from

strong preposition

1 starting at a particular place, position, or condition: How do you get from here to Colchester? | running from one side of the building to the other | The hotel is on the main road from Caernarfon. | dropped from a height of six feet | translating from French into English | go from A to B (=go from one point or situation to another): People will choose different methods of going from A to B. | go from bad to worse (=get worse): When she arrived, things just went from bad to worse!

2 from house to house/shop to shop/place to place etc

a) calling at every house, shop, etc: She went from house to house asking if anyone had seen him.

b) in different houses, places etc: From office to office things work differently. | It will vary from time to time and from place to place. | Everything goes wrong from time to time. (=sometimes)

3 starting at a particular time: He'll be here tomorrow from about seven o' clock onwards. | in a week from now | from morning to night (=without stopping): housewives who work from morning to night | from now on (=from this time onwards): From now on, I will only be working in the mornings.

—see since 3

4 beginning at a particular limit or price: The sizes range from a hundred down to twenty. | The yield from this type of investment can be anything from five to ten percent.

5 if you see, watch, or do something from a place, this is where you are when you see, watch, or do it: From the top of the hill, you can see for miles. | There's a man watching us from behind that fence.

6 used to express a distance: We live about five km from Boston. | a large Victorian house only fifty yards from my workplace. | It's about an hour and a half from Scarborough.

7 if something is moved or taken from a place or person, it is removed, taken away or taken out: She pulled her chair away from her desk. | I had to take that new toy away from him. | Subtract three from fifteen. | He took a knife from his pocket. | His absence from class has been noted.

8 used to say what the origin of something is: He gets his good looks from his mother. | I'll show you a short extract from one of our training videos. | Do you know where the information came from? | an infectious disease which he got from another sick dog | Members are chosen from a list drawn up by the Home Secretary. | I bought it from a shop in the market. | I got this from Colin.

9 sent or given by someone: I've received a bill for nineteen dollars from the hospital. | I had a phone call from John. | You need to get permission from the owner. | with lots of love from Elaine and Martin

10 you can tell him from me... spoken used to ask someone to tell another person something, when you are annoyed or determined: Well, you can tell him from me that I'll be making an official complaint.

11 someone who comes from a particular place lives, works, or belongs there: We invited speakers from all the regions. | Students from all faculties will have access to the machines. | Alison from the Job Centre is on the phone. | I'm from/I come from Devon/New York etc (=born in Devon, New York etc)

12 used to state the cause of something: mothers who are exhausted from all the sleepless nights | Death rates from accidents have declined. | suffer from (=be affected by; have): Mum suffers from migraines.

13 used to introduce the reason for, or origin of, an opinion or judgement: From what I've read, the company seems to be in difficulties. | It's obvious from a quick glance that the plan has changed dramatically. | from my point of view (=how something affects you): These changes are ideal from my point of view. | From Clarisse's point of view, it's very distressing indeed. | from memory (=according to what I can remember): From memory, the film wasn't as good as the book.

14 used to state the substance that is used to make something: Bread is made from flour, water, and yeast.

15 used after words such as `protect', `prevent', or `keep', to introduce the situation or action that is stopped, avoided, or prevented: These problems have prevented me from completing the work. | people who have been disqualified from driving

16 used when you are comparing things, and saying how they are similar or different: She's quite different from her sister. | Our two cats are so alike, I can never tell one from the other.