Definition:
A word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to limit or qualify the meaning of another word or word group. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "measure"Examples and Observations:
- "Realizing the importance of the case, my men are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects."
(Captain Renault in Casablanca) - "I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house."
(Zsa Zsa Gabor) - "I met a girl who sang the blues
and I asked her for some happy news,
but she just smiled and turned away.
And the three men I admire most,
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train to the coast
The day the music died."
(Don McLean, "American Pie") - "Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else's life forever."
(Margaret Cho) - "A distinction is made between pre-modification (modifying by preceding) and post-modification (modifying by following). In diamond mines in South Africa, diamond is a pre-modifier and in South Africa is a post-modifier."
(Sidney Greenbaum, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992) - "They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win."
(Bruce Springsteen, "Thunder Road")
Pronunciation: MOD-i-FI-er
Also Known As: adjunct
