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• 'd
  'd

  contraction of had:
• D
  D

  noun

  the fourth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
• D-
  D-

  (of a molecule) having a configuration resembling the dextrorotatory isomer of glyceraldehyde: always printed as a small capital, roman character.
• d'
  d'

  preposition

  de (used in French names as an elided form ofde ).
• d-
  d-

  dextrorotatory; dextro- (distinguished from l-).
• d.
  d.

  abbreviation

  (in prescriptions) give.
• D.
  D.

  abbreviation

  day.
• d
  d

  symbol

  physics density or relative density

'd

¹ American  

1. contraction of had:

   I was glad they'd gone.

2. contraction of did:

   Where'd they go?

3. contraction of should or would:

   He'd like to go. I'd like to remind you of your promise.

4. contraction of -ed:

   She OK'd the plan.

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D ² American  

[dee] / di /

Or d

noun

• D's,
  plural
• Ds,
  plural
• d's,
  plural
• ds
  plural

1. the fourth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter D or d, as in dog, ladder, ladle, or pulled.

3. something having the shape of a D .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter D or d.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter D or d.

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D ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Electricity. debye; debyes.

2. deep.

3. depth.

4. Optics. diopter.

5. divorced.

6. Dutch.

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D ⁴ American  

Symbol.

1. the fourth in order or in a series.

2. (sometimes lowercase) (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as poor or barely passing.

3. (sometimes lowercase) a classification, rating, or the like, indicating poor quality.

4. Music.

   1. the second tone in the scale of C major, or the fourth tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.

   2. a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.

   3. a written or printed note representing this tone.

   4. (in the fixed system of solmization) the second tone of the scale of C major, called re.

   5. the tonality having D as the tonic note.

5. (sometimes lowercase) the Roman numeral for 500.

6. Chemistry. deuterium. Also 2H

7. Electricity.

   1. electric displacement.

   2. a battery size for 1.5 volt dry cells: diameter, 1.3 inches (3.3 centimeters); length, 2.4 inches (6 centimeters).

8. Biochemistry. aspartic acid.

9. a symbol for a shoe width size narrower than E and wider than C.

10. a proportional brassiere cup size larger than C.

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D- ⁵ American  

1. Symbol, Biochemistry. (of a molecule) having a configuration resembling the dextrorotatory isomer of glyceraldehyde: always printed as a small capital, roman character.

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d' ⁶ American  

preposition

1. de (used in French names as an elided form ofde ).

   Charles Louis d'Albert.

2. di (used in Italian names as an elided form ofdi ).

   Gabriele d'Annunzio.

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d' ⁷ American  

1. Informal. contraction of do or did before you:

   How d'you like your eggs cooked? D'you go to the movies last night?

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d- ⁸ American  

Symbol, Chemistry, Biochemistry.

1. dextrorotatory; dextro- (distinguished from l-).

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d. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. (in prescriptions) give.

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d. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

1. British. pence.

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d. ¹¹ American  

abbreviation

1. date.

2. daughter.

3. day.

4. deceased.

5. deep.

6. degree.

7. delete.

8. Physics. density.

9. depth.

10. deputy.

11. dialect.

12. dialectal.

13. diameter.

14. died.

15. dime.

16. dividend.

17. dollar; dollars.

18. dose.

19. drachma.

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D. ¹² American  

abbreviation

1. day.

2. December.

3. Democrat.

4. Democratic.

5. Physics. density.

6. Deus.

7. Deuteronomy.

8. Doctor.

9. dose.

10. Dutch.

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D. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. politics Democrat(ic)

2. government Department

3. dinar(s)

4. Don (a Spanish title)

5. Duchess

6. Duke

7. (in the US and Canada) Doctor

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D ² British  

symbol

1. music

   1. a note having a frequency of 293.66 hertz ( D above middle C ) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the second note of the scale of C major

   2. a key, string, or pipe producing this note

   3. the major or minor key having this note as its tonic

2. chem deuterium

3. maths the first derivative of a function, as in D( x ³ + x ²) = 3 x ² + 2 x

4. physics

   1. dispersion

   2. electric displacement

5. aeronautics drag

6. 1. a semiskilled or unskilled manual worker, or a trainee or apprentice to a skilled worker

   2. ( as modifier ) See also occupation groupings

      D worker

7. 500 See Roman numerals

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abbreviation

1. Germany (international car registration)

2. 1. informal defence

      I'm playing D in the match this afternoon

   2. informal defensive play

'd ³ British  

contraction

1. would or had

   I'd

   you'd

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d ⁴ British  

symbol

1. physics density or relative density

2. maths a small increment in a given variable or function: used to indicate a derivative of one variable with respect to another, as in d y /d x

3. chess See algebraic notation

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d ⁵ British  

/ diː /

noun

1. the fourth letter and third consonant of the modern English alphabet

2. a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiced alveolar stop, as in dagger

3. the semicircle on a billiards table having a radius of 11 1/ 2 inches and its straight edge in the middle of the baulk line

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D ⁶ British  

abbreviation

1. Deutsch: indicating the serial number in the catalogue (1951) of the musical compositions of Schubert made by Otto Deutsch (1883–1967)

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d. ⁷ British  

abbreviation

1. (in animal pedigrees) dam

2. daughter

3. currency penny or pennies

4. diameter

5. died

6. dinar(s)

7. dollar(s)

8. drachma(s)

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d Scientific  

1. Abbreviation of diameter

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• D's
  plural
• Ds
  plural
• d's
  plural
• ds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of d.⁹

From the Latin word dā

Origin of d.¹⁰

From the Latin word denāriī

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

'd D D- d' d- d. D. d D's Ds d's ds

“If they had said, ‘We’re going to do this for another 20 years,’ I ‘d have been on board in a heartbeat.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

But still, one by one, we ’d all burned out.

From Salon ● May 7, 2024

“The idea is that we ’d have a whole soup-to-nuts operation in the state and incorporate lessons learned from these different projects,” Hurteau says.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 5, 2021

We ’d be fixing the economy, ad- dressing national security issues, and improving education.

From MSNBC ● Sep. 9, 2014

Suddenly a face is in front of mine and coffee breath goes up my nostrils and a voice says, I have someone I bet you ’d life to meet.

From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine

Average grades in preparatory math, precalculus and calculus across UC continue their five-year decline, while D and F grades, no-pass marks and withdrawals in those courses have gone up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

While an increasing number of London boroughs have seen council tax on a Band D property rise above the £2,000 mark, in Wandsworth, council tax on an average Band D property is currently £1,020.35.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Vitamin D is best known for its role in bone health, but growing evidence suggests it may also influence how the body senses and processes pain.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

NextEra Energy NEE -0.16%decrease; down pointing triangle and Dominion Energy D -1.06%decrease; down pointing triangle have proposed an expanded state benefits package to regulators as they look to secure approval for their $67 billion merger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

The major scale beginning a perfect fourth below D major is A major.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

In their most recent assessment, for example, transit scored a D- and hazardous waste a D+.

From National Geographic ● Jul. 17, 2023

Louisiana’s drinking water infrastructure limps in with a D-.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2021

Ms. E.K. announced that she would be holding before-school tutoring sessions, which Sarah, who finished the fall semester with a D-, never would have attended during remote learning.

From New York Times ● May 13, 2021

Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt., who serves in the largely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, is set to preside.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2021

But by that time I had given up visiting the S- family and the D- family. 

From 'Twixt Land and Sea by Joseph Conrad

The maître d’ escorted us to a banquette near a window facing northeast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

In the A.I. age, Maggie Hennessy asserts, sparring with a grouchy maître d’ over the phone is part of what makes dining out great.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

While seeking acting jobs, the trade publication reported, Tana started as a dishwasher at the Villa Capri restaurant in Hollywood, before eventually becoming the maitre d’ at La Scala in Beverly Hills.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2025

In the French Quarter, the yearly parade by the Krewe de Jeanne d’ Arc marking the birthday of the French hero marches on a route that carries them past a golden statue of their namesake.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024

The maitre d’ and two waiters carried the detective inside.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

Ke5, Muzychuk can’t hold back both the d- and g-pawns indefinitely and resigned.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 27, 2022

Both the d- and f-block elements react with nonmetals to form binary compounds; heating is often required.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

They're called d- and l-isomers—d for dextro, l for levo; right and left, you see.

From A Feast of Demons by Joseph Samachson

New Designs University Park, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13 Jordan d. 25-23, 25-19, 25-10 Westchester d.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2024

But just as bell hooks, the feminist writer, and k. d. lang, the singer-songwriter, often see their names appear with unwanted capital letters, lowercase compositions are often capitalized on their way to publication.

From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2017

From part d. we see that receiving $1 million dollars per year indefinitely is worth $20 million dollars in today’s dollars.

From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016

Use your answers to parts a. and d. to determine which of the three options is best.

From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016

The northernmost localities from which S. d. negligens has been reported are nine and a half miles southwest of Padilla in the east, and Rancho Santa Rosa in the west.

From The Recent Mammals of Tamaulipas, Mexico by Ticul Alvarez

Samuel D. Hunter writes compact human dramas that pack a maximal punch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

"Diamond frogs have been hiding their diversity beneath our feet," said Dr. Mark D. Scherz, Curator of Herpetology at the Natural History Museum Denmark and lead author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

During World War II, the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt created a state company to get foreign reserves and sought to buy a U.S. company that had concessions in Saudi Arabia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court the project is already 65% complete and argued that stopping construction would interfere with security improvements at the White House.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

The mailbox at one of his apartments read “R. D. James.”

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

KKR’s fee-related earnings jumped 37% from a year ago, and the firm raise d more than $34 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The presence of Beta Pictoris d could also help astronomers understand the unusual appearance of the system's debris disk.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Beta Pictoris d is the first directly imaged planet discovered primarily through moderate resolution spectroscopy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Fountain Valley, 25-20, 25-14, 25-16 St. Margaret’s d.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

The letter a, b, c, or d indicates a correct answer; a number indicates a wrong answer, with 1 corresponding to a, 2 corresponding to b, and so on.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Down the street at D’s Thirsty Beaver bar, Danielle Rees is doing a test run on serving breakfast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Gass said that the Sydney show definitely won’t be Tenacious D’s last.

From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2026

The study, published in the December issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adds clarity to long-standing debates about vitamin D's links to colorectal cancer and other diseases.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 30, 2025

And what makes Mickey D’s breakfast interesting, suggested CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla, is that it could be considered a “proxy for employment. You’re more likely to visit if you have somewhere to go in the morning.”

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025

The truth was, without Lynn, I probably would have gotten some D’s, I didn’t understand the point of school.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

Only eight banks got Bs, while the majority got Cs; 36 got Ds.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026

The words are thought to reference the "three Ds of insurance" - tactics used by companies to reject payment claims from customers.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026

The same four Ds applied: death, divorce, dislocation, and disaster/downsizing.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2024

Her grades fell to Ds, and she thought, “College just may not be for me.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2023

She was no longer in college, having dropped out during her third semester because of morning sickness, two Ds, and one F. Lily, she thought, would be simpler than Savannah.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley

The researchers intend to continue examining Webb's observations to refine their estimates of Beta Pictoris d's temperature, atmospheric composition, and orbit.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

A small illustration of the eponymous rat hangs in the restaurant, signed by director Brad Bird, who spent days sketching the dining room, capturing the lamps, cheese trolley and maitre d's outfit.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024

Chrostowski has changed out of his jogging gear into the maitre d’s dark suit and bow-tie.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 26, 2019

Dinner maitre d’s are gently professional, warm and welcoming.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 17, 2018

Cologne made me think of voice coaches, of maitre d’s, of old men and their unwanted embraces.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Cyclones closed the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers, the second by Ryan in the closing secon ds, that put ISU on top 49-47.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2023

Senior forward Oscar ds Silva has played well all season and was named the Pac-12 player of the week after averaging 19.8 points and 11 rebounds in three games last week.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 13, 2021

The number of ds that were added to is one less than the number of the term.

From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020

As a result, we would incorrectly conclude that ds = 0.

From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016

Moreover, ds must be unchanged when all the dx change sign.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various