person (people plural) (persons plural )
The usual word for `more than one person' is people. The form persons is used as the plural in formal or legal language.
1 n-count A person is a man, woman, or child.
At least one person died and several others were injured..., Everyone knows he's the only person who can do the job..., The amount of sleep we need varies from person to person...
2 n-plural Persons is used as the plural of person in formal, legal, and technical writing.
...removal of the right of accused persons to remain silent...
3 n-count If you talk about someone as a person, you are considering them from the point of view of their real nature.
Robin didn't feel good about herself as a person.
4 n-count If someone says, for example, `I'm an outdoor person' or `I'm not a coffee person', they are saying whether or not they like that particular activity or thing.
mainly SPOKEN a supp N
I am not a country person at all. I prefer the cities.
5 phrase If you do something in person, you do it yourself rather than letting someone else do it for you.
PHR after v
She went to New York to receive the award in person.
6 phrase If you meet, hear, or see someone in person, you are in the same place as them, rather than, for example, speaking to them on the telephone, writing to them, or seeing them on television.
PHR after v
It was the first time she had seen him in person.
7 n-count Your person is your body.
FORMAL poss N
The suspect had refused to give any details of his identity and had carried no documents on his person.
8 phrase You can use in the person of when mentioning the name of someone you have just referred to in a more general or indirect way.
WRITTEN PHR n
We had a knowledgeable guide in the person of George Adams.
9 n-count In grammar, we use the term first person when referring to `I' and `we', second person when referring to `you', and third person when referring to `he', `she', `it', `they', and all other noun groups. Person is also used like this when referring to the verb forms that go with these pronouns and noun groups. usu supp N →
first person →
second person →
third person
business person (business people plural )Business people are people who work in business. n-count
...a self-employed business person.
displaced person (displaced persons plural )A displaced person is someone who has been forced to leave the place where they live, especially because of a war. n-count
first person
A statement inthe first person is a statement about yourself, or about yourself and someone else. The subject of a statement like this is `I' or `we'. n-sing the N
He tells the story in the first person...
lay person (lay persons plural) (lay people plural ), layperson A lay person is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity. n-count
(Antonym: expert)
missing person (missing persons plural )A missing person has suddenly left their home without telling their family where they are going, and it is not known whether they are alive or dead. n-count
-person (-people plural) (-persons plural )
1 comb in adj -person is added to numbers to form adjectives which indicate how many people are involved in something or can use something. People is not used in this way.
ADJ n
...two-person households., ...the spa's 32-person staff., ...his 1971 one-person exhibition.
2 comb in n-count -person is added to nouns to form nouns which refer to someone who does a particular job or is in a particular group. -person is used by people who do not want to use a term which indicates whether someone is a man or a woman. -people can also be used in this way.
...Mrs. Sahana Pradhan, chairperson of the United Leftist Front..., He had a staff of six salespeople working for him.
person-to-person
If you make a person-to-person call, you say that you want to talk to one person in particular. If that person cannot come to the telephone, you do not have to pay for the call.
FORMAL adj
second person
A statement in the second person is a statement about the person or people you are talking to. The subject of a statement like this is `you'. n-sing the N
third person
In grammar, a statement in the third person is a statement about another person or thing, and not directly about yourself or about the person you are talking to. The subject of a statement like this is `he', `she', `it', or a name or noun. n-sing the N
