[uh-pos-truh-fee] 
| the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.'s, 3's. |
[ap-uh-strof-ik, -stroh-fik] , adjective [uh-pos-truh-fee] | a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as “O Death, where is thy sting?” |
a turning away, equiv. to apostroph- (verbid of apostréphein; see apostrophe 1 ) + -ē n. suffix [ap-uh-strof-ik, -stroh-fik] , adjective | a·pos·tro·phe 1 (ə-pŏs'trə-fē) n. The superscript sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations. [French, from Late Latin apostrophus, from Greek apostrophos, from apostrephein, to turn away : apo-, apo- + strephein, to turn; see streb(h)- in Indo-European roots.] ap'os·troph'ic (āp'ə-strŏf'ĭk) adj. |
| a·pos·tro·phe 2 (ə-pŏs'trə-fē) n. The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition. [Late Latin apostrophē, from Greek, from apostrephein, to turn away; see apostrophe1.] ap'os·troph'ic (āp'ə-strŏf'ĭk) adj. |
A mark (') used with a noun or pronoun to indicate possession (“the student's comment,” “the people's choice”) or in a contraction to show where letters have been left out (isn't, don't, we'll).