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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

The Dodgers are batting .215 through the first two games of the NLDS, with the Atlanta Braves scheduled to pitch left-handed ace Chris Sale in Game 3 on Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

“We’ve got the ace of all aces in Chris Sale,” Braves pitcher Brent Suter said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Now I’ve pulled that ace out of the hole, taken a good look, and found that it’s useless to me, devalued over time.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

Kelsey Christensen, a trade attorney at law firm Clark Hill, also noted problems with ACE accounts.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026

"ACE must listen, and I urge the government to take on all the recommendations in full. The ACE is meant to be champion of the arts, not our school master."

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

For hurricanes, this means using metrics like accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, which integrates the number, strength and duration of all tropical storms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

The browser opens up, and I get to a search page, and I punch in "ACE spacecraft."

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

Some aces are portrayed as more equal than others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

For two months, the Dodgers have talked about their four aces, but the headliners have been Skubal and Yamamoto, even with Snell a two-time Cy Young winner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Against world number 48 Kalinina, Kartal served four aces and won 23 of 30 points when landing her first serve.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

World number two Sabalenka hit 11 aces and did not face a break point in a 6-1 6-3 victory over the Mexican.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

I never thought I wouldn’t want four aces.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

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

Crucially, the United States aced its only chance to make a first impression, kicking off this colossal World Cup it’s co-hosting with Mexico and Canada with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026

There hadn’t been a single hole-in-one at the Masters since 2022, when Stewart Cink carded one on the 16th—the same hole Lowry had aced six years earlier with a brilliant 8-iron.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 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

He’s the most agile person I’ve ever met—he should have aced his Trial’s physical.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

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

“Bragging about acing a cognitive test while forgetting the name of the doctor who gave it to you is like writing on a résumé that you speak three languages and misspelling the word ‘languages.’”

From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 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

If your kid was supersmart and acing tests, it was forgiven that he never hit a home run or scored a goal.

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

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