b
b
1 Americanabbreviation
B
2
American
[bee]
/ bi /
Or
b
noun
-
B's,
plural
-
Bs,
plural
-
b's,
plural
-
bs
plural
-
the second letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
-
any spoken sound represented by the letter B or b, as in bid, bauble, or daubed.
-
something having the shape of a B .
-
a written or printed representation of the letter B or b.
-
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter B or b.
B
4
American
Symbol.
-
the second in order or in a series.
-
(sometimes lowercase) (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as good or better than average.
-
(sometimes lowercase) (in some school systems) a symbol designating the second semester of a school year.
-
Physiology. a major blood group usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of type B or AB and to receive blood from persons of type O or B.
-
Music.
-
the seventh tone in the scale of C major or the second tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
-
a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
-
a written or printed note representing this tone.
-
(in the fixed system of solmization) the seventh tone of the scale of C major, called ti.
-
the tonality having B as the tonic note.
-
-
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 300.
-
Chemistry. boron.
-
a proportional shoe width size, narrower than C and wider than A.
-
a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than C and larger than A.
-
Physics. magnetic induction.
-
Electricity. susceptance.
-
a designation for a motion picture made on a low budget and meant as the secondary part of a double feature.
-
a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than BB and higher than CCC.
B-
5
American
U.S. Military.
b.
6
American
abbreviation
-
bachelor.
-
bale.
-
Baseball. base; baseman.
-
bass.
-
basso.
-
bay.
-
billion.
-
blend of; blended.
-
book.
-
born.
-
breadth.
-
brother.
-
brotherhood.
B.
7
American
abbreviation
-
bachelor.
-
bacillus.
-
Baseball. base; baseman.
-
bass.
-
basso.
-
bay.
-
Bible.
-
bolivar.
-
boliviano.
-
book.
-
born.
-
breadth.
-
British.
-
brother.
-
brotherhood.
B
1
British
symbol
-
music
-
a note having a frequency of 493.88 hertz ( B above middle C ) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the seventh note of the scale of C major
-
a key, string, or pipe producing this note
-
the major or minor key having this note as its tonic
-
-
the supporting or less important of two things
the B side of a record
-
a human blood type of the ABO group, containing the B antigen
-
(in Britain) a secondary road
-
the number 11 in hexadecimal notation
-
chem boron
-
magnetic flux density
-
chess bishop
-
(on Brit pencils, signifying degree of softness of lead) black Compare H
B
2B
3B
-
Also: b. physics bel
-
physics baryon number
-
balboa
-
belga
-
bolivar
-
photog B-setting
-
-
a person whose job is in middle management, or who holds an intermediate administrative or professional position
-
( as modifier ) See also occupation groupings
a B worker
-
abbreviation
b
2
British
/ biː /
noun
-
the second letter and first consonant of the modern English alphabet
-
a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiced bilabial stop, as in bell
-
Also: beta. the second in a series, esp the second highest grade in an examination
B.
3
British
abbreviation
-
(on maps, etc) bay
-
British
b.
4
British
abbreviation
-
born
-
cricket bowled
B-
5
British
abbreviation
b
6
British
symbol
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
Discoveries such as Elias 2-24 b can provide crucial real-world tests for those models.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
"Elias 2-24 b is at the limit of what current telescopes can detect, but with new instruments like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, such detections should become easier."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
"Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Astronomers estimate that the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b has survived for more than three billion years.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
“I ain’t going home, Guitar. Hear me?” b “Want me to take you over to Hagar’s?”
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Other winners from the ceremony, which was hosted by Snoop Dogg, included: New artist, Sienna Spiro Pop, Lisa for “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” Song of the year, BTS for “Swim” Hip-hop, Cardi B feat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Last season, amateur side ES Nanterre, from the outskirts of Paris, won Championnat National Group B ahead of Champions League outfits Lens and Lille and second-tier clubs Reims, Bastia and Red Star.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The agave garden sits outside Lot B at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
The MAL story also illustrates how much complexity is hidden behind the familiar letters A, B, AB and O.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
There are four decks: A, B, C, and D. The decks are rigged.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
In May, Fitch Ratings upgraded Argentina to B- from CCC+, following October elections which saw current President Javier Milei emerge with a stronger popular mandate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
S&P Global assigned Strategy a B- issuer credit rating with stable outlook in October, five notches below the lowest rung of investment grade.
From Barron's ● Feb. 2, 2026
At the Bloomberg event on Wednesday night, Peters gave the company a B- on its gaming efforts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
Those who attended the film were apparently disappointed in the lack of action scenes, with audiences giving a lukewarm "B-" grade in exit polls, Variety said.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
She holds my current grades by two fingers: D, C, B-, D, C-, C, A. No basketball team for me, because the A was in art, so my GPA is a whopping 1.7.
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
In 2018, the Moscow Zoo launched a Blakiston’s fish owl breeding program, which currently is made up of two B. b. blakistoni females, one in Moscow and another at the Sakhalin Island Zoo.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 5, 2021
“I drive Kansas interstates frequently, and I know that they are doing an excellent job, a. keeping the ditches mowed and b., keeping our roads clear and safe,” said Claeys.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 10, 2019
Evaluate a. and b. for t = 2, 4, and 6 seconds.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
Consider the two solutions from part b.: λ1 and λ2.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
The inscription turned out to be a date: September 3,32 b. c. , in today’s calendar.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
His books on New York City planner Robert Moses and President Lyndon B. Johnson function as both biography and challenge, their hefty page counts daring readers to dive in.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Mr. Teixeira is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and co-author, with John B. Judis, of “Where Have All the Democrats Gone?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The study was led by Distinguished University Professor of BiologySean B. Carroll and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Leading the investigation was Wachtell Lipton partner David B. Andersk, a renowned lawyer first retained by the NBA in 2007 when the FBI investigated referee Tim Donaghy for allegedly betting on games he officiated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
But then Lulu got bored and went outside and I went with her, and pretty soon I heard “IDA B. APPLEWOOD!” down by the brook.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
To settle the transfer, the U.S. bank subtracts the funds from Bank A's balance and adds them to Bank B's.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
She also said that years after it happened, she became aware he had asked for Complainant B's forgiveness at a meeting in Armoy.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
“I mean, I got some B’s in math in school, so yeah, I’m aware of the math there,” he said, acknowledging the swing nature of his vote.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026
The return of Fund A was 17% better than Fund B’s over one year and Fund A’s three-year and five-year averages were 4.3% and 8.5% better than those of Fund B, respectively.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026
The twins did B’s and my old Buck & Bubbles imitation.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
Ah’Mari, now a 17-year-old junior, said he earned As, Bs and one C throughout high school.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Only eight banks got Bs, while the majority got Cs; 36 got Ds.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
The Glacier Range Riders begin the 2024 season with a home game on May 21 against the Oakland Bs, which also play in the Pioneer League.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
"It's helped me progress my education a lot because in my old school, I was predicted Fs and stuff - now I'm predicted Cs and Bs."
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2023
It took him a minute to figure out that everything was arranged in alphabetical order, by the owners’ names, and a few minutes to find the Bs.
From "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912" by Lauren Tarshis
"We are confident the same technique will allow us to clarify the nature of LHS 3844 b's crust and, in the future, other rocky exoplanets," concludes Kreidberg.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
Yet Barnard b's mere existence hints at the presence of other exoplanets in that solar system, some of which may be more hospitable to life.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2024
It reveals the presence of water vapor and other molecules in WASP-96 b’s extremely hot atmosphere.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 21, 2022
Johansen says AB Aurigae b’s position in one of the disk’s spiral arms could indicate either creation mechanism.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2022
It was because she has trouble saying words sometimes, especially beginnings, like b’s and t’s and k’s.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
This won't be the last failure of this nature so long as people are rewarded for pushing this bs.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2023
“SAME tone deaf energy as this bs from the start of the pandemic,” said a different user.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
Plaskett took note of all this attention and even retweeted a message that said “@StaceyPlaskett is all of us right now listening to the bs in #CohenHearing.”
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2019
“Hey Joe, my buddy was offered an eli game used helmet and jersey. Are these the bs ones eli asked you to make up because he didnt want to give up the real stuff?”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 28, 2017
These find their way along the damp moss to the flower P, and entering the neck of one of the bottle-shaped sacs bs, find out each another cell or ovule inside.
From Through Magic Glasses and Other Lectures A Sequel to The Fairyland of Science by Arabella B. Buckley
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.
