(sometimes followed by `to') not meeting the requirements especially of a task; "inadequate training"; "the staff was inadequate"; "she was inadequate to the job"
not sufficient to meet a need; "an inadequate income"; "a poor salary"; "money is short"; "on short rations"; "food is in short supply"; "short on experience"
lost in thought; showing preoccupation; "an absent stare"; "an absentminded professor"; "the scatty glancing quality of a hyperactive but unfocused intelligence"
marked by active interest and enthusiasm; "an avid sports fan"; "a great walker"; "an eager beaver"
(often followed by `for') ardently or excessively desirous; "avid for adventure"; "an avid ambition to succeed"; "fierce devouring affection"; "the esurient eyes of an avid curiosity"; "greedy for fame"
(of a baseball pitch) on the far side of home plate from the batter; "the pitch was away (or wide)"; "an outside pitch"
used of an opponent's ground; "an away game"
from a particular thing or place or position (`forth' is obsolete); "ran away from the lion"; "wanted to get away from there"; "sent the children away to boarding school"; "the teacher waved the children away from the dead animal"; "went off to school"; "they drove off"; "go forth and preach"
from one's possession; "he gave out money to the poor"; "gave away the tickets"
out of existence; "the music faded away"; "tried to explain away the affair of the letter"- H.E.Scudder; "idled the hours away"; "her fingernails were worn away"
indicating continuing action; continuously or steadily; "he worked away at the project for more than a year"; "the child kept hammering away as if his life depended on it"
in a different direction; "turn aside"; "turn away one's face"; "glanced away"
in or into a proper place (especially for storage or safekeeping); "put the toys away"; "her jewels are locked away in a safe"; "filed the letter away"
so as to be removed or gotten rid of; "cleared the mess away"; "the rotted wood had to be cut away"