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A, a
46 dictionary results for: A
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A, a       [ey] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural A's or As, a's or as.
1.the first letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2.any spoken sound represented by the letter A or a, as in bake, hat, father, or small.
3.something having the shape of an A.
4.a written or printed representation of the letter A or a.
5.a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter A or a.
—Idioms
6.from A to Z, from beginning to end; thoroughly; completely: He knows the Bible from A to Z.
7.not know from A to B, to know nothing; be ignorant.
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a1       [uh; when stressed ey] Pronunciation Key
–indefinite article
1.not any particular or certain one of a class or group: a man; a chemical; a house.
2.a certain; a particular: one at a time; two of a kind; A Miss Johnson called.
3.another; one typically resembling: a Cicero in eloquence; a Jonah.
4.one (used before plural nouns that are preceded by a quantifier singular in form): a hundred men (compare hundreds of men); a dozen times (compare dozens of times).
5.indefinitely or nonspecifically (used with adjectives expressing number): a great many years; a few stars.
6.one (used before a noun expressing quantity): a yard of ribbon; a score of times.
7.any; a single: not a one.
[Origin: ME; orig. preconsonantal phonetic var. of an1]

—Usage note In both spoken and written English the choice of a1 or an1 is determined by the initial sound of the word that follows. Before a consonant sound, a is used; before a vowel sound, an: a book, a rose; an apple, an opera. Problems arise occasionally when the following word begins with a vowel letter but actually starts with a consonant sound, or vice versa. Some words beginning with the vowel letter u and all words beginning with the vowel letters eu are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound, as if the first letter were y: a union; a European. Some other spellings that begin with a vowel letter may also stand for an initial consonant sound: a ewe; a ewer. The words one and once and all compounds of which they are the first element begin with a w sound: a one-room apartment; a once-famous actor.
The names of the consonant letters f, h, l, m, n, r, s, and x are pronounced with a beginning vowel sound. When these letters are used as words or to form words, they are preceded by an: to rent an L-shaped studio; to fly an SST. The names of the vowel letter u and the semivowel letters w and y are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound. When used as words, they are preceded by a: a U-turn; The plumber installed a Y in the line.
In some words beginning with the letter h, the h is not pronounced; the words actually begin with a vowel sound: an hour; an honor. When the h is strongly pronounced, as in a stressed syllable at the beginning of a word, it is preceded by a: a history of the Sioux; a hero sandwich. (In former times an was used before strongly pronounced h in a stressed first syllable: an hundred.) Such adjectives as historic, historical, heroic, and habitual, which begin with an unstressed syllable and often with a silent or weakly pronounced h, are commonly preceded by an, especially in British English. But the use of a rather than an is widespread in both speech and writing: a historical novel; a habitual criminal. Hotel and unique are occasionally preceded by an, but this use is increasingly old-fashioned. Although in some dialects an has yielded to a in all cases, edited writing reflects usage as described above.
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a
Symbol, Logic.
universal affirmative.
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Å
Symbol, Physics.
angstrom.
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a2       [uh; when stressed ey] Pronunciation Key
–preposition
each; every; per: ten cents a sheet; three times a day.
[Origin: orig. ME a, preconsonantal var. of on (see a-1); confused with a1]
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A.
1.Absolute.
2.Academy.
3.acre; acres.
4.America.
5.American.
6.angstrom.
7.year. [Origin: < L annō, abl. of annus]
8.answer.
9.before. [Origin: < L ante]
10.April.
11.Artillery.
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a.
1.about.
2.acre; acres.
3.active.
4.adjective.
5.alto.
6.ampere; amperes.
7.year. [Origin: < L annō, abl. of annus]
8.anonymous.
9.answer.
10.before. [Origin: < L ante]
11.are; ares.
12.Baseball. assist; assists.
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a3       [uh] Pronunciation Key
–preposition
Pronunciation Spelling. a reduced, unstressed form of of (often written as part of a single, unhyphenated word): cloth a gold; time a day; kinda; sorta.
[Origin: ME; unstressed preconsonantal var. of of1]
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a4       [uh] Pronunciation Key
–auxiliary verb Pronunciation Spelling.
a reduced, unstressed form of auxiliary have following some modals, as might, should, could, would, and must (usually written as part of a single, unhyphenated word): We shoulda gone.
Compare of2

[Origin: ME; phonetic var. of have]
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a5       [uh, a, ah] Pronunciation Key
–pronoun British Dialect.
1.he.
2.she.
3.it.
4.they.
5.I.
[Origin: ME a, ha]
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a'       [ah, aw] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
Scot. all: for a' that.
Also, a.
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A
1.Electricity. ampere; amperes.
2.Physics. angstrom.
3.answer.
4.British. arterial (used with a road number to designate a major highway): Take the A525 to Ruthin.
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A
Symbol.
1.the first in order or in a series.
2.(sometimes lowercase) (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as excellent or superior.
3.(sometimes lowercase) (in some school systems) a symbol designating the first semester of a school year.
4.Music.
a.the sixth tone in the scale of C major or the first tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
b.a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
c.a written or printed note representing this tone.
d.(in the fixed system of solmization) the sixth tone of the scale of C major, called la.
e.the tonality having A as the tonic note.
5.Physiology. a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group A or AB and to receive blood from persons of O or A. Compare ABO system.
6.(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 50 or 500. Compare Roman numerals.
7.Chemistry. (formerly) argon.
8.Chemistry, Physics. mass number.
9.Biochemistry.
a.adenine.
b.alanine.
10.Logic. universal affirmative.
11.British. a designation for a motion picture recommended as suitable for adults. Compare AA (def. 5), U (def. 5), X (def. 9).
12.a proportional shoe width size, narrower than B and wider than AA.
13.a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than B and larger than AA.
14.a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than AA and higher than BBB.
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a
Measurements.
are; ares.
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a 1 or A       (ā)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. a's or A's also as or As
  1. The first letter of the modern English alphabet.
  2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter a.
  3. The first in a series.
  4. Something shaped like the letter A.
  5. A The best or highest in quality or rank: grade A milk.
  6. Music
    1. The sixth tone in the scale of C major or the first tone in the relative minor scale.
    2. A key or scale in which A is the tonic.
    3. A written or printed note representing this tone.
    4. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this tone.
  7. A One of the four major blood groups in the ABO system. Individuals with this blood group have the A antigen on the surface of their red blood cells, and the anti-B antibody in their blood serum.

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a 2       (ə; ā when stressed)  Pronunciation Key 
indef.art.  
  1. Used before nouns and noun phrases that denote a single but unspecified person or thing: a region; a person.
  2. Used before terms, such as few or many, that denote number, amount, quantity, or degree: only a few of the voters; a bit more rest; a little excited.
    1. Used before a proper name to denote a type or a member of a class: the wisdom of a Socrates.
    2. Used before a mass noun to indicate a single type or example: a dry wine.
  4. The same: birds of a feather.
  5. Any: not a drop to drink.


[Middle English, variant of an, an; see an1.]

Usage Note: In writing, the form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound, regardless of its spelling (a frog, a university). The form an is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound (an orange, an hour). · An was once a common variant before words beginning with h in which the first syllable was unstressed; thus 18th-century authors wrote either a historical or an historical but a history, not an history. This usage made sense in that people often did not pronounce the initial h in words such as historical and heroic, but by the late 19th century educated speakers usually pronounced initial h, and the practice of writing an before such words began to die out. Nowadays it survives primarily before the word historical. One may also come across it in the phrases an hysterectomy or an hereditary trait. These usages are acceptable in formal writing.

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a 3       (ə)  Pronunciation Key 
prep.   In every; to each; per: once a month; one dollar a pound.


[Middle English, from Old English an, in; see on.]

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a 4       (ə)  Pronunciation Key 
aux.v.   Informal
Have: He'd a come if he could.


[Middle English, alteration of haven, to have; see have.]

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a 5  
abbr.  
  1. acceleration
  2. are (measurement)

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A  
abbr.  
  1. accusative
  2. Games ace
  3. across
  4. adenine
  5. alto
  6. ampere
  7. or Å angstrom
  8. area

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ac·cel·er·a·tion       (āk-sěl'ə-rā'shən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. The act of accelerating.
    2. The process of being accelerated.
  2. Abbr. a Physics The rate of change of velocity with respect to time.

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ad·e·nine       (ād'n-ēn', -ĭn)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Abbr. A
A purine base, C5H5N5, that is the constituent involved in base pairing with thymine in DNA and with uracil in RNA.

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al·to       (āl'tō)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. al·tos
  1. A low female singing voice; a contralto.
  2. A countertenor.
    1. The range between soprano and tenor.
    2. A singer whose voice lies within this range.
    3. An instrument that sounds within this range.
    4. Abbr. A A vocal or instrumental part written in this range.


[Italian, from Latin altus, high; see al-2 in Indo-European roots.]

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am·pere       (ām'pîr')  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Abbr. A
  1. A unit of electric current in the meter-kilogram-second system. It is the steady current that when flowing in straight parallel wires of infinite length and negligible cross section, separated by a distance of one meter in free space, produces a force between the wires of 2 × 10-7 newtons per meter of length.
  2. A unit in the International System specified as one International coulomb per second and equal to 0.999835 ampere. See Table at measurement.


[After André Marie Ampère.]

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ang·strom or ång·strom       (āng'strəm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Abbr. A or Å or angst
A unit of length equal to one hundred-millionth (10-8) of a centimeter, used especially to specify radiation wavelengths. Also called angstrom unit. See Table at measurement.


[After Anders Jonas Ångström.]

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are 2       (âr, är)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Abbr. a
A metric unit of area equal to 100 square meters (119.6 square yards).


[French, from Latin ārea, open space; see area.]

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ar·e·a