prevent from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
not common or ordinarily encountered; unusually great in amount or remarkable in character or kind; "uncommon birds"; "frost and floods are uncommon during these months"; "doing an uncommon amount of business"; "an uncommon liking for money"; "he owed his greatest debt to his mother's uncommon character and ability"
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students"
having high relative density or specific gravity; "dense as lead"
hard to pass through because of dense growth; "dense vegetation"; "thick woods"
permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog"; "impenetrable gloom"
not ever; at no time in the past or future; "I have never been to China"; "I shall never forget this day"; "had never seen a circus"; "never on Sunday"; "I will never marry you!"
not at all; certainly not; not in any circumstances; "never fear"; "bringing up children is never easy"; "that will never do"; "what is morally wrong can never be politically right"
crowded with or characterized by much activity; "a very busy week"; "a busy life"; "a busy street"; "a busy seaport"
actively or fully engaged or occupied; "busy with her work"; "a busy man"; "too busy to eat lunch"; "the line is busy"
(of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability; (`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line); "her line is busy"; "receptionists' telephones are always engaged"; "the lavatory is in use"; "kept getting a busy signal"
overcrowded or cluttered with detail; "a busy painting"; "a fussy design"
keep busy with; "She busies herself with her butterfly collection"
a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly); "sailing is her favorite pastime"; "his main pastime is gambling"; "he counts reading among his interests"; "they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits"
a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area; "they took an extended tour of Europe"; "we took a quick circuit of the park"; "a ten-day coach circuit of the island"
make a tour of a certain place; "We toured the Provence this summer"