God made . . . every thing that creepeth upon the
earth after his kind. --Gen. i. 25.
He sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the
good things of Egypt. --Gen. xiv.
23.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever. --Keats.
2. An inanimate object, in distinction from a living being;
any lifeless material.
Ye meads and groves, unconscious things! --Cowper.
3. A transaction or occurrence; an event; a deed.
[And Jacob said] All these things are against me.
--Gen. xlii.
36.
Which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by
what authority I do these things. --Matt. xxi.
24.
4. A portion or part; something.
Wicked men who understand any thing of wisdom.
--Tillotson.
5. A diminutive or slighted object; any object viewed as
merely existing; -- often used in pity or contempt.
See, sons, what things you are! --Shak.
The poor thing sighed, and . . . turned from me.
--Addison.
I'll be this abject thing no more. --Granville.
I have a thing in prose. --Swift.
6. pl. Clothes; furniture; appurtenances; luggage; as, to
pack or store one's things. [Colloq.]
Note: Formerly, the singular was sometimes used in a plural
or collective sense.
And them she gave her moebles and her thing.
--Chaucer.
Note: Thing was used in a very general sense in Old English,
and is still heard colloquially where some more
definite term would be used in careful composition.
In the garden [he] walketh to and fro, And hath
his things [i. e., prayers, devotions] said full
courteously. --Chaucer.
Hearkening his minstrels their things play.
--Chaucer.
7. (Law) Whatever may be possessed or owned; a property; --
distinguished from person.
8. [In this sense pronounced t[i^]ng.] In Scandinavian
countries, a legislative or judicial assembly.
--Longfellow.
{Things personal}. (Law) Same as {Personal property}, under
{Personal}.
{Things real}. Same as {Real property}, under {Real}.