own

own¹ W1S1 [əun US oun] adj, pron [always after a possessive]

1.) used to emphasize that something belongs to or is connected with a particular person or thing and not any other

▪ Bring your own equipment.

▪ Every dance has its own rhythm.

▪ The yacht was intended for the king's own personal use.

▪ His face was only a few inches from her own.

of your own

▪ We have problems of our own.

▪ I'd like to have a place of my own (=my own home) .

your very own

(=used to add more emphasis)

▪ One day I want to have a horse of my very own.

sth to call your own/which you can call your own

(=something that belongs to you)

▪ She just wanted a place to call her own.

2.) used to emphasize that someone did or made something without the help or involvement of anyone else

▪ She makes a lot of her own clothes.

▪ We encourage students to develop their own ideas.

▪ It's your own fault for leaving the window open.

3.) (all) on your own

a) alone

▪ I've been living on my own for four years now.

▪ He didn't want to be left on his own .

b) without anyone's help

▪ You can't expect him to do it all on his own.

▪ I can manage on my own, thanks.

4.) for your own good/safety/benefit etc

if you do something for someone's own good etc, you do it to help them even though they might not like it or want it

▪ I'm only telling you this for your own good.

▪ He was kept away from the other prisoners for his own safety.

5.) too nice/clever etc for your own good

used to say that someone has too much of a good quality so that it may be a disadvantage

▪ Stephen can be too generous for his own good.

6.) get your own back (on sb) informal to do something bad to someone who has harmed you, as a way of punishing them

→↑revenge

▪ She wanted to get her own back on Liz for ruining her party.

7.) be your own man/woman

to have strong opinions and intentions that are not influenced by other people

▪ Hilary's very much her own woman.

8.) make sth your own

to change or deal with something in a way that makes it seem to belong to you

▪ Great singers can take an old song and make it their own.

→come into your own at ↑come¹ (6), hold your own at ↑hold¹ (24)

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

HINT

Use own only after possessive words like my, John's, the company's etc

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

own ²

own² W2S2 v [T not in progressive]

[: Old English; Origin: agnian, from agen 'own']

1.) to have something which belongs to you, especially because you have bought it, been given it etc and it is legally yours

→↑possess

▪ The building is owned by the local council.

▪ You need to get permission from the farmer who owns the land.

▪ Many more people now own their own homes.

▪ the cost of owning a car

publicly/privately owned

BrE (=belonging to the government or a private organization)

▪ a privately owned company

2.) as if/as though/like you own the place informal

to behave in a way that is too confident and upsets other people

▪ She acts like she owns the place!

▪ They walked in as if they owned the place.

3.) old-fashioned to admit that something is true

own (that)

▪ I own that I judged her harshly at first.

own to

▪ I must own to a feeling of anxiety.

own up phr v

to admit that you have done something wrong, especially something that is not serious

▪ Come on, own up. Who broke it?

own up to (doing) sth

▪ No one owned up to breaking the window.

▪ He was too frightened to own up to his mistake.

▪ He still wouldn't own up to the fact that he'd lied.