where

[hwair, wair] /ʰwɛər, wɛər/
adverb
1.
in or at what place?:
Where is he? Where do you live?
2.
in what position or circumstances?:
Where do you stand on this question? Without money, where are you?
3.
in what particular respect, way, etc.?:
Where does this affect us?
4.
to what place, point, or end? whither?:
Where are you going?
5.
from what source? whence?:
Where did you get such a notion?
conjunction
6.
in or at what place, part, point, etc.:
Find where he is. Find where the trouble is.
7.
in or at the place, part, point, etc., in or at which:
The book is where you left it.
8.
in a position, case, etc., in which:
Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
9.
in any place, position, case, etc., in which; wherever:
Use the ointment where pain is felt.
10.
to what or whatever place; to the place or any place to which:
I will go where you go.
11.
in or at which place; and there:
They came to the town, where they lodged for the night.
pronoun
12.
what place?:
Where did you come from?
13.
the place in which; point at which:
This is where the boat docks. That was where the phone rang.
noun
14.
a place; that place in which something is located or occurs:
the wheres and hows of job hunting.
Idioms
15.
where it's at, Slang. where the most exciting, prestigious, or profitable activity or circumstance is to be found.
Origin
before 900; Middle English quher, wher, Old English hwǣr; cognate with Dutch waar, Old High German hwār; akin to Old Norse hvar, Gothic hwar
Can be confused
we're, were, where.
where, wherefore (see usage note at the current entry)
Usage note
Where … at (Where was he at?) and where … to (Where is this leading to?) are often criticized as redundant because neither at nor to adds anything to the meaning of where, and sentences like the preceding ones are perfectly clear and standard without the final at or to. This criticism does not apply to where … from, which is fully standard: Where does the money come from? The constructions where … at and where … to occur in the speech of educated people but are rare in formal speech and edited writing.

at1

[at; unstressed uh t, it] /æt; unstressed ət, ɪt/
preposition
1.
(used to indicate a point or place occupied in space); in, on, or near:
to stand at the door; at the bottom of the barrel.
2.
(used to indicate a location or position, as in time, on a scale, or in order):
at zero; at noon; at age 65; at the end; at the lowest point.
3.
(used to indicate presence or location):
at home; at hand.
4.
(used to indicate amount, degree, or rate):
at great speed; at high altitudes.
5.
(used to indicate a direction, goal, or objective); toward:
Aim at the mark. Look at that.
6.
(used to indicate occupation or involvement):
at work; at play.
7.
(used to indicate a state or condition):
at ease; at peace.
8.
(used to indicate a cause or source):
She was annoyed at his stupidity.
9.
(used to indicate a method or manner):
He spoke at length.
10.
(used to indicate relative quality or value):
at one's best; at cost.
Idioms
11.
be at (someone), to be sexually aggressive toward (a person):
She's pregnant again because he's at her morning, noon, and night.
12.
where it's at, Informal. the place where the most interesting or exciting things happen:
Emma says that Rome is definitely where it's at now.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English æt; cognate with Old Frisian et, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Gothic at, Old High German az, Latin, Old Welsh, Old Breton ad, Greek a- (< a pre-Hellenic IE substratum language), Oscan, Old Irish, Gaulish, Phrygian ad-
British Dictionary definitions for where it's at

at1

/æt/
preposition
1.
used to indicate location or position: are they at the table?, staying at a small hotel
2.
towards; in the direction of: looking at television, throwing stones at windows
3.
used to indicate position in time: come at three o'clock
4.
engaged in; in a state of (being): children at play, stand at ease, he is at his most charming today
5.
(in expressions concerned with habitual activity) during the passing of (esp in the phrase at night): he used to work at night
6.
for; in exchange for: it's selling at four pounds
7.
used to indicate the object of an emotion: angry at the driver, shocked at his behaviour
8.
(slang) where it's at, the real place of action
Word Origin
Old English æt; related to Old Norse at to, Latin ad to

at2

/ɑːt; æt/
noun (pl) at
1.
a Laotian monetary unit worth one hundredth of a kip
Word Origin
from Thai

at3

abbreviation
1.
Austria

At

Chemical symbol
1.
astatine
symbol
2.
Also A. ampere-turn

AT

abbreviation
1.
attainment target

where

/wɛə/
adverb
1.
  1. in, at, or to what place, point, or position?: where are you going?
  2. (used in indirect questions): I don't know where they are
2.
in, at, or to which (place): the hotel where we spent our honeymoon
3.
(subordinating) in the place at which: where we live it's always raining
noun
4.
(usually pl) a question as to the position, direction, or destination of something
Usage note
It was formerly considered incorrect to use where as a substitute for in which after a noun which did not refer to a place or position, but this use has now become acceptable: we now have a situation where/in which no further action is needed
Word Origin
Old English hwǣr, hwār(a); related to Old Frisian hwēr, Old Saxon, Old High German hwār, Old Norse, Gothic hvar
Word Origin and History for where it's at

where

adv.

Old English hwær, hwar, from Proto-Germanic *khwar (cf. Old Saxon hwar, Old Norse hvar, Old Frisian hwer, Middle Dutch waer, Old High German hwar, German wo, Gothic hvar "where"), from PIE interrogative base *qwo- (see who).

at

prep.

Old English æt, from Proto-Germanic *at (cf. Old Norse, Gothic at, Old Frisian et, Old High German az), from PIE *ad- "to, near, at" (cf. Latin ad "to, toward" Sanskrit adhi "near;" see ad-).

Lost in German and Dutch, which use their equivalent of to; in Scandinavian, however, to has been lost and at fills its place. In choosing between at church, in church, etc. at is properly distinguished from in or on by involving some practical connection; a worshipper is at church; a tourist is in the church.

The colloquial use of at after where ("where it's at") is attested from 1859. At last is recorded from late 13c.; adverbial phrase at least was in use by 1775. At in Middle English was used freely with prepositions (e.g. at after, which is in Shakespeare), but this has faded with the exception of at about, which was used in modern times by Trollope, Virginia Woolfe, D.H. Lawrence, and Evelyn Waugh, but nonetheless is regarded as a sign of incompetent writing by my copy editor bosses.

where it's at in Medicine

At
The symbol for the element astatine.

where it's at in Science
At  
The symbol for astatine.
Slang definitions & phrases for where it's at

where it's at

adverb phrase

At the site of stimulating and modish events, trends, etc; where the action is: Where the important stuff is going on. This is where it's at/ Why should only book writers write books? They're not where it's at/ TV is where it's at

noun phrase

The essential locus of the truth; the core of things: A lot of cats are finding out where it's at in the joint (1960+)

Related Terms

know where it's at


Related Abbreviations for where it's at

aT

attotesla

At

  1. ampere-turn
  2. astatine

AT

  1. achievement test
  2. advanced technology
  3. air temperature
  4. antitank
  5. Atlantic Time
  6. automatic transmission

WHERE

Women for Healthcare Education, Reform, and Equity
Idioms and Phrases with where it's at

where it's at

Also, where the action is. The key center of activity; where important things are happening. For example, He decided to set up his store here, convinced that this is where it's at, or I'm going into the brokerage business; that's where the action is these days. The action or activity in this phrase can relate to just about anything—financial, political, social, or commercial. [ ; c. 1960 ]

where

also see:
Encyclopedia Article for where it's at

At

radioactive chemical element and the heaviest member of the halogen elements, or Group 17 (Group VIIa) of the periodic table. Astatine, which has no stable isotopes, was first synthetically produced (1940) at the University of California by American physicists Dale R. Corson, Kenneth R. MacKenzie, and Emilio Segre, who bombarded bismuth with accelerated alpha particles (helium nuclei) to yield astatine and neutrons. Naturally occurring astatine isotopes have subsequently been found in minute amounts in the three natural radioactive decay series, in which they occur by minor branching (astatine-218 in the uranium series, astatine-216 in the thorium series, and astatine-215 and astatine-219 in the actinium series). Thirty-three isotopes are known; astatine-210, with a half-life of 8.3 hours, is the longest lived.

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