a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition; "he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good weather"; "a patch of bad weather"
(sometimes followed by `to') meeting the requirements especially of a task; "she had adequate training"; "her training was adequate"; "she was adequate to the job"
about average; acceptable; "more than adequate as a secretary"
enough to meet a purpose; "an adequate income"; "the food was adequate"; "a decent wage"; "enough food"; "food enough"
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose; "enough is as good as a feast"; "there is more than a sufficiency of lawyers in this country"
as much as necessary; "Have I eaten enough?"; (`plenty' is nonstandard) "I've had plenty, thanks"
in or to or toward the rear; "he followed behind"; "seen from behind, the house is more imposing than it is from the front"; "the final runners were far behind"
remaining in a place or condition that has been left or departed from; "when he died he left much unfinished work behind"; "left a large family behind"; "the children left their books behind"; "he took off with a squeal of tires and left the other cars far behind"
in debt; "he fell behind with his mortgage payments"; "a month behind in the rent"; "a company that has been run behindhand for years"; "in arrears with their utility bills"
in or into an inferior position; "fell behind in his studies"; "their business was lagging behind in the competition for customers"
of timepieces; "the clock is almost an hour slow"; "my watch is running behind"