At.
319. The general meaning of at is near, close to, after a verb or expression implying position; and towards after a verb or expression indicating motion. It defines position approximately, while in is exact, meaning within.
Its principal uses are as follows:—
(1) Place where.
They who heard it listened with a curling horror at the heart.—J. F. Cooper.
There had been a strike at the neighboring manufacturing village, and there was to be a public meeting, at which he was besought to be present.—T. W. Higginson.
(2) Time, more exact, meaning the point of time at which.
He wished to attack at daybreak.—Parkman.
They buried him darkly, at dead of night.—Wolfe
(3) Direction.
The mother stood looking wildly down at the unseemly object.—Cooper.
You are next invited...to grasp at the opportunity, and take for your subject, "Health."—Higginson.
Here belong such expressions as laugh at, look at, wink at, gaze at, stare at, peep at, scowl at, sneer at, frown at, etc.
We laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand years.—Johnson.
"You never mean to say," pursued Dot, sitting on the floor and shaking her head at him.—Dickens.
(4) Source or cause, meaning because of, by reason of.
I felt my heart chill at the dismal sound.—T. W. Knox.
Delighted at this outburst against the Spaniards.—Parkman.
(5) Then the idiomatic phrases at last, at length, at any rate, at the best, at the worst, at least, at most, at first, at once, at all, at one, at naught, at random, etc.; and phrases signifying state or condition of being, as, at work, at play, at peace, at war, at rest, etc.
Exercise.—Find sentences with three different uses of at.
By.
320. Like at, by means near or close to, but has several other meanings more or less connected with this,—
(1) The general meaning of place.
Richard was standing by the window.—Aldrich.
Provided always the coach had not shed a wheel by the roadside.—Id.
(2) Time.
But by this time the bell of Old Alloway began tolling.—B. Taylor
The angel came by night.—R. H. Stoddard.
(3) Agency or means.
Menippus knew which were the kings by their howling louder.—M. D. Conway.
At St. Helena, the first port made by the ship, he stopped. —Parton.
(4) Measure of excess, expressing the degree of difference.
At that time [the earth] was richer, by many a million of acres.—De Quincey.
He was taller by almost the breadth of my nail.—Swift.
(5) It is also used in oaths and adjurations.
By my faith, that is a very plump hand for a man of eighty-four!—Parton.
They implore us by the long trials of struggling humanity; by the blessed memory of the departed; by the wrecks of time; by the ruins of nations.—Everett.
Exercise.—Find sentences with three different meanings of by.
For.
321. The chief meanings of for are as follows:—
(1) Motion towards a place, or a tendency or action toward the attainment of any object.
Pioneers who were opening the way for the march of the nation.—Cooper.
She saw the boat headed for her.—Warner.
(2) In favor of, for the benefit of, in behalf of, a person or thing.
He and they were for immediate attack.—Parkman
The people were then against us; they are now for us.—W. L. Garrison.
(3) Duration of time, or extent of space.
For a long time the disreputable element outshone the virtuous.—H. H. Bancroft.
He could overlook all the country for many a mile of rich woodland.—Irving.
(4) Substitution or exchange.
There are gains for all our losses.—Stoddard.
Thus did the Spaniards make bloody atonement for the butchery of Fort Caroline.—Parkman.
(5) Reference, meaning with regard to, as to, respecting, etc.
For the rest, the Colonna motto would fit you best.—Emerson.
For him, poor fellow, he repented of his folly.—E. E. Hale
This is very common with as—as for me, etc.
(6) Like as, meaning in the character of, as being, etc.
"Nay, if your worship can accomplish that," answered Master Brackett, "I shall own you for a man of skill indeed!" —Hawthorne.
Wavering whether he should put his son to death for an unnatural monster.—Lamb.
(7) Concession, meaning although, considering that etc.
"For a fool," said the Lady of Lochleven, "thou hast counseled wisely."—Scott
By my faith, that is a very plump hand for a man of eighty-four!—Parton.
(8) Meaning notwithstanding, or in spite of.
But the Colonel, for all his title, had a forest of poor relations.—Holmes.
Still, for all slips of hers,
One of Eve's family.
—Hood.
(9) Motive, cause, reason, incitement to action.
The twilight being...hardly more wholesome for its glittering mists of midge companies.—Ruskin.
An Arab woman, but a few sunsets since, ate her child, for famine.—Id.
Here Satouriona forgot his dignity, and leaped for joy.—Parkman.
(10) For with its object preceding the infinitive, and having the same meaning as a noun clause, as shown by this sentence:—
It is by no means necessary that he should devote his whole school existence to physical science; nay, more, it is not necessary for him to give up more than a moderate share of his time to such studies.—Huxley.
Exercise.—Find sentences with five meanings of for.