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interest - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'interest' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Interest [ n.]
- To engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing; as, the subject did not interest him; to interest one in charitable work.
- To be concerned with or engaged in; to affect; to concern; to excite; -- often used impersonally.
- To cause or permit to share.
- Excitement of feeling, whether pleasant or painful, accompanying special attention to some object; concern.
- Participation in advantage, profit, and responsibility; share; portion; part; as, an interest in a brewery; he has parted with his interest in the stocks.
- Advantage, personal or general; good, regarded as a selfish benefit; profit; benefit.
- Premium paid for the use of money, -- usually reckoned as a percentage; as, interest at five per cent per annum on ten thousand dollars.
- Any excess of advantage over and above an exact equivalent for what is given or rendered.
- The persons interested in any particular business or measure, taken collectively; as, the iron interest; the cotton interest.

Meaning of 'interest' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . interest [ n]
Meaning (1):
- (law) a right or legal share of something; a financial involvement with something
Example in sentence:
  • a stake in the company's future;
  • they have interests all over the world
Meaning (2):
- a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
Example in sentence:
  • an interest in music
Meaning (3):
- a reason for wanting something done
Example in sentence:
  • died for the sake of his country;
  • for your sake;
  • in the common interest;
  • in the interest of safety
Meaning (4):
- a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)
Example in sentence:
  • he counts reading among his interests;
  • his main pastime is gambling;
  • sailing is her favorite pastime;
  • they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits
Meaning (5):
- a fixed charge for borrowing money; usually a percentage of the amount borrowed
Example in sentence:
  • how much interest do you pay on your mortgage?
Meaning (6):
- the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.)
Example in sentence:
  • primary colors can add interest to a room;
  • they said nothing of great interest
Meaning (7):
- (usually plural) a social group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims
Example in sentence:
  • the iron interests stepped up production
8 . interest [ v]
Meaning (8):
- be on the mind of
Example in sentence:
  • I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift
Meaning (9):
- be of importance or consequence
Example in sentence:
  • This matters to me!

Nearby Words:

intact intactable intactible intagli intagliated intaglio intaglius intail intake intaminated

See 'interest' also in:

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