Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb At or in that place.
  • adverb To, into, or toward that place.
  • adverb At that stage, moment, or point.
  • adverb In that matter.
  • adverb In a readily accessible or discoverable state.
  • pronoun Used to introduce a clause or sentence.
  • pronoun Used to indicate an unspecified person in direct address.
  • adjective Used especially for emphasis after the demonstrative pronoun that or those, or after a noun modified by the demonstrative adjective that or those.
  • adjective Nonstandard Used for emphasis between a demonstrative adjective meaning “that” or “those” and a noun.
  • noun That place or point.
  • interjection Used to express feelings such as relief, satisfaction, sympathy, or anger.
  • idiom (be there for (someone)) To be available to provide help or comfort to someone in a time of difficulty.
  • idiom (out there) Extremely unconventional or eccentric.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In or at a definite place other than that occupied by the speaker; in that place; at that point: used in reference to a place or point otherwise or already indicated or known; as, you will find him there (pointing to the particular place); if he is in Paris, I shall see him there.
  • Into that place; to that place; thither: after verbs of motion or direction as, how did that get there I will go there to-morrow.
  • At that point of progress; after going so far or proceeding to such a point; as, you have said or done enough, you may stop there.
  • In that state or condition of things; in that respect.
  • Used by way of calling the attention to something, as to a person, object, or place; as, there is my hand.
  • Used as an indefinite grammatical subject, in place of the real subject, which then follows the verb, increased force being thus secured: so used especially with the verb to be: as, there is no peace for the wicked.
  • Used like that in interjectional phrases; such as, there 's a darling! there 's a good boy!
  • Thence.
  • Where.
  • Used to express: Certainty, confirmation, triumph, dismay, etc.: as, there! what did I tell you?
  • Encouragement, direction, or setting on.
  • Consolation, coaxing, or quieting, as in hushing a child: as, there! there! go to sleep.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In or at that place.
  • adverb In that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc., regarded as a distinct place.
  • adverb To or into that place; thither.
  • adverb in one place and another.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb location In a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) at some distance from the speaker (compare here).
  • adverb figuratively In that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc., regarded as a distinct place.
  • adverb location To or into that place; thither.
  • adverb obsolete Where, there where, in which place.
  • adverb In existence or in this world; see pronoun section below.
  • interjection Used to offer encouragement or sympathy.
  • interjection Used to express victory or completion.
  • noun That place.
  • noun That status; that position.
  • pronoun Used as an expletive subject of be in its sense of “exist”, with the semantic, usually indefinite subject being postponed or (occasionally) implied.
  • pronoun Used with other intransitive verbs of existence, in the same sense, or with other intransitive verbs, adding a sense of existence.
  • pronoun Used with other verbs, when raised.
  • pronoun no longer productive That.
  • pronoun colloquial Used to replace an unknown name, principally in greetings and farewells

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a location other than here; that place
  • adverb in that matter
  • adverb to or toward that place; away from the speaker
  • adverb in or at that place

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ther, from Old English thǣr, thēr; see to- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English there, ther, thare, thar, thore, from Old English þēr, þǣr, þār ("there; at that place"), from Proto-Germanic *þar (“at that place; there”), from Proto-Indo-European *tar- (“there”), from demonstrative pronominal base *to- (“the, that”) + adverbial suffix *-r. Cognate with Scots thar, thair ("there"), North Frisian dear, deer, där ("there"), Saterland Frisian deer ("there"), West Frisian dêr ("there"), Dutch daar ("there"), Low German dar ("there"), German da, dar- ("there"), Danish der ("there"), Swedish där ("there"), Icelandic þar ("in that place, there").

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Examples

  • We've been promised non-linear narratives since HyperCard, and there are some out there*.

    Making Light: Open thread 136 2010

  • We've been promised non-linear narratives since HyperCard, and there are some out there*.

    Making Light: Open thread 136 2010

  • And down south it was not so cold there and there were many grasslands and savannahs there and there  appeared adot.

    bomb 2010

  • If there is one person I admire and love for chutzpah, her sex appeal is Kumar the Cross Dresser ..there is none like her , and I dont even know how to contact her ...,this is Kumar the make up artist with his sister ..and me definitely not her brother ha ha ha ha ha

    Archive 2009-08-01 photographerno1 2009

  • Now I must state , the signals where the hijras begged clapping their hands are still there but the hijras have moved on ..and hijras at this level have two alternatives beg or solicit..there is no other job option and Maharashtra with its hoopla of Bandra Sea Link will take another million years to do what Mr Karunanidhi's government has done for the Aravanis the transgender of Tamil Nadu.

    Archive 2009-07-01 photographerno1 2009

  • I am going there now..there better be no line now.

    $3 Lunch Reminder | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2009

  • But - drumroll please - there was a *hot girl standing there*!

    Archive 2008-05-01 2008

  • The thought of leaving Danny there is heart-wrenching…..but the phone calls have been made and his co-workers arrive to stay with him until he leaves this cold, forbidding freezer of a building…..there is more investigating to do.

    Phil Spector Guilty In Lana Clarkson Murder 2008

  • In cases in which the reasons for an action are dwarfed by the considerations against it, it is usual to report that there is no reason for the action at all; ˜there is a reason to do A™ typically communicates that there is a relatively weighty reason to do A.

    Reasons for Action: Internal vs. External Finlay, Stephen 2008

  • But - drumroll please - there was a *hot girl standing there*!

    Because I am a man. Because that is what men do. 2008

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