ace

¹

[ eys ]

noun

1. a playing card or die marked with or having the value indicated by a single spot:

   He dealt me four aces in the first hand.

2. a single spot or mark on a playing card or die.
3. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.)
   1. Also called serv·ice ace. a placement made on a service.
   2. any placement.
   3. a serve that the opponent fails to touch.
   4. the point thus scored.
4. a fighter pilot credited with destroying a prescribed number or more of enemy aircraft, usually five, in combat.
5. a very skilled person; expert; adept:

   an ace at tap dancing.

6. Slang. a one-dollar bill.
7. Slang. a close friend.
8. Golf.
   1. Also called hole in one. a shot in which the ball is driven from the tee into the hole in one stroke:

      He hit a 225-yard ace on the first hole.

   2. a score of one stroke made on such a shot:

      to card an ace.

9. Slang. a barbiturate or amphetamine capsule or pill.
10. a very small quantity, amount, or degree; a particle:

    not worth an ace.

11. Slang. a grade of A; the highest grade or score.

verb (used with object)

, aced, ac·ing.

1. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to win a point against (one's opponent) by an ace.
2. Golf. to make an ace on (a hole).
3. Slang. to cheat, defraud, or take advantage of (often followed by out ):

   to be aced out of one's inheritance;

   friend who aced me out of a good job.

4. Slang.
   1. to receive a grade of A, as on a test or in a course (sometimes followed by out ).
   2. to complete easily and successfully:

      He aced every physical fitness test they gave him.

adjective

1. Sometimes aces. excellent; first-rate; outstanding.

verb phrase

1. Slang. to accomplish something with complete success:

   a champion who could ace it every time.

ace

²

[ eys ]

noun

1. a person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to other people; asexual:

   She's an ace, but she's had a couple of romantic relationships.

adjective

1. experiencing little or no sexual attraction to other people:

   As someone who identifies as ace, this article gave me much food for thought.

ACE

³

abbreviation for

1. American Council on Education.
2. Army Corps of Engineers.

ACE

¹

/ eɪs /

acronym for

1. (in Britain) Advisory Centre for Education; a private organization offering advice on schools to parents
2. Allied Command Europe
3. See ACE inhibitor
   angiotensin-converting enzyme See ACE inhibitor

ace

²

/ eɪs /

noun

1. any die, domino, or any of four playing cards with one spot
2. a single spot or pip on a playing card, die, etc
3. tennis a winning serve that the opponent fails to reach
4. golf a hole in one
5. a fighter pilot accredited with destroying several enemy aircraft
6. informal.
   an expert or highly skilled person

   an ace at driving

7. an ace up one's sleeve
   an ace up one's sleevean ace in the hole a hidden and powerful advantage
8. hold all the aces
   hold all the aces to have all the advantages or power
9. play one's ace
   play one's ace to use one's best weapon or resource
10. within an ace of
    within an ace of almost to the point of

    he came within an ace of winning

adjective

1. informal.
   superb; excellent

verb

1. tennis to serve an ace against
2. golf to play (a hole) in one stroke
3. to perform extremely well or score very highly in (an examination, etc)

Word History and Origins

Origin of ace¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, in 1795–1800 ace ¹fordef 5; from Middle English as, aas, ais, from Old French as, from Latin ass- (stem of as ) “a copper coin (originally weighing one pound), unit (of money, weight)”; sense 4 was taken directly from French as in World War I, and sense 5 developed from sense 4; as ²

Origin of ace²

First recorded in 2005–10; shortening of asexual ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of ace¹

C13: via Old French from Latin as a unit, perhaps from a Greek variant of heis one

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. ace up one's sleeve, an important, effective, or decisive argument, resource, or advantage kept in reserve until needed.
2. be aces with, Slang. to be highly regarded by:

   The boss says you're aces with him.

3. easy aces, Auction Bridge. aces equally divided between opponents.
4. within an ace of, within a narrow margin of; close to:

   He came within an ace of winning.

More idioms and phrases containing ace

• hold all the aces
• within an ace of

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, Montas has looked like an ace with a splitter he added that produced the fifth-best whiff-per-swing mark of its kind last season.

From FiveThirtyEight

Staff ace Max Scherzer has enjoyed seven-straight top-five Cy Young finishes and shows little sign of slowing.

From FiveThirtyEight

A sleeper NL Cy Young candidate is ace Chris Paddack, who was limited to 140 ⅔ innings as a rookie last season by the cautious Padres.

From FiveThirtyEight

Do you have a high ACE score — adverse childhood experiences.

From Freakonomics

There’s also the fact that painkillers are, by their nature, a desirable medication — they literally make your pain stop — so you can imagine patients demanding them a bit more adamantly than they’d demand a statin or an ACE inhibitor.

From Freakonomics

An ace comedic turn that, in lesser hands, would come off as one-note.

From The Daily Beast

My grandfather lived fast and large—he liked his liquor and his tobacco, and he was also an ace gambler.

From The Daily Beast

Time and time again, we see women being asked to ace some arbitrary test in order to be deemed model victims.

From The Daily Beast

He is getting ready to watch Jack Morris, the Tigers ace, go for win number nineteen against the Toronto Blue Jays.

From The Daily Beast

After the war Valerie married Peter Middleton, a wartime RAF flying ace.

From The Daily Beast

He has drawn a knave and a six; he takes another card; this turns out to be an ace.

From Project Gutenberg

It must be an ace or a king and queen above the average if only two suits are protected.

From Project Gutenberg

Without an ace, four kings, two queens and a knave are required in order to justify the declaration.

From Project Gutenberg

With three honours any two of which are in sequence (not to the ace) the player should lead the higher of the sequence.

From Project Gutenberg

The worst throw was when the four pieces exposed the same number on each, and that number an ace.

From Project Gutenberg