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• U
  U

  noun

  the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
• u.
  u.

  abbreviation

  and.
• U.
  U.

  abbreviation

  and.
• u
  u

  noun

  the 21st letter and fifth vowel of the modern English alphabet

U

¹ American  

[yoo] / ju /

Or u

noun

• U's,
  plural
• Us,
  plural
• u's,
  plural
• us
  plural

1. the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter U or u, as in music, rule, curious, put, or jug.

3. something having the shape of a U .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter U or u.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter U or u.

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U ² American  

[yoo] / ju /

pronoun

Informal.

1. you.

   Shoes Fixed While U Wait.

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U ³ American  

[yoo] / ju /

adjective

Informal.

1. characteristic of or appropriate to the upper class, especially of Great Britain.

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U ⁴ American  

[oo] / u /

noun

1. a Burmese title of respect applicable to a man: used before the proper name.

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U ⁵ American  

Symbol.

1. (on a packaged product) certified as kosher by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

2. the 21st in order or in a series.

3. Chemistry. uranium.

4. Biochemistry. uracil.

5. Thermodynamics. internal energy.

6. British. a designation for motion pictures determined as being acceptable for viewing by all age groups.

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u. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. and.

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u. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. uniform.

2. unit.

3. unsatisfactory.

4. upper.

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U. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. and.

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U. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. uncle.

2. uniform.

3. union.

4. unit.

5. united.

6. university.

7. unsatisfactory.

8. upper.

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U ¹ British  

symbol

1. united

2. unionist

3. university

4. 1. universal (used to describe a category of film certified as suitable for viewing by anyone)

   2. ( as modifier )

      a U film

5. chem uranium

6. biochem uracil

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abbreviation

1. text messaging you

adjective

1. old-fashioned (esp of language habits) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper class Compare non-U

U. ² British  

abbreviation

1. maths union

2. unit

3. united

4. university

5. upper

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u ³ British  

/ juː /

noun

1. the 21st letter and fifth vowel of the modern English alphabet

2. any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in mute, cut, hurt, sure, pull, or minus

3. 1. something shaped like a U

   2. ( in combination )

      a U-bolt

      a U-turn

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U ⁴ British  

/ uː /

noun

1. a Burmese title of respect for men, equivalent to Mr

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• U's
  plural
• Us
  plural
• u's
  plural
• us
  plural

Etymology

Origin of U²

First recorded in 1840–45

Origin of U³

First recorded in 1950–55; u(pper class)

Origin of U⁴

First recorded in 1930–35; from Burmese ʔú, roughly “Mister, Uncle,” used for senior men and monks

Origin of u.⁶

From the German word und

Origin of U.⁸

From the German word und

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

U u. U. u U's Us u's us

A delicious word salad: How many words can you create with the letters Y, B, O, F, U, and N?

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Anderson, a professor of nutritional sciences at U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, says the evidence from human research has not always matched those concerns.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

With a packet of biscuits in one hand and her smartphone in the other in the biscuits sucrées aisle of her local Hyper U supermarket west of Paris, Nathalie sees red.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The “Thank U, Next” singer, 32, and “SpongeBob SquarePants” actor, 34, had been linked since 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

My first thought when entering Tattoos While U Wait was a surprising one: cleanliness.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben

“Great! Miss u. See u soon. <3,” she replied.

From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2022

"Thank you. Love u. Showtime!" the message read.

From Fox News ● Jan. 10, 2022

“My Prayers are with u. I’ve lost 1 of the best coaches I’ve ever had.”

From Washington Times ● Aug. 8, 2021

“Tom, Harry again! Really need to speak to u. U do not need to apologize, we understand the circumstances but ‘going public’ will only make the situation worse.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2020

“Thought I knew u. Looks like I was wrong. One day ur gonna turn around and realize what u thru away.”

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

In late 2023, Angels Creation Reproductive Center—a fast-growing Southern California agency that matches parents in China and other countries with surrogates in the U. S.—recruited the then-25-year-old Simpson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The opinion then states, “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.”

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026

On Saturday, he said that starting Feb. 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U. K., the Netherlands, and Finland will be charged a 10% tariff on goods sent to the U.S.

From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026

Beam was featured in the fifth season of Last Chance U. The series profiles him and his team, the Laney Eagles, as they fend off rival teams in the northern California city.

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025

Because if you want to be a small-town girl in U. Valley, that’s what you say.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Shortly after Khalife absconded from prison, at around 20:41 BST, Khan messaged his then-girlfriend Chowdhury's bank details and told her to "put 120£ in this ac… please thank u baby".

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Cole replied: "Appreciate u king! People got to learn how to take a joke. It's all in fun."

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

“I feel so incredibly lucky to have met u and share the screen with u as my father.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026

"Hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?" the nine-time Grammy winner wrote in an Instagram story post.

From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026

He unceremoniously showed us out of his house at u P.M., and closed the gate behind him.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

The U's kick-off their League One campaign on Saturday when they host Wigan at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

But he defended Better U’s model, saying that it’s designed around careful screening, conservative dosing, required preparation appointments and safety protocols like blood-pressure monitoring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

“If I was to describe Big U’s role in rap, he would definitely be the godfather,” Khalifa said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025

The centerpiece of it all is Tyson, a 6-foot-3 and 190-pound guard who is arguably the greatest shooter in Seattle U’s history.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2023

The worst report card I’d ever gotten from Mountford Prep had three U’s for Unsatisfactory, and I threw that one down the garbage chute.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

It’s Bigger Than Us is a South Los Angeles-based nonprofit offering educational programs, community health resources and crisis response to youth, families and neighborhoods in need.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

In 2015, when he gave a talk on “How Dogs Make Us Human,” answers had begun to form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

This was an era during which “you could just walk onto the tarmac without a ticket,” said Brendan Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

It is unknown if actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into a bitter legal battle with Lively's It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will be invited.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Us middle-rank kids sat round the bench on the frosty ground.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Webster is the man definitively responsible for removing the u’s from “colour” and “honour,” for example.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

And then, every fourth January, we’re suddenly expected to say it, to spell it, to know where to place the u’s and a’s.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2017

And there are going to be a lot more u’s on the prompter.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2013

Mother and son shared a strong sense that certain colors and certain letters of the alphabet are related—p was an unripe apple green, for instance; y's and u's had a brassy "olive sheen."

From Time Magazine Archive

No mistaking her u's for n’s or her is for e's.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Which brings us to “Finding Emily,” a sweet new entry from Working Title Films, the producer of such gold-standard rom-coms as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

"It was hectic," she said "There were people just pushing and shoving and running past us and climbing up the rocks to get up."

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

It does not obscure the waterfall but describes it, just as clothing can make the human form beautiful, by emphasizing its lines and contours, and letting us see them more vividly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"For us, the main thing is that he was convicted and that he was serving his sentence," said Abdurahmanovic, whose brother went missing during the massacre and has never been found.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

And in the confusion, some of us can escape.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly