be

from The Century Dictionary.

• An inseparable prefix of verbs, and of nouns thence derived.
• To exist; have existence or being; possess reality; be the case; be true or real.
• To take place; occur; happen; come about: as, the wedding will be to-morrow; his birthday was last week; it was to be.
• Usually, be is a mere copula, or sign of predication, a link between a subject and a predicate.
• In metaphysics, to subsist in a state not necessarily amounting to actual existence; have the rudiments of existence. See being.
• An auxiliary verb denoting subsistence in or subjection to the mode of action or being expressed by the principal verb.
• An infinitive with to after be forms a sort of future, often with a certain implication of obligation: thus, he is to come, they were to appear, she would have been to blame or to be blamed.
• In chem., the symbol for beryllium (the same as glucinum).
• Obsolete form of by. Chaucer.
• An inseparable prefix of adverbs, which may also be used as prepositions or conjunctions.
• noun The name of the second letter of the alphabet, usually written simply b or B. See B.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have existence.
• intransitive verb To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed.
• intransitive verb To take place; to happen.
• intransitive verb To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
• intransitive verb a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so.
• intransitive verb in case.
• intransitive verb to have come from; as, from what place are you? I am from Chicago.
• intransitive verb to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb intransitive, now literary To exist; to have real existence.
• verb With there as dummy subject: to exist.
• verb intransitive To occupy a place.
• verb intransitive To occur, to take place.
• verb intransitive, without predicate elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.
• verb transitive, copulative Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
• verb transitive, copulative, mathematics Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
• verb transitive, copulative Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.
• verb transitive, copulative Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.
• verb transitive, copulative Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
• verb transitive, auxiliary Used to form the passive voice.
• verb transitive, auxiliary Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.
• verb archaic Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs, most of which indicate motion. Often still used for "to go"
• verb transitive, auxiliary Used to form future tenses, especially the future periphrastic.
• verb Used to link a subject to a count or measurement.
• verb used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
• verb Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb happen, occur, take place
• verb to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
• verb have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
• verb be identical or equivalent to
• verb work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
• verb have life, be alive
• verb spend or use time
• verb occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
• verb form or compose
• verb represent, as of a character on stage
• noun a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
• verb be priced at
• verb be identical to; be someone or something
• verb have an existence, be extant