not any particular or certain one of a class or group.
a man; a chemical; a house.
a certain; a particular.
one at a time; two of a kind; A Miss Johnson called.
another; one typically resembling.
a Cicero in eloquence; a Jonah.
one (used before plural nouns that are preceded by a quantifier singular in form): a hundred men (comparehundreds of men ); a dozen times (comparedozens of times ).
indefinitely or nonspecifically (used with adjectives expressing number).
a great many years; a few stars.
one (used before a noun expressing quantity).
a yard of ribbon; a score of times.
any; a single.
not a one.
the first letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
any spoken sound represented by the letter A or a, as in bake, hat, father, or small.
something having the shape of an A .
a written or printed representation of the letter A or a.
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter A or a.
not know from A to B, to know nothing; be ignorant.
from A to Z, from beginning to end; thoroughly; completely.
He knows the Bible from A to Z.
the first in order or in a series.
Sometimes a
(in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as excellent or superior.
(in some school systems) a symbol designating the first semester of a school year.
Music.
the sixth tone in the scale of C major or the first tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
a written or printed note representing this tone.
(in the fixed system of solmization) the sixth tone of the scale of C major, called la.
the tonality having A as the tonic note.
Physiology. a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group A or AB and to receive blood from persons of O or A.
Sometimes a the medieval Roman numeral for 50 or 500.
Chemistry. (formerly) argon.
Chemistry, Physics. mass number.
Biochemistry.
Logic. Also a universal affirmative.
British. a designation for a motion picture recommended as suitable for adults.
a proportional shoe width size, narrower than B and wider than AA.
a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than B and larger than AA.
a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than AA and higher than BBB.
about.
acre; acres.
active.
adjective.
alto.
ampere; amperes.
anonymous.
answer.
are; ares.
Baseball. assist; assists.
Absolute.
Academy.
acre; acres.
America.
American.
angstrom.
answer.
April.
Artillery.
music
a note having a frequency of 440 hertz ( A above middle C ) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the sixth note of the scale of C major
a key, string, or pipe producing this note
the major or minor key having this note as its tonic
a human blood type of the ABO group, containing the A antigen
(in Britain) a major arterial road
the A3 runs from London to Portsmouth
a film certified for viewing by anyone, but which contains material that some parents may not wish their children to see
( as modifier )
an A film
mass number
the number 10 in hexadecimal notation
cards ace
chem argon (now superseded by Ar )
ampere(s)
Also: at. ampere-turn
absolute (temperature)
(in circuit diagrams) ammeter
area
(in combination) atomic
an A-bomb
an A-plant
chem affinity
biochem adenine
logic a universal affirmative categorical proposition, such as all men are mortal: often symbolized as SaP Compare E I 2 O 1
a person whose job is in top management, or who holds a senior administrative or professional position
( as modifier ) See also occupation groupings
an A worker
used preceding a singular countable noun, if the noun is not previously specified or known
a dog
a terrible disappointment
used preceding a proper noun to indicate that a person or thing has some of the qualities of the one named
a Romeo
a Shylock
used preceding a noun or determiner of quantity
a cupful
a dozen eggs
a great many
to read a lot
used preceding a noun indicating a concrete or abstract thing capable of being divided
half a loaf
a quarter of a minute
each or every; per
once a day
fifty pence a pound
a certain; one
to change policy at a stroke
a Mr Jones called
(preceded by not) any at all
not a hope
acceleration
are(s) (metric measure of land)
atto-
chess See algebraic notation
the first letter and first vowel of the modern English alphabet
any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in take, bag, calm, shortage, or cobra
Also called: alpha. the first in a series, esp the highest grade or mark, as in an examination
from start to finish, thoroughly and in detail
acre(s) or acreage
America(n)
answer
on; in; towards
afoot
abed
aground
aback
literary (used before a present participle) in the act or process of
come a-running
go a-hunting
in the condition or state of
afloat
alive
asleep
In both spoken and written English the choice of a1 or an 1 is determined by the initial sound of the word that follows. Before a consonant sound, a is used; before a vowel sound, an : a book, a rose; an apple, an opera. Problems arise occasionally when the following word begins with a vowel letter but actually starts with a consonant sound, or vice versa. Some words beginning with the vowel letter u and all words beginning with the vowel letters eu are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound, as if the first letter were y : a union; a European. Some other spellings that begin with a vowel letter may also stand for an initial consonant sound: a ewe; a ewer. The words one and once and all compounds of which they are the first element begin with a w sound: a one-room apartment; a once-famous actor. The names of the consonant letters f, h, l, m, n, r, s, and x are pronounced with a beginning vowel sound. When these letters are used as words or to form words, they are preceded by an : to rent an L-shaped studio; to fly an SST. The names of the vowel letter u and the semivowel letters w and y are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound. When used as words, they are preceded by a : a U-turn; The plumber installed a Y in the line. In some words beginning with the letter h, the h is not pronounced; the words actually begin with a vowel sound: an hour; an honor. When the h is strongly pronounced, as in a stressed syllable at the beginning of a word, it is preceded by a : a history of the Sioux; a hero sandwich. (In former times an was used before strongly pronounced h in a stressed first syllable: an hundred. ) Such adjectives as historic, historical, heroic, and habitual, which begin with an unstressed syllable and often with a silent or weakly pronounced h, are commonly preceded by an, especially in British English. But the use of a rather than an is widespread in both speech and writing: a historical novel; a habitual criminal. Hotel and unique are occasionally preceded by an, but this use is increasingly old-fashioned. Although in some dialects an has yielded to a in all cases, edited writing reflects usage as described above.
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; originally preconsonantal phonetic variant of an 1
Originally Middle English a, preconsonantal variant of on ( a- 1 ); confused with a 1
Middle English; unstressed preconsonantal variant of of 1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; a phonetic variant of have
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English a, ha
Middle English, late Old English; cf. a 2, nowadays
Middle English; see a 3
Middle English; Old English a- (unstressed), ǣ-, ā-, ō- (stressed; see abb, woof 1, oakum), rarely or- ( see ordeal), ultimately from unattested Germanic uz- from unstressed Indo-European uss-, from ud-s (these latter two also unattested), akin to out; in some cases confused with a- 4, as in abridge
Middle English < Latin ā-, a- (variant of ab- ab- ); in some words < French a- < Latin ab-, as in abridge
Middle English, in some words < Middle French a- < Latin ad- prefix or ad preposition ( ad- ), as in abut; in others < Latin a- (variant of ad- ad- ), as in ascend
From Latin feminine ending -a, as Claudia, feminine of Claudius; see -a 2
Probably generalized from the -a of magnesia
< Latin annō, ablative of annus
From the Latin word ante
< Latin annō, ablative of annus
From the Latin word ante
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The brothers are expected to make an appearance at a Florida federal court early next week, according to a law-enforcement official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The researchers caution that fluvoxamine is not a complete solution for long COVID.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
A lawsuit filed by Bryant’s family resulted in a multimillion dollar verdict against the department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Carla Cressy worked as a model from the age of five until she was 17, but kept collapsing on shoots.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
She then spends four years in Niger, Colombia, and El Salvador as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching children and adults how to read and speak English.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
A widely available antidepressant may provide meaningful relief for people experiencing persistent fatigue from long COVID, according to a global clinical trial co-led by McMaster University.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
A lawsuit filed by Bryant’s family resulted in a multimillion dollar verdict against the department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
A longtime opponent of Brexit, Burnham has repeatedly signalled his desire to build closer ties between Britain and the European Union.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
A desperate government is grasping for ideas to get the engine going again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
A red river forms, made entirely of me.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
In the new study, the research team employed state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy techniques to capture nine different states associated with the lipid transport and determine structures at 2.4 to 3.1 Å resolution for these states.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2023
Danish, an often staccato language spoken by only about six million people and whose alphabet includes the letters Æ, Ø and Å, is perhaps an unlikely choice for pop’s next lingua franca.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
Note: The length unit angstrom, Å, is often used to represent atomic-scale dimensions and is equivalent to 10−10 m.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Ten days after discovery, the dominant feature in the spectrum is a broad emission centred at about 21,000 Å.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017
High-resolution powder diffraction data were collected at beamline 17-BM of the Advanced Photon Source with a monochromatic beam of 0.72768 Å at Argonne National Laboratory.
From Nature ● Mar. 14, 2017
Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic word cheò, meaning mist, and is a reference to the Gaelic name of Isle of Syke - Eilean a' Cheò or Isle of Mist.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
Some songs—such as “A Guid New Year to ane a’ A’”—were widely recognized.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 27, 2023
Whether all this adds up to some big change a’ coming to City Hall, it’s too soon to say.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2023
“You might not wanna believe it, but things, they are a’ changing,” he said.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 1, 2016
When April got back to the apartment, there was a' letter waiting for her.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Katie Hafner: In fact, they call it kind of a- a triangle of –
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
That giant thing of spices that looks like a-
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2019
Average sizes are about 2.0 μm and 1.2 μm along the a- and c-axes, respectively. b, AFM height image and height profiles for the MFI nanosheets.
From Nature ● Mar. 14, 2017
The Israeli grandmaster plays the positional side of a Benko Gambit to perfection, building up great pressure on the a- and b-files while the great Benko bishop strafes the White position from g7.
From Washington Times ● May 12, 2015
"Well, don't do it again. Understand? Not at night There's enough silly talk about beasts, without the litthlus seeing you gliding about like a-" The derisive laughter that rose had fear in it and condemnation.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
I don't think the "-e" should eliminate the existing "-o" and the "-a."
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2022
Primarily, of course, the events are a hugely important commemoration of the Queen's death -a global tribute to the woman who was one of the most recognisable world leaders for so long.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2022
One of those is Zhima Credit – -a private credit-scoring system that rates the trustworthiness and creditworthiness of its users based on data such as whether users pay their bills on time via Alipay.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 27, 2020
He needs to grow up or get out -a cancer in the locker room.
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2017
The eyes of some animal peer at me from the neighboring tree -a possum maybe -catching the firelight from the Careers' torches.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
"The All Blacks are a classy outfit, and they'll punish you if you're not on your A- game, and at times we weren't," admitted Irish skipper Dan Sheehan.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Mandalorian” got an average grade of A- from audiences, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
Normally it’s sort of fun to count the A- , B-, and Z-listers shilling for mayonnaise and sneakers.
From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2024
The film currently sits with a 96% rating from critics and a 91% audience score at review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes as well as an A- in the poll from CinemaScore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2023
I charged a dollar per assignment and guaranteed at least an A- or the customer was entitled to a full refund.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
For the following exercises, a. find the inverse function, and b. find the domain and range of the inverse function.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
Use your answers to parts a. and d. to determine which of the three options is best.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
In a similar fashion to a., we can approach the origin along any straight line passing through the origin.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
Using a. and b. is the train speeding up or slowing down?
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
And Faber was out; there in the deep valleys of the country somewhere the five a. m. bus was on its way from one desolation to another.
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
Ms. Millard, a writer of narrative histories including 2011’s “Destiny of the Republic,” about the assassination of James A. Garfield, vividly evokes the Brazilian rainforest and its dangers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
His wife, Asia R. A., was handed a juvenile sentence of nine and a half years.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The B. of A. economists also wrote of the United Arab Emirates’ competitiveness in the field, owing to its energy capabilities, advanced AI usage and state-led strategy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
In the 1930s and ’40s, Eleanor Roosevelt famously became Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “eyes, ears and legs” because he was limited by polio, said Barbara A. Perry, a professor of governance at the University of Virginia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
A. H. Lacson, a journalist for The Manila Times and former guerrilla scout, makes a trip to Tala Leprosarium to see things for himself.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
You know, that’s actually the easiest of all things, if you look, cause it’s such a–
From Slate ● Jan. 22, 2020
The montage ends with a honest rap from Issa: “I don’t want to be here, but my ex won’t take me back. So my broken a– is here, small-talking over apps.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2017
We created a– civilian review board, gave them their own detectives.
From Time ● Jan. 17, 2016
MELBER: Now your path here– involved time as a– as a lawyer and a prosecutor.
From MSNBC ● Feb. 12, 2015
But whatever happens, you’ll 240 believe I’ve done my best, won’t you?–even if I’m not a– Promise me straight, you’ll lock up tight every night.”
From Into the Primitive by Bennett, Robert Ames
The Dodgers pushed back Ohtani’s start this week from Wednesday against the A’s to Friday against a division rival.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
In the same way a dismal class performance on a business school exam will still yield some A’s, curves also apply in the stock market when a company’s results aren’t necessarily jumping off the page.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
On Wednesday, he stepped the jury through Complainant A's evidence, telling it she was a "very, very unreliable witness" and not one they could "safely rely upon".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Schools can institute an ‘adjusted GPA’ to devalue A’s when they are too numerous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
"Did you know you're getting A's in almost all your classes?"
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
As things stand the intention is for the German to remain in charge for Euro 2028.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
As the global Covid-19 pandemic raged, Xiao inked a deal with Chinese genomics company BGI to create one of the largest testing labs in the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
As previous British prime ministers, particularly Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher, have showed, fashion can be used as a powerful political tool.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
As a result he, like Klinsmann, would urge the players in Sunday’s game to drink in the memories, because win or lose, if your name isn’t Messi the odds are great you’ll never be back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
As Maggie finished the last of the bread, Auntie returned.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Like other Romance languages, Spanish divides most endings of nouns into masculine o’s or feminine a’s.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2021
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
But there is no doubt who is the original source of the line, and his last name is spelled with two a's.
From Time Magazine Archive
As a foriner, ce hardest cing in English to lern is ce usage of ce's and a's.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Because, see, we’re in Spanish class with all the a's and o’s at the end, and Troy just comes up with this name, Ema, just like that, and boom, it stuck. You see?”
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
The arrests occurred before Andrew Tate, a former kickboxing champion, was supposed to serve as co-host of a bare-knuckle boxing event in Miami.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It is being judged as exactly what it was.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
That includes using different networks to find people, such as social media and LinkedIn rather than the contacts of the Lord Lieutenants, the King's local representatives.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Carla Cressy worked as a model from the age of five until she was 17, but kept collapsing on shoots.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The Jesuits are widely known for their focus on social justice and human rights, as well as a devotion to theology, missionary work, and education.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
