ABC

[ey-bee-see]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ABC ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ABC's, ABCs.

ABC's(defs 1, 3).

ABC

Trademark. American Broadcasting Companies: a television and radio network.

atomic, biological, and chemical: ABC warfare.

A.B.C.

Advance Booking Charter.

Alcoholic Beverage Control.

ABC's

or ABCs

[ey-bee-seez]

noun (used with a plural verb)

Also ABC. the alphabet.

the basic skills of spelling, reading, and writing: learning the ABC's in the early grades of school.

Also ABC. the basic or elementary facts, principles, etc., of a subject: the ABC's of electricity.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abc

The program—weirdly—is now under the umbrella of ABC News, and is suffering from flat ratings and an aging demographic.
The Bloodiest Media Coups of 2014|Lloyd Grove|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her mother told ABC News she believes Manson loves her daughter, and that “she has been good to him.”
Mrs. Manson, Hometown Antihero|Justin Glawe|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After rumored courting by both ABC and NBC, Pippa Middleton is reportedly inking a deal to become a Today correspondent.
NBC’s Today Show ‘Hires’ Pippa Middleton|Lloyd Grove, Tom Sykes|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Among her detractors was Dr. Bob Arnot, who covered medical issues for NBC before Snyderman joined the network from ABC News.
NBC’s Soup-Loving Dr. Nancy Keeps Her Job|Lloyd Grove|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

While King has shepherded The Good Wife, Commander in Chief was championed by ABC executive Anne Sweeney.
Will There Ever Be a ‘Good Wife’ Effect on Politics?|Keli Goff|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But there were all the little tiers, and the ABC's, and the faces and fingers.
A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life.|Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney
There is some merit in speaking of the red triangle instead of the triangle ABC, but not enough to give the method any standing.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)|Augustus De Morgan
Triliteral and Multiliteral Propositions (such as “All abc are de”).
Symbolic Logic|Lewis Carroll
Assume that we want to afford security for our main body from any especially dangerous sector such as ABC.
The Plattsburg Manual|O.O. Ellis and E.B. Garey
The set of points thus obtained is called the harmonic system ABC.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for abc

ABC

noun

(plural in US) the rudiments of a subject

an alphabetical guide to a subject

(often plural in US) the alphabet

ABC

abbreviation for

(formerly, of weapons or warfare) atomic, biological, and chemical

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

American Broadcasting Company

Audit Bureau of Circulation

Australian Australian-born Chinese: a person with Chinese parents, born and raised in Australia

US American-born Chinese: a person with Chinese parents, born and raised in the US

British acceptable behaviour contract: a voluntary written agreement between someone who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and a local agency such as a housing association, council, or police

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 abc

ABC

"the alphabet," late 13c., abece. Sense "rudiments or fundamentals (of a subject)" is from late 14c. From 1944 (in a "Billboard" headline) as a shortening of American Broadcasting Company. Related: ABCs.

ABC