b
1 Americanabbreviation
noun
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B's,
plural
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Bs,
plural
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b's,
plural
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bs
plural
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the second letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
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any spoken sound represented by the letter B or b, as in bid, bauble, or daubed.
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something having the shape of a B .
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a written or printed representation of the letter B or b.
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a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter B or b.
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the second in order or in a series.
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(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.
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(sometimes lowercase) (in some school systems) a symbol designating the second semester of a school year.
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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.
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Music.
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the seventh tone in the scale of C major or the second tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
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a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
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a written or printed note representing this tone.
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(in the fixed system of solmization) the seventh tone of the scale of C major, called ti.
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the tonality having B as the tonic note.
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(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 300.
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Chemistry. boron.
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a proportional shoe width size, narrower than C and wider than A.
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a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than C and larger than A.
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Physics. magnetic induction.
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Electricity. susceptance.
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a designation for a motion picture made on a low budget and meant as the secondary part of a double feature.
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a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than BB and higher than CCC.
abbreviation
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bachelor.
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bale.
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Baseball. base; baseman.
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bass.
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basso.
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bay.
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billion.
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blend of; blended.
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book.
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born.
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breadth.
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brother.
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brotherhood.
abbreviation
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bachelor.
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bacillus.
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Baseball. base; baseman.
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bass.
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basso.
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bay.
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Bible.
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bolivar.
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boliviano.
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book.
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born.
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breadth.
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British.
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brother.
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brotherhood.
symbol
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music
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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
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a key, string, or pipe producing this note
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the major or minor key having this note as its tonic
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the supporting or less important of two things
the B side of a record
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a human blood type of the ABO group, containing the B antigen
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(in Britain) a secondary road
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the number 11 in hexadecimal notation
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chem boron
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magnetic flux density
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chess bishop
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(on Brit pencils, signifying degree of softness of lead) black Compare H
B
2B
3B
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Also: b. physics bel
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physics baryon number
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balboa
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belga
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bolivar
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photog B-setting
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a person whose job is in middle management, or who holds an intermediate administrative or professional position
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( as modifier ) See also occupation groupings
a B worker
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abbreviation
noun
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the second letter and first consonant of the modern English alphabet
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a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiced bilabial stop, as in bell
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Also: beta. the second in a series, esp the second highest grade in an examination
abbreviation
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(on maps, etc) bay
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British
abbreviation
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born
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cricket bowled
abbreviation
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:
"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
Elias 2-24 b, by comparison, orbits about 10 times farther from its star.
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 is roughly as massive as Jupiter and orbits a star about 450 light-years from Earth.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
She will b OK response I get in return.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
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Zuckerberg holds a large amount of Class B stock, which gives him majority control over company decisions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
But Pools B and C are combined into one six-team league, from which only the top two will make the semi-finals.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
To ensure Zuckerberg remains sufficiently invested in the company, the committee “stapled” 80% of his Class C shares, meaning that Zuckerberg cannot sell them unless he also sells his supervoting Class B shares.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
“For those of us whose life circumstances have created options A, B, C, D, E, F and G, she might have options A and B,” El-Sayed said of the anecdote, which couldn’t be independently verified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
For example, you can say "B natural is a half step below C natural," or "E flat is a step and a half above C natural."
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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The B- rating is constrained by a number of factors, including Argentina’s international liquidity position, as well as high inflation and a record of macroeconomic instability, Fitch said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 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
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
Miranda couldn’t afford a replacement, and his social studies teacher, unimpressed with the script he submitted, awarded him a B-.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 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
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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
Find the equation of the intersection curve of the surface at b. with the cone φ = π .
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
Determine the requested vectors and express each of them a. in component form and b. by using the standard unit vectors.
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
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to French scientist Henri B. Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai for providing a solution to the chemical mystery of life's asymmetry.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“This is a major achievement, made possible by an extraordinary coalition of people who understand the importance of investing in scientific research,” UC President James B. Milliken said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
B. of A. sees the index ending at 7,400 — versus 7,100 previously — as it launched a 12-month target of 7,800.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
"The model places a demanding constraint on any proposed absorber," said Paul B. Rimmer of the University of Cambridge, UK.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
Larry Evans came along as Bobby’s second, and the ever-present Edmund B. Edmondson of the U.S.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Since her breakout semi-final performance at the Miami Open last year, Eala has re-ignited interest in tennis in the Philippines, a country obsessed with the three B's - basketball, boxing and beauty queens.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Beyond Beyoncé, Eminem and The Weeknd headlined, but one of the other standouts was Cardi B’s TLC-inspired performance on the main stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
“We don’t want to be portrayed as: ‘Students don’t want to get B’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 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
Ronnie asked me for the one hundred fourteenth time on the Thursday after Ida B’s Weekend of Apologies.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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He had always been a good student, securing almost all A’s with a few Bs sprinkled in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
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 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
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The makeup of HD 3167 b's atmosphere is still up in the air.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Although distinctly unearthly, altogether HIP 99770 b’s properties make it a comparatively close cousin to Earth.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 13, 2023
In addition to the silicate, the James Webb Space Telescope found that VHS 1256 b's atmosphere also has carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, potassium, sodium and water.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 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
“You are smart enough to think through some bs propaganda,” Brian wrote to A.J. on Facebook.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2023
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
Make 7 more cs, joining between a and bs in the same manner. d.
From The Ladies' Work-Book Containing Instructions In Knitting, Crochet, Point-Lace, etc. by Unknown
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