From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanythingan‧y‧thing /ˈeniθɪŋ/ ●●● S1 W1 pronoun 1 ALL/EVERYTHINGany thing, event, situation etc, when it is not important to say exactly which You can buy anything you want. He was prepared to do anything to make a bit of money. Anything would be better than staying at home! You can write about swimming, skiing, or anything else you enjoy doing.2 THINGused in questions to mean ‘something’ Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want anything from the shops? Would you like anything else to eat?3 used in negative sentences to mean no thing, event etc We didn’t have anything to eat for three days. Don’t do anything until we get there.4 → anything but5 → anything like somebody/something6 → not anything like/near7 → as important/clear/big etc as anything8 → or anything9 → anything goes10 → for anything11 → like anything12 → if anything13 → anything you say
Examples from the Corpus
anything• If you believe that, you'll believe anything!• The cat will eat anything.• Have you heard anything about their new album?• Do you need anything from the store?• You can't believe anything Kathy says.• Don't do anything stupid.anything else• But then she never wore any of the pins or anything else.• In the rest of the country, and in post-Plague London, the change was due to social trends more than anything else.• Southern Arizona is defined, more than anything else, by what is no longer there.• They seemed not to know that anything else existed, nor to care.• It is not generally recommended that anything else is kept with a Red-tail, as they can be very territorial and aggressive.• Apart from anything else, that takes my mind off the wombat of Stoke Newington and his tufty little dormitory.• The Clintons got what they wanted more than anything else: the White House with its power and prestige.• Ron offered to hire investigators and do anything else to help police find the killer.• As far as literary theory is concerned, it is perhaps this more than anything else which constitutes the structuralist revolution.anything else• But then she never wore any of the pins or anything else.• In the rest of the country, and in post-Plague London, the change was due to social trends more than anything else.• Southern Arizona is defined, more than anything else, by what is no longer there.• They seemed not to know that anything else existed, nor to care.• It is not generally recommended that anything else is kept with a Red-tail, as they can be very territorial and aggressive.• Apart from anything else, that takes my mind off the wombat of Stoke Newington and his tufty little dormitory.• The Clintons got what they wanted more than anything else: the White House with its power and prestige.• As far as literary theory is concerned, it is perhaps this more than anything else which constitutes the structuralist revolution. 