Ab
[ahb, ahv]
- Av.
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Ab
AB
- Nautical. able seaman.
- airborne.
- U.S. Air Force. Airman Basic.
- Alberta, Canada (approved for postal use).
- antiballistic; antiballistic missile.
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AB
- a major blood group usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of type AB and to receive blood from persons of type O, A, B, or AB.
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Compare ABO system.
abs
[abz]
- abdominal muscles.
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Origin of abs
An Americanism dating back to 1980–85; by shortening
ab.
- about.
- Baseball. (times) at bat.
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ab-
- a formal element occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “away from”: abdicate; abolition.
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Origin of ab-
A.B.1
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Origin of A.B.1
< New Latin, Medieval Latin Artium Baccalaureus
A.B.2
- Nautical. able seaman.
- Baseball. (times) at bat.Also a.b.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ab
Contemporary Examples
“Ab Welsh, who was a forward with the Saskatoon Quakers was the first one,” Howe said.
On 27 July 2013, AB Neubauer reported that she was sexually assaulted the previous evening.
An AB is a muscle found on magazine covers, an AD in the mag says Virginia's For Lovers.
The ABT has a saying on the inside, “If you ever disrespect the AB, we will make sure you leave in a body bag.”
AB 32, the law Whitman wants to suspend, is nearly as popular as free cerveza.
Historical Examples
A character mentioned in the Mabinogion, goes by the name of Gwyddneu ab Llwydau.
Y GododinAneurin
Arthwys son of Ceneu ab Coel was too early for the battle of Cattraeth.
Y GododinAneurin
Sabbataï had been born on the ninth of Ab—on the great Black Fast.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
“Ab, you are in as big a hurry to git thar as any of us,” said another.
Rodney, the RangerJohn V. Lane
Wal, sir, I've heerd yer from the North, and I'd like to know if yer an ab'lishener.
Among the PinesJames R. Gilmore
Ab
- a variant of Av
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AB
- Also: a.b. able-bodied seaman
- (in the US) Bachelor of Arts
- (esp in postal addresses) Alberta (Canada)
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- a human blood type of the ABO group, containing both the A antigen and the B antigen
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ab-1
- away from; off; outside of; opposite toabnormal; abaxial; aboral
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Word Origin
from Latin ab away from
ab-2
- denoting a cgs unit of measurement in the electromagnetic systemabvolt
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Word Origin
abstracted from absolute
abs
- informal abdominal muscles
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ABS
- acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene: any of a range of tough copolymers used esp for making moulded articles
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ab
ab-
word-forming element meaning "away, from, from off, down;" from Latin ab-, ab "off, away from," from PIE root *apo- (see apo-). Reduced to a- before -m-, -p-, or -v-; sometimes abs- before -c- or -t-.
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abs
n.
colloquial shortening of abdominals, by 1992.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Ab
- antibody
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.