Ab
noun
Av.
Ab
1 American
[ahb, ahv]
/ ɑb, ɑv /
noun
AB
3
American
abbreviation
-
Nautical. able seaman.
-
U.S. Air Force. Airman Basic.
-
Alberta, Canada (approved for postal use).
-
antiballistic; antiballistic missile.
AB
4
American
Symbol, Physiology.
ab-
5
American
ab.
6
American
abbreviation
-
about.
-
Baseball. (times) at bat.
A.B.
7
American
abbreviation
A.B.
8
American
AB
1
British
abbreviation
-
Also: a.b.. able-bodied seaman
-
(in the US) Bachelor of Arts
-
(esp in postal addresses) Alberta (Canada)
symbol
Ab
2
British
/ æb /
noun
ab-
3
British
prefix
ab-
4
British
prefix
Etymology
Origin of ab-5
< Latin ab (preposition and prefix) from, away, cognate with Greek apó, Sanskrit ápa, German ab, English of 1, off
Origin of A.B.7
< New Latin, Medieval Latin Artium Baccalaureus
Explanation
An ab is a stomach, or abdominal, muscle. Doing sit ups and crunches will help you tone your abs. Ab is shorthand for abdominal, which comes from the Latin abdomen, "belly," and it's a common name for what's formally known as the rectus abdominus muscle. Your abs run up and down the front of your torso, on either side of your belly button. In extremely fit or muscly people with little body fat, you can actually see how the abs are separated into several sections, the so-called "six-pack."
Vocabulary lists containing ab
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:
The planet, known as Epsilon Indi Ab, is similar to Jupiter, yet its atmosphere appears more complex than expected.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026
Some flirted only briefly with Ab Ex ideas before moving on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 28, 2026
Saunders and Dame Joanna both won Baftas for their portrayals of PR boss Edina and retired model Patsy, respectively, in the popular 1990s British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous - aka Ab Fab.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2025
So it felt like Ab to Abby was a very cute jump.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2025
Hoi, Frankie McCourt, what are you doin’ with Ab Sheehan?
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Billionaire U.S. investor Kenneth Dart has raised his stake in Swedish gaming group Evolution AB to around 30.02%, passing the threshold that requires the launch of a mandatory takeover offer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Funding from MetaCurUm Biotech AB, a biotechnology company based in Umeå, was essential for developing and testing the treatment.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
A June 1 letter to lawmakers, signed by a group of 3-D printing companies, stagecraft and prop-making studios and industry stakeholders, argued that AB 2047 raises 1st Amendment concerns and would harm businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Volvo AB beat consensus expectations for sales and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes by 1% and 2%, respectively, the analyst adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Any AB and NAB naturals out there who want to share their regimen?
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It is altogether too easy to allow one's sense of the ab- surdity of a good many of its episodes to cloud one's perception of the beauty underlying them.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nature ab- horreth the warre of the Grecians.
From A booke called the Foundacion of Rhetorike because all other partes of Rhetorike are grounded thereupon, euery parte sette forthe in an Oracion vpon questions, verie profitable to bee knowen and redde by Rainolde, Richard
When first I doffed my olive drab, I thought, delightedly though mutely, "Henceforth I shall have pleasure ab- Solutely."
From Something Else Again by Adams, Franklin P. (Franklin Pierce)
It appears as a-, ab-, ac-, ad-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-, as in achieve, abbreviate, accede, admire, affix, aggregate, allot, annex, approve, arrive, assign, attract.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
And, ere the first The skates were Of their brief ab- Was left within the faint gleam of day, safely stowed away; sence not a trace dusty place.
From The Brownies: Their Book by Cox, Palmer
In the third edition it was reprinted at the end of the Stans puer ad Mensam by Wynkin de Worde ab. 1501-1510.
From Caxton's Book of Curtesye by Furnivall, Frederick James
With A.B. on bass, Suzette on drums and Selena as the tender vocalist, the trio would often perform at the family restaurant, PapaGayo’s, which later closed following the 1981 recession.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2025
"Our focus is on crop improvement, pest and disease surveillance, soil management, capacity building, and technology transfer related to cardamom," says A.B.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
“We’re in our toddler, young juvenile phase, of trying to navigate things with the industry,” said Felicia A.B.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Besides Park and the victim, the White House’s chief usher A.B.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2025
He planned to complete work for an A.B. degree and then enter law school.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
