the pros

adjective

noun

the pros, the professional athletic leagues, as of football, baseball, or basketball: He's sure to be signed by the pros.

Origin:
1840–50; shortened form

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To The pros

Collins

World English Dictionary

pro¹ (prəʊ)

—*adv*
1.	Compare anti in favour of a motion, issue, course of action, etc

—*prep*
2.	in favour of

—n , pros
3.	(usually plural) See also pros and cons an argument or vote in favour of a proposal or motion
4.	(usually plural) a person who votes in favour of a proposal, motion, etc

[from Latin prō (prep) in favour of]

00:10

The pros is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

pro² (prəʊ)

—n , pl pros
1.	informal short for professional

—*the internet domain name for*
2.	professional practitioner

—n
3.	slang a prostitute

—*adj*
4.	informal short for professional

[C19: by shortening]

PRO

—*abbreviation for*
1.	Public Records Office
2.	public relations officer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pro

1866, shortening of professional. The adj. is first recorded 1932. Pro-am "including professionals and amateurs" is from 1949.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

Pro abbr.
proline

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang Dictionary

pro definition

n.
a professional (at anything); someone as good as a professional. : When it comes to typing, he's a pro.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

pro

professional
prostitute

PRO

peer review organization
professional review organization
pronoun
public relations officer

Matching Quote

"Quite generally, the familiar, just because it is familiar, is not cognitively understood. The commonest way in which we deceive either ourselves or others about understanding is by assuming something as familiar, and accepting it on that account; with all its pros and cons, such knowing never gets anywhere, and it knows not why.... The analysis of an idea, as it used to be carried out, was, in fact, nothing else than ridding it of the form in which it had become familiar."

-Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

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