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• ace
  ace

  noun

  a playing card or die marked with or having the value indicated by a single spot.
• ACE
  ACE

  abbreviation

  American Council on Education.

ace

¹ American  

[ays] / eɪs /

noun

1. a playing card or die marked with or having the value indicated by a single spot.

   He dealt me four aces in the first hand.

2. a single spot or mark on a playing card or die.

3. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.)

   1. Also called service ace. a placement made on a service.

   2. any placement.

   3. a serve that the opponent fails to touch.

   4. the point thus scored.

4. a fighter pilot credited with destroying a prescribed number or more of enemy aircraft, usually five, in combat.

5. a very skilled person; expert; adept.

   an ace at tap dancing.

6. Slang. a one-dollar bill.

7. Slang. a close friend.

8. Golf.

   1. Also called hole in one. a shot in which the ball is driven from the tee into the hole in one stroke.

      He hit a 225-yard ace on the first hole.

   2. a score of one stroke made on such a shot.

      to card an ace.

9. Slang. a barbiturate or amphetamine capsule or pill.

10. a very small quantity, amount, or degree; a particle.

    not worth an ace.

11. Slang. a grade of A; the highest grade or score.

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verb (used with object)

• aces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• aced,
  past participle,  past
• acing
  present participle

1. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to win a point against (one's opponent) by an ace.

2. Golf. to make an ace on (a hole).

3. Slang. to cheat, defraud, or take advantage of (often followed byout ).

   to be aced out of one's inheritance;

   friend who aced me out of a good job.

4. Slang.

   1. to receive a grade of A, as on a test or in a course (sometimes followed byout ).

   2. to complete easily and successfully.

      He aced every physical fitness test they gave him.

adjective

1. Sometimes aces excellent; first-rate; outstanding.

verb phrase

1. ace it to accomplish something with complete success.

   a champion who could ace it every time.

idioms

1. ace up one's sleeve, an important, effective, or decisive argument, resource, or advantage kept in reserve until needed.

2. easy aces, aces equally divided between opponents.

3. be aces with, to be highly regarded by.

   The boss says you're aces with him.

4. within an ace of, within a narrow margin of; close to.

   He came within an ace of winning.

ace ² American  

[ays] / eɪs /

noun

1. a person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to other people; asexual.

   She's an ace, but she's had a couple of romantic relationships.

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adjective

1. experiencing little or no sexual attraction to other people.

   As someone who identifies as ace, this article gave me much food for thought.

ACE ³ American  

abbreviation

1. American Council on Education.

2. Army Corps of Engineers.

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ace ¹ British  

/ eɪs /

noun

1. any die, domino, or any of four playing cards with one spot

2. a single spot or pip on a playing card, die, etc

3. tennis a winning serve that the opponent fails to reach

4. golf a hole in one

5. a fighter pilot accredited with destroying several enemy aircraft

6. informal an expert or highly skilled person

   an ace at driving

7. a hidden and powerful advantage

8. to have all the advantages or power

9. to use one's best weapon or resource

10. almost to the point of

    he came within an ace of winning

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adjective

1. informal superb; excellent

verb

1. tennis to serve an ace against

2. golf to play (a hole) in one stroke

3. to perform extremely well or score very highly in (an examination, etc)

ACE ² British  

/ eɪs /

acronym

1. (in Britain) Advisory Centre for Education; a private organization offering advice on schools to parents

2. Allied Command Europe

3. angiotensin-converting enzyme See ACE inhibitor

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ace More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing ace

• hold all the aces
• within an ace of

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• acing
  present
• aced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ace
  simple
• aces
  simple
• have aced
  perfect
• has aced
  perfect
• am acing
  progressive
• are acing
  progressive
• is acing
  progressive
• have been acing
  perfect progressive
• has been acing
  perfect progressive

Past

• aced
  simple
• had aced
  perfect
• was acing
  progressive
• were acing
  progressive
• had been acing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ace
  simple
• will have aced
  perfect
• will be acing
  progressive
• will have been acing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of ace¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, in 1795–1800 ace ¹ for def. 5; from Middle English as, aas, ais, from Old French as, from Latin ass- (stem of as ) “a copper coin (originally weighing one pound), unit (of money, weight)”; sense 4 was taken directly from French as in World War I, and sense 5 developed from sense 4; see origin at as ²

Origin of ace²

First recorded in 2005–10; shortening of asexual ( def. )

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Explanation

An ace is a playing card with the highest value in a deck. There are four aces in a full deck of cards, each with a single heart, spade, diamond, or club pictured on it. Ace can also describe someone who's excellent at a particular skill: "He's an ace at making homemade jam!" In tennis, an ace is a point scored on a missed serve, and in golf it's a hole in one. When you ace something, you do a great job: "Just get in there and ace that math test today!" The earliest meaning was "one at dice," from the Latin as, "a unit, one, or a whole."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ace ACE aces aced acing

Bauers delivered the knockout blow in Milwaukee’s 6-2 victory on Wednesday, smashing a go-ahead, two-run home run off ace Blake Snell to give the Brewers a lead they would never relinquish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“I think we’ve got the best talent in the league,” Yankees ace Cam Schlittler said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Tuesday’s 399-foot solo shot off of Sale’s sinker pushed the lead to 3-0 — a margin that no team has yet overcome against Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

But Weiss did not know, immediately after Saturday’s loss, when he’d be able to deploy his sole ace, 37-year-old Chris Sale, the 10-time All-Star who just pitched in the Braves’ Game 3 wild-card closeout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Theo threw a complete game, striking out nine and giving up only two hits, just like the ace of a staff is supposed to.

From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner

Both groups also continued receiving standard treatment with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

An ACE score, identifying the severity of early trauma, is now routinely used in clinical settings and shapes decisions about trauma therapy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

“Attempts to resolve these technical concerns with ACE Help Desk support have been slow, and certain login or other ACE account issues for importers remain unresolved.”

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026

An ACE spokesperson acknowledged the importance of live comedy, adding: "It is an art form which we are proud to support especially given the range of audiences it reaches."

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

Marcus adjusted the ACE bandage on his knee.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

But Smith said he assumed Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ ace of the aces and last year’s World Series MVP, had everything under control.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

If the four aces can do to October opponents what the 1966 Orioles did to the Dodgers, or some reasonable 21st century facsimile, we’ll see you at the parade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Boulter's serve let her down as she hit eight double faults and no aces, while she won just 33% of points behind her first serve.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

The defending champion managed just two aces to five double faults - although he did land 68% of his first serves and won 66% of the points behind it.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

He turned out to be one of the Luftwaffe’s most celebrated and deadly flying aces, and he wanted to meet the pilot who’d shot him down.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

SoFi Stadium aced the physical infrastructure with working elevators, wheelchair escorts and accessible seating with clear sightlines on every level.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Steve aced the audition, and the four of us clicked immediately over our shared love of the Pretenders and all things Monty Python.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Hazel also aced her National 5 exams, and as a young leader with her local Scout troop she was recognised by the Chief Scout with an Unsung Hero award.

From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026

On Friday Netflix aced out Paramount Skydance and Comcast to win this game of media thrones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

“You aced that social studies quiz and made all those shots in the basketball game because you ate jelly beans?”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Meanwhile he brags about acing three different cognitive tests in the last year.

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2026

For years, high-schoolers have boasted in college applications about learning Latin, leading the chess club or acing Advanced Placement Physics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025

According to the National Hole-In-One-Registry the odds of two players from the same foursome acing the same hole is 17 million to 1.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2024

“Now I have bragging rights with my friends,” Hirasaki said after acing the test on her first try.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024

I took pride in acing my classes, plus our family needed every extra cent.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

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