The Collaborative International Dictionary
Very \Ver"y\, a. [Compar. Verier; superl. Veriest.] [OE. verai, verray, OF. verai, vrai, F. vrai, (assumed) LL. veracus, for L. verax true, veracious, fr. verus true; akin to OHG. & OS. w[=a]r, G. wahr, D. waar; perhaps originally, that is or exists, and akin to E. was. Cf. Aver, v. t., Veracious, Verdict, Verity.] True; real; actual; veritable.
Whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
--Gen. xxvii.
21.
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he
that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
--Prov. xvii.
9.
The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.
--Milton.
I looked on the consideration of public service or
public ornament to be real and very justice.
--Burke.
Note: Very is sometimes used to make the word with which it
is connected emphatic, and may then be paraphrased by
same, self-same, itself, and the like. ``The very hand,
the very words.''
--Shak. ``The very rats instinctively
have quit it.''
--Shak. ``Yea, there where very
desolation dwells.''
--Milton. Very is used
occasionally in the comparative degree, and more
frequently in the superlative. ``Was not my lord the
verier wag of the two?''
--Shak. ``The veriest hermit
in the nation.''
--Pope. ``He had spoken the very
truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood.''
--Hawthorne.
Very Reverend. See the Note under Reverend.
Usage examples of "very reverend".
The Very Reverend Mekkle, who'd taken Pastoral Practice, had advised that the rules about starch were only really a guideline, but Oats hadn't wanted to put a foot wrong and his collar could have been used as a razor.
Jack supposed that was a trick learned from the very Reverend Sunlight Gardener.
The meeting will explain the forthcoming Phase Two changes, and will be followed by a service of thanksgiving, to be conducted by the Very Reverend Dr.
THE VERY REVEREND FERGUS PENNEY An ex-Prebendary of the Church of England, and a member of the IBA.
The Very Reverend Jevon Knapp also disapproved of Monica's sponsorship, but he knew much more about it.
He had knocked, but the door was at least a foot of solid oak, and it was obvious the Very Reverend Dean had not heard.