ABC
noun
ABC
1 American
[ay-bee-see]
/ ˈeɪˌbiˈsi /
noun
-
ABC's,
plural
-
ABCs
plural
ABC
2
American
abbreviation
-
Trademark. American Broadcasting Companies: a television and radio network.
-
atomic, biological, and chemical.
ABC warfare.
A.B.C.
3
American
abbreviation
-
Advance Booking Charter.
-
Alcoholic Beverage Control.
ABC
1
British
abbreviation
-
(formerly, of weapons or warfare) atomic, biological, and chemical
-
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
-
American Broadcasting Company
-
Audit Bureau of Circulation
-
Australian-born Chinese: a person with Chinese parents, born and raised in Australia
-
American-born Chinese: a person with Chinese parents, born and raised in the US
-
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
ABC
2
British
noun
-
(plural in US) the rudiments of a subject
-
an alphabetical guide to a subject
-
(often plural in US) the alphabet
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I've always wanted to represent the Orchids and I was really lucky last year to make my debut in the Pacific Cup," Wagambie, a Parramatta team-mate of Albert, told ABC Pacific.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
ABC considered dropping the Oscars before signing its last rights deal with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
"First of all, with all respect to President Trump, it's up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader," Zelensky told ABC News.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
She initially didn’t want to report: “I’d always considered myself a strong person, and so I was embarrassed,” she told a local ABC affiliate in a video interview.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
Eventually, Sally Field earned back her goodwill with my family when she starred in the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Sunday had been “very, very slow,” according to a server at A.B.C. who declined to give her name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
When he wrote a book called The A.B.C. of Golf, Armour had no difficulty with the letter Y. The Yips drove him out of tournament golf.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 31, 2020
Among them: “Double Indemnity,” “Strangers on a Train,” “The A.B.C. Murders” and “The Secret History.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2020
Early on, Sherlock realizes — shades of Agatha Christie’s “The A.B.C. Murders”! — that the victims are being dispatched in alphabetical order.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2019
One day as usual I went with some of the other fellows to lunch, at an A.B.C. shop.
From The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. (Henry Major) Tomlinson
The following year, he appeared on a segment of ABC’s dramedy series “Life Goes On” and played a character with HIV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
He told ABC's Good Morning America that he was upset that the lone juror would not acquit Clancy.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
ABC’s March telecast of the Oscars drew 17.9 million viewers, a 9% drop from 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
It’s a shame Mr. Carr won’t defend ABC’s free-speech rights today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Everybody fell silent to hear her teach Glenn his ABC’s.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
“The ABCs are very important,” said Teresa Amabile, a professor emerita at Harvard Business School.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The release comes shortly before a related paper, "The ABCs of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: Communicating What We Know in 2026," appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026
Under her firm hand, my classmates and I marched through our ABCs in unison, voicing each letter like an orchestra tuning for a show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
Last year, “The ABCs of Book Banning” presented surface-level facts that did little to move the needle on the important topic of books that are being prohibited in school libraries.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2025
And maybe even better, since she had a way with writing her ABCs and I couldn’t care less about swoops and curlicues back then.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
