(dialectal, possibly dated) Alternative form of by. Also found in compounds, especially oaths, e.g. begorra.
verb
(African-American Vernacular, Caribbean, auxiliary, not conjugated) To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
(With since) Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
(auxiliary) Used to form the continuous aspect.
(auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice.
(auxiliary) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs; this was more common in archaic use, especially with verbs indicating motion. "He is finished", and "He is gone" are common, but "He is come" is archaic.
(copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
(copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
(copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective.
(copulative) Used to indicate that the subject is an instance of the predicate nominal.
(copulative) Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.
(copulative) Used to link a subject to a measurement.
(copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
(copulative, with a cardinal numeral) Used to state the age of a subject in years.
(dynamic / lexical "be", especially in progressive tenses, conjugated non-suppletively in the present tense, see usage notes) To exist or behave in a certain way.
(formal, auxiliary) Used to express future action as well as what is due to, intended to, or should happen.
(intransitive) To occupy a place.
(intransitive) To occur, to take place.
(intransitive, in perfect tenses) Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar, also extending to certain other senses of "go".
(intransitive, now usually literary) To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
(often impersonal, with it as a dummy subject) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.
(rare and regional, chiefly in the past tense) Used to link two noun clauses, the first of which is a day of the week, recurring date, month, or other specific time (on which the event of the main clause took place), and the second of which is a period of time indicating how long ago that day was.
(with a dummy subject it) Used to indicate the time of day.
(with there, or dialectally it, as dummy subject) To exist.
