ass
1 Americannoun
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a long-eared, slow, patient, sure-footed domesticated mammal, Equus asinus, related to the horse, used chiefly as a beast of burden.
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Also called wild ass. an African wild ass, kiang, onager, or any of their subspecies.
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a stupid, foolish, or stubborn person.
abbreviation
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assistant.
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association.
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assorted.
noun
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either of two perissodactyl mammals of the horse family ( Equidae ), Equus asinus ( African wild ass ) or E. hemionus ( Asiatic wild ass ). They are hardy and sure-footed, having longer ears than the horse
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(not in technical use) the domesticated variety of the African wild ass; donkey
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a foolish or ridiculously pompous person
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informal not close to obtaining, winning, etc
she wasn't within an ass's roar of it
noun
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slang the buttocks
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slang the anus
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offensive sexual intercourse or a woman considered sexually (esp in the phrase piece of ass )
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slang to take such action as one considers necessary to avoid censure, ridicule, etc at a later time
Sensitive Note
See arse.
Usage
What does -ass mean? The combining form -ass is used like a suffix meaning “ass,” in the sense of "buttocks." While occasionally -ass is meant literally or to mean "(stupid) person," more often it is used as an intensifier. Intensifiers are words or word elements that essentially mean "very" or "somewhat." The form -ass is often used in slang terms, especially vulgar or insulting ones.The form -ass comes from Old English assa, meaning “ass,” in the sense of "donkey."Unlike some other combining forms, -ass is often separated with a hyphen, as in big-ass.
Other Word Forms
- asslike adjective
Etymology
Origin of ass1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English asse, Old English assa, probably a pet name or diminutive form based on a Celtic form, e.g., Old Irish asan, Old Welsh asen, from Latin asinus; akin to Greek ónos “ass,” from a non-Indo-European language of Asia Minor, e.g., Sumerian anše “ass”
Origin of ass2
First recorded in 1860–65; variant of arse, with loss of r before s, as in passel, cuss, etc.; arse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I went ass over teakettle, tumbling and flipping and flopping down the hill, just a ball of dust.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
My young and wildly financially uneducated ass took myself to Gucci.
From Slate • Feb. 19, 2026
I’m not close with Victoria, but obviously I’m a woman of that generation where I learned to shake my ass to the Spice Girls in 1996 so I have undying loyalties to her.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026
Just hours after the operation in Venezuela, Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro to "watch his ass".
From BBC • Jan. 5, 2026
“It means that he’s a young, silly ass sometimes.”
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
