promise

/ˈprɒmɪs/ noun

Definition

› [C] when you say that you will certainly do something: I'm not sure I can do it so I won't make any promises.

keep/break a promise › to do/not do what you said that you would do

show promise › If someone or something shows promise, they are likely to be successful: As a child, he showed great promise as an athlete.

(Definition of promise noun from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

something which threatens to cause problems or unhappiness in the future

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.