Civil Architecture; being a Complete Theoretical and Practical System of Building, Containing the...
  8. A narrow strip of wood, especially sapwood, cut from the edge of a board or plank.
  9. A piece of woollen cloth with which the yarns are grasped by a worker.
  10. The first thin coating of tin; a wire-like rim of tin left on an edge of the plate after it is coated.
  11. (obsolete) A stripe.
    • Thus the Aſſe having a peculiar mark of a croſſe made by a black liſt down his back, and another athwart, or at right angles down his ſhoulders; common opinion aſcribes this figure unto a peculiar ſignation; ſince that beaſt had the honour to bear our Saviour on his back.1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th...
  12. (obsolete) A boundary or limit; a border.
    • [W]ere it good / […] to ſet ſo rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre? / It were not good for therein ſhould we read / The very bottome and the ſoule of hope, / The very liſt, the very vtmost bound / Of all our fortunes.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

Verb (1)

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

  1. (transitive) To create or recite a list.
    Synonyms:
    tabulate
  2. (transitive) To place in listings.
    • As the export market for tropical hardwoods expanded, timber from tropical rain forests very rapidly became the dominant or major forest product, dominant to such an extent that trade figures often do not even list the minor forest products exported, or their value.1993, Ooi Jin Bee, “The Tropical Rain Forest: Patterns of Exploitation and Trade”, in Tropical Deforestation: The Tyranny of Time, Singapore: Singapore University Press, →ISBN, page 62
  3. (transitive) To sew together, as strips of cloth, so as to make a show of colours, or to form a border.
  4. (transitive) To cover with list, or with strips of cloth; to put list on; to stripe as if with list.
    • to list a door
    • He raised his eyes and saw / The tree that shone white-listed thro' the gloom.1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 142
  5. (transitive) To plough and plant with a lister.
  6. (Southern US, transitive) To prepare (land) for a cotton crop by making alternating beds and alleys with a hoe.
  7. (transitive) To cut away a narrow strip, as of sapwood, from the edge of.
    • to list a board
  8. (transitive) To enclose (a field, etc.) for combat.
  9. (obsolete, transitive) To engage a soldier, etc.; to enlist.
    • […] It is therefore ordered that the Maior and Aldermen of Colchester [et al.], shall forthwith procure and raise in the said severall townes, and other pleces adjacent, two thousand horses for dragooners, or as manie as possible they may, for the service as aforesaid, and with all possible speed...1642 October 28, [Philip Morant], History and Antiquities of the Borough of Colchester, in the County of Essex. […], Colchester, Essex: Printed and sold by I. Marsden, …, published 1810, →OCLC, pages...
    • "I have a gun, madam," said little Julian, "and the park-keeper is to teach me how to fire it next year." / "I will list you for my soldier, then," said the Countess.1822, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 107
  10. (intransitive, obsolete) To engage in public service by enrolling one's name; to enlist.
  11. To give a building of architectural or historical interest listed status; see also the adjective listed.
    • A century later, BR demolished the downside main buildings, so the eastbound and central platforms were promptly listed - which has ensured their survival, albeit increasingly neglected in recent years. This has now been rectified, [...].2021 February 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The London Underground Operational Enhancement Award: Hanwell”, in RAIL, number 946, page 55
  12. (intransitive, transitive) To trade on a particular stock exchange.
    • I was able to invest as soon as the company was listed.
    • Responsible for public affairs, business strategy, corporate development and finance, he [Donald Tang] now faces the task of getting an initial public offering over the line in London after ditching earlier plans to list in New York in the face of US political opposition.2024 July 13, Laura Onita, Eleanor Olcott, “Shein’s master of reinvention treads tricky path to IPO”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11

Noun (2)

list (uncountable)

  1. (archaic) Art; craft; cunning; skill.
    • In discussing the Syllabus and the last dogma of 1870, so much must be allowed for Italian list and cunning, or a word-fence. An Englishman, with his matter-of-fact way of putting things, is no match for these gentry.1877 November 16, “Vaticanism”, in The Literary World. Choice Readings from the Best New Books, and Critical Reviews, volume XVI, number 420 (New Series), London: James Clarke & Co., […], →OCLC, page...
    • Sophos, fab[le] 40. "The foxes had heard that the fowls were sick, and went to see them decked in peacock's feathers; said of men who speak friendly, but only with list or cunning within."1893, S[olomon] C[aesar] Malan, chapter XXVI, in Original Notes on the Book of Proverbs. Mostly from Eastern Writings, volumes III (Ch. xxi.–xxxi.), London: Williams and Norgate, […], →OCLC, page 349
    Synonyms:
    cunning

Verb (2)

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle list)

  1. (intransitive, poetic) To listen.
    • 2 [Soldier] Peace, what noiſe? / 1 [Soldier] Liſt liſt. / 2 Hearke. / 1 Music i' th' Ayre.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
    • We list to the trumpings that herald the storm, / To the roll of the drum, and the order to form!1860–1861, “What of the Night?”, in Frank Moore, editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc., volume II, New York, N.Y....
  2. (poetic, transitive) To listen to.
    • Then way what loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine / If with too credent eare you liſt his ſongs / Or looſe your hart, or your chaſt treaſure open / To his vnmaſtred importunity.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...

Verb (3)

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To desire, like, or wish (to do something).
    • who liſt to lyue yn quyetnes
      by me lett hym beware
      For I by highe dyſdayne
      ame made withoute redreſſe
      and vnkyndenes Alas hathe ſlayne
      my poore trew hart all comfortlesc. 1536-1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Yf in the world ther be more woo”, in Egerton MS 2711, page 63r
    • If thou beeſt a man, ſhew thy ſelfe in thy likeneſs. If thou beeſt a diuell, take't as thou liſt.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
  2. (archaic, transitive) To be pleasing to.
    • Might then I depart, and dwell as listeth me, out of all the world?2016, Graydon Saunders, chapter 13, in Safely You Deliver

Noun (3)

list

  1. (obsolete) Desire, inclination.
    • I know too much: / I finde it, I; for when I ha liſt to ſleepe, / Mary, before your Ladiſhip I grant, / She puts her tongue alittle in her heart, / And chides with thinking.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act...

Noun (4)

list (plural lists)

  1. A tilt to a building.
  2. A careening or tilting to one side, usually not intentionally or under a vessel's own power.

Verb (4)

list (third-person singular simple present lists, present participle listing, simple past and past participle listed)

  1. (transitive) To cause (something) to tilt to one side.
    • The steady wind listed the ship.
  2. (intransitive) To tilt to one side.
    • The ship listed to port.
    • Even a small camber one way caused the whole outfit to list alarmingly.2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 173

Proper noun capitalized: List

List

  1. A surname.

list meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

list in Hindi

enumeration or compilation of items
तालिका tālikā, सूची sūcī
computing: codified representation of a list
सूची sūcī

list in Tamil

enumeration or compilation of items
பட்டியல் paṭṭiyal, லிஸ்ட் lisṭ

list in Marathi

enumeration or compilation of items
यादी yādī

list in Urdu

enumeration or compilation of items
فِہْرِسْت fihrist, لِسْٹ lisṭ
More languagesFewer languages
list in Bengali
তালিকা talika, সূচী śuci, ফর্দ phordo
list in Telugu
జాబితా jābitā
list in Malayalam
പട്ടിക paṭṭika
list in Kannada
ಯಾದಿ, ಪಟ್ಟಿ, ವರಸೆ, ಓಜೆ
list in Punjabi
ਫ਼ਿਹਰਿਸਤ fihrisat, ਸੂਚੀ sūcī, ਲਿਸਟ lisaṭ, فہرست fihrist
list in Gujarati
યાદી yādī
list in Odia
ତାଲିକା, ତାଲିକାଭୁକ୍ତ କରନ୍ତୁ
list in Assamese
তালিকা talika, সিঠি xithi
list in Nepali
सूची sūcī, तालिका tālikā
list in Pashto
نوملړ numlaṛ
list in Tagalog
listahan
list in Arabic
قَائِمَة qāʔima, قائمة qāʔima, لستة lista
list in Malay
senarai, senaraikan
list in Indonesian
daftar, senarai
list in Persian
فِهْرِسْت fehrest, سِیاهِه siyâhe, لیسْت list, فهرست کردن fehrest kardan
list in Thai
รายการ raai-gaan
list in Vietnamese
danh sách, liệt kê
list in Myanmar
စာရင်း carang:

Examples of list in a sentence

  • I grant: as there may betweene the Liſts, and the Veluet.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
  • I ran across, and pulling at the list-covered rope, I was surprised to find how difficult it was to swing the bell.1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
  • Dr Yoshimoto and his colleagues would like to add liver cancer to that list.2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut: How microbes promote liver cancer in the overweight”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages...
  • William de Wyvil, and Stephen de Martival, […] armed at all points, rode up and down the lists to enforce and preserve good order among the spectators.1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VIII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable...

All 40 example sentences with list

Synonyms of list

Forms of list

Noun
plurallists
Verb
third-person singular presentlists
present participlelisting
past participlelisted
pastlisted
past participlelist
pastlist

Past tense of list: listed

Plural of list: lists

Origin of list

From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista, all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”). Cognates * Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”) * Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”) * German Low German Liest (“edging, border”) * German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”) * Swedish lista (“list”) * Icelandic lista listi (“list”) * Italian lista (“list; strip”) * Portuguese lista (“list”) * Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”) * Galician lista (“band, strip; list”) * Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).

From Middle English list, liste (“ability, cleverness, cunning, skill; adroitness, dexterity; strategem, trick; device, design, token”), from Old English list (“art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”), from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“art, craft”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-, *leyǝs- (“furrow, trace, track, trail”). The word is cognate with Dutch list (“artifice, guile, sleight; ruse, strategem”), German List (“cunning, guile; ploy, ruse, trick”), Low German list (“artifice, cunning; prudence, wisdom”), Icelandic list (“art”), Saterland Frisian list (“cunning, knowledge”), Scots list (“art, craft, skill; cunning”), Swedish list (“art; cunning, guile, wile; ruse, trick; stealth”), and possibly Spanish listo (“clever”). It is also related to learn, lore.

From Middle English listen, from Old English hlystan (“to listen”), from hlyst (“hearing”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlusti, from Proto-Germanic *hlustiz (“hearing”).

Words formed from list

Phrases with list

54 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with list

43 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about list

What does list mean?
List means a strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.
What is list in Hindi?
List in Hindi is तालिका (tālikā), सूची (sūcī). See List meaning in Hindi.
How do you use list in a sentence?
I grant: as there may betweene the Liſts, and the Veluet.
What part of speech is list?
List can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce list?
List is pronounced /lɪst/.
What is the plural of list?
The plural of list is lists.

Words near list in the dictionary

  1. lissotrichous
  2. lissotrichy
  3. Lissu
  4. Lissus
  5. Lissy
  6. list
  7. List 99
  8. List A
  9. list box
  10. list boxes
  11. list price

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: list (page history and authors); List (page history and authors); list (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); فہرست (Punjabi) (page history and authors); યાદી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); list (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); তালিকা (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-list.ogg, en-au-list.ogg.

Cite this entry: “list.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/list. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.