Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

os

 - 36 dictionary results

os

1[os]
–noun, plural os⋅sa [os-uh] .
Anatomy, Zoology. a bone.

Origin:
1540–50; < L

os

2[os]
–noun, plural o⋅ra [awr-uh, ohr-uh] .
Anatomy, Zoology. a mouth or orifice of the body.

Origin:
1730–40; < L ōs mouth

os

3[ohs]
–noun, plural o⋅sar [oh-sahr] .
Geology. an esker, esp. when of great length.

Origin:
< Sw ås (pl. åsar) ridge

OS

1. Old Saxon.
2. Computers. operating system.

Os

Symbol, Chemistry. osmium.

O/S

(of the calendar) Old Style.

o/s

1. (of the calendar) Old Style.
2. out of stock.
3. (in banking) outstanding.

O.S.

1. (in prescriptions) the left eye. Origin:
< L oculus sinister
2. Old Saxon.
3. Old School.
4. Old series.
5. (of the calendar) Old Style.
6. ordinary seaman.

o.s.

1. (in prescriptions) the left eye. Origin:
< L oculus sinister
2. ordinary seaman.

O, o

[oh]
–noun, plural O's or Os; o's or os or oes.
1. the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2. any spoken sound represented by the letter O or o, as in box, note, short, or love.
3. something having the shape of an O.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter O or o.
5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter O or o.

O

[oh] interjection, noun, plural O's.
–interjection
1. (used before a name in direct address, esp. in solemn or poetic language, to lend earnestness to an appeal): Hear, O Israel!
2. (used as an expression of surprise, pain, annoyance, longing, gladness, etc.)
–noun
3. the exclamation “O.”

Origin:
1125–75; ME < OF < L ō
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To os
es·ker   (ěs'kər)   
n.  A long, narrow ridge of coarse gravel deposited by a stream flowing in or under a decaying glacial ice sheet. Also called os3.

[Irish Gaelic eiscir, from Old Irish escir.]
o or O   (ō)   
n.   pl. o's or O's also os or Os
  1. The 15th letter of the modern English alphabet.

  2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter o.

  3. The 15th in a series.

  4. Something shaped like the letter O.

  5. O One of the four major blood groups in the ABO system. Individuals with this blood group have neither A nor B antigens on the surface of their red blood cells, and have both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in their blood serum.

  6. A zero.

old style  
n.  
  1. Printing A style of type originating in the 18th century and characterized by slight contrast between light and heavy strokes and slanting serifs.

  2. Old Style Abbr. OS or O/S The method of reckoning dates according to the Julian calendar.

ordinary seaman  
n.   Abbr. OS
A seaman of the lowest grade in the merchant marine.
os 1   (ŏs)   
n.   pl. o·ra (ôr'ə, ōr'ə)
A mouth or an opening.

[Latin ōs, mouth; see ōs- in Indo-European roots.]
os 2   (ŏs)   
n.   pl. os·sa (ŏs'ə)
A bone.

[Latin, bone; see ost- in Indo-European roots.]
os 3   (ōs)   
n.   pl. os·ar (ō'sär')
See esker.

[Swedish ås, ridge, from Old Norse āss.]
Os  
The symbol for the element osmium.
OS  
abbr.  
  1. or O/S Old Style

  2. ordinary seaman

os·mi·um   (ŏz'mē-əm)   
n.   Symbol Os
A bluish-white, hard metallic element, found in small amounts in osmiridium, nickel, and platinum ores. It is used as a platinum hardener and in making pen points, phonograph needles, and instrument pivots. Atomic number 76; atomic weight 190.2; melting point 3,000°C; boiling point 5,000°C; specific gravity 22.57; valence 2, 3, 4, 8. See Table at element.

[From Greek osmē, smell (from the strong odor of osmium tetroxide).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

o 
interj. of fear, surprise, admiration, etc., see oh.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: O
Function: symbol
oxygen

Main Entry: 1os
Pronunciation: 'äs
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural os·sa /'äs-&/
: BONE

Main Entry: 2os
Pronunciation: 'Os
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural ora /'Or-&, 'or-&/
: ORIFICE

Main Entry: Os
Function: symbol
osmium

Main Entry: OS
Function: abbreviation
Etymology: Latin oculus sinister
left eye —used in writing prescriptions
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

O 2
abbr.
oculus

os 1 (ŏs)
n. pl. o·ra (ôr'ə)

  1. An opening into a hollow organ or canal.

  2. The oral cavity; mouth.

os 2 (ŏs)
n. pl. os·sa (ŏs'ə)
Bone.

Os
The symbol for the element osmium.

OS abbr.
Latin oculus sinister (left eye)

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

OS
1. operating system.
2. [obsolete, ITS], an output spy. See "OS and JEDGAR".
3. An operating system from IBM for their System/360 line of hardware announced in 1964. OS was planned with several flavours that were supposed to be compatible. OS was late, memory hungry and not able to reach the marketing objectives of IBM for the 360/30, the planned successor of the IBM 1401. IBM then decided to design a new operating system for the low end machines which they called DOS/360.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-09-22)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Os
osmium
OS
  1. offscreen

  2. Old Saxon

  3. Old Style (calendar)

  4. operating system

  5. ordinary seaman

  6. out of stock

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

Os

(Os), chemical element, one of the platinum metals of Group VIIIb of the periodic table and the densest naturally occurring element. A gray-white metal, osmium is very hard, brittle, and difficult to work, even at high temperatures. Of the platinum metals it has the highest melting point, so fusing and casting are difficult. Osmium wires were used for filaments of early incandescent lamps before the introduction of tungsten. It has been used chiefly as a hardener in alloys of the platinum metals, though ruthenium has generally replaced it. A hard alloy of osmium and iridium has been used for tips of fountain pens and phonograph needles, and osmium tetroxide is used in certain organic syntheses.

Learn more about Os with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see os on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: