This essay addresses what is meant by default interpretations and elaborates on a list of examples by presenting their characteristic features stressed in various cutting edge semantic and pragmatic theories. It also attempts to answer the question as to which features are essential for default meanings to serve as their defining characteristics, in order to alleviate the current state of confusion in the pragmatic literature. It starts with presenting and briefly assessing the main standpoints that advocate default interpretations and ends with a brief summary of the domains from which default interpretations arise.