ala
noun
a wing.
ala
1 American
[ey-luh]
/ ˈeɪ lə /
noun
-
alae
plural
-
a wing.
-
a winglike part, process, or expansion, as of a bone, shell, seed, or stem.
-
either of the two side petals of a flower in the legume family, as the pea.
-
(in an ancient Roman house) a small room, as an alcove, opening into a larger room or courtyard.
Ala
2
American
[ah-lah]
/ ˈɑ lɑ /
noun
Ala
3
American
abbreviation
Biochemistry.
Ala.
4
American
abbreviation
A.L.A.
5
American
abbreviation
-
American Library Association.
-
Associate in Liberal Arts.
-
Authors League of America.
-
Automobile Legal Association.
ala
1
British
/ ˈeɪlə /
noun
-
zoology a wing or flat winglike process or structure, such as a part of some bones and cartilages
-
botany a winglike part, such as one of the wings of a sycamore seed or one of the flat petals of a sweet pea flower
Ala.
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ala
1730–40; < Latin āla wing, armpit, shoulder, representing *aks-lā, derivative of same base as axis axle ( see axis 1); see axle
Vocabulary lists containing ala
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:
During his rookie season, Rams edge rusher Jared Verse established himself as one of the NFL’s most boisterous players — and also a force to be reckoned with ala former Rams star Aaron Donald.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2025
Last month I also decided to practice manifestation ala influencer Amanda Francis, and as I delivered four large dishes to a client, I said to myself, “Money is flowing toward me in abundance.”
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2024
But for now, it appears that the two companies are on track toward further integration, ala Google and Nest.
From The Verge ● Aug. 19, 2022
Nicknames get coined for losses like these, ala the “Monday Night Massacre” of 2010.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 26, 2021
The word is derived from the Latin ala, meaning a wing.
From The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia by William James Miller
Navy’s two hospital ships, both of which are undergoing maintenance in Mobile, Ala.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
He retired to his home state to become head football coach at St. Michael Catholic High in Fairhope, Ala.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
Her two sisters, Ala and Jana, nod in agreement as we sit, squeezed together on this cold winter's day, on an old lumpy sofa in their humble home in Homs.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2024
Memory has reduced “Forrest Gump” to a few lines of dialogue and the ubiquitous meme of Tom Hanks “running like the wind” blows down the country road outside his home in Greenbow, Ala.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2024
“Really? I thought if we studied the Ala Wai Canal . . .” She trails off.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
The acquisition would provide Hanwha with Austal’s Mobile, Ala., shipyard and access to major contracts that include some of America’s most sensitive naval programs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Nineteen months later, Kessler — now the Lakers center — found his voice while on a Fourth of July outing at Lake Martin, Ala., and asked Stockard to marry him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Born Trent Clutts on Dec. 16, 1958, in Huntsville, Ala., Cody was inspired to pursue a career in broadcasting during visits to a Kentucky radio station with his dad.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
The company is based in Huntsville, Ala., and is led by James “Trip” Ferguson External link.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
R. F. Marsden, President of the Truesdale Cotton Mill, Birmingham, Ala., has written to you, asking whether he can secure a loan next fall on the cotton in the mill as collateral.
From Business English A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig
The A.L.A. experimented with arrangements for choosing the winners before opting, in the late 1930s, for a committee of 23 librarians who selected both the Newbery and Caldecott recipients.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2019
They’d been at the A.L.A. midwinter conference, in Atlanta.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 19, 2017
Up until his remarks at the A.L.A. conference, Ungerer had co-existed in several worlds at once, working brilliantly in each.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2015
It was the first A.L.A. award for Mr. Alexander, a poet and novelist who has published 17 books.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2015
Trustees, Boards of, 265; duties of, 279; standpoint in library work, 261; A.L.A. section, 265.
From The Library and Society Reprints of Papers and Addresses by Arthur Elmore Bostwick
The wildlife refuge is a wetland that provides nesting, feeding and resting habitat to the endangered Hawaiian stilt, known as aeo, and the Hawaiian coot or alae keokeo.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
The medial ramus of the pterygoid does not articulate with the otic capsule, and the parasphenoid alae are laterally, rather than posterolaterally, oriented.
From A Synopsis of Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Osteocephalus by William E. Duellman
When it is from fifty to sixty feet in length, devote one fourth of the length to the alae.
From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio
But to this day every alae bird wears the symbol of punishment for telling its secret—a tuft of red feathers on the top of its head.
From Legends of the Wailuku by Will Herwig
So it went on, until finally the alae told him he would find it in a dry stick; and so, indeed, he did.
From Hawaiian Folk Tales A Collection of Native Legends by Thomas G. (Thomas George) Thrum
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.
