affair
/əˈfɛɹ/ noun A2- Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public. · a difficult affair to manage
- Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely. · an affair of honor· an affair of love
- An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
- A material object (vaguely designated). · He used a hook-shaped affair with a long handle to unlock the car.· This garden is a ramshackle affair.
- An adulterous relationship, chiefly of a married person. (from affaire de cœur, affair of the heart). · When Martin's wife found out about his affair with her best friend, she asked for a divorce.· Mary had an affair with a woman from the gym.
- An otherwise illicit romantic relationship, such as with someone who is not one's regular partner (boyfriend, girlfriend). · Jerry's girlfriend said she wanted to go steady, but she was in an affair with one of his team-mates.
- A person with whom someone has an adulterous relationship.
- A party or social gathering, especially of a formal nature.
Plural affairs
From the library
They boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten.
You’ll have to stay here until we investigate this affair.
But she said nothing, to him, relative to the affair, until they were both out in the yard behind the barn milking the cows.
MARILLA said nothing to Matthew about the affair that evening; but when Anne proved still refractory the next morning an explanation had to be made to account for her absence from the breakfast table.
Learn affair in real texts
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