are

[ ahr; unstressed er ]

/ ɑr; unstressed ər /

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See synonyms for are on Thesaurus.com

verb

present indicative plural and 2nd person singular of be.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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Origin of are

before 900; Middle English aren, are, arn,Old English (Northumbrian) aron; cognate with Old Norse eru, 3rd person plural See art²

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH are

are , hour, our

Words nearby are

Ardmore, ardor, ardour, ARDS, arduous, are, area, Area 51, area bombing, area code, areal

Other definitions for are (2 of 2)

are²

[ air, ahr ]

/ ɛər, ɑr /

noun

a measure of surface area; 1 are is equal to1/100 (0.01) of a hectare (100 square meters or 119.6 square yards). Abbreviation: a

Origin of are

1810–20; <French <Latin ārea.See area

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use are in a sentence

That gross abuse should be among the products of such all-prior-bets-are-off decision making is hardly surprising.
Why Did We Panic After 9/11 and Ignore All We Knew About Responding to Security Threats?|Deborah Pearlstein|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dwyer was present for many of the events he describes, providing a you-are-in-the-room feel.
How Four Upstarts Built and Crashed the Anti-Facebook|Jake Whitney|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“No,” he said, with an are-you-kidding kind of look on his face.
What If the Iraq War Never Happened?|Michael Ware|March 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Surely there are a comparable number of researchers with sticky palms on the vaccines-are-safe side of the ledger as well.
Get Your Damn Flu Shot|Kent Sepkowitz|January 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

This was the corporations-are-people Romney, who seems like a plutocrat even as he tries to strike an average-guy tone.
Mitt Romney Hits Jackpot in the Nevada Caucuses|Howard Kurtz|February 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His mother pointed out the direction, and said it was called Are-ava, house-of-banyan-sticks.
Fishes, Flowers, and Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths and Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon,|Anonymous
If the base metals are not gold, it is only through some accidental hindrance; they are-all potentially gold.
Bygone Beliefs|H. Stanley Redgrove
Ahif you are so coldhow cold you are!it gives me little shivers when you look soand I am always hotLettie!
The White Peacock|D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
"We a-are uunder no-o-o acceleration fro-om he-ell," the literal mind told him.
Where I Wasn't Going|Walt Richmond
And they answered, ‘We-aw-are-the-aw-Staff-aw-Department, godmother, and we are very well indeed.’
Reprinted Pieces|Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for are (1 of 2)

are¹

/ (ɑː, unstressed ə) /

verb

the plural form of the present tense (indicative mood) of the verb `be' and the singular form used with you

Word Origin for are

Old English aron, second person plural of bēon to be

British Dictionary definitions for are (2 of 2)

are²

/ (ɑː) /

noun

a unit of area equal to 100 sq metres or 119.599 sq yards; one hundredth of a hectareSymbol: a

Word Origin for are

C19: from French, from Latin ārea piece of level ground; see area

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

are

Origin of are

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Other definitions for are (2 of 2)

Origin of are

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British Dictionary definitions for are (1 of 2)

Word Origin for are

British Dictionary definitions for are (2 of 2)

Word Origin for are