pa
noun
pa
1 American
[pah, paw]
/ pɑ, pɔ /
noun
Informal.
-
pas
plural
Pa
2
American
abbreviation
Physics.
Pa
3
American
Symbol, Chemistry.
PA
4
American
abbreviation
-
Parents' Association.
-
paying agent.
-
Pennsylvania (approved especially for use with zip code).
-
physician's assistant.
-
press agent.
-
public-address system.
Pa.
5
American
abbreviation
p.a.
6
American
abbreviation
-
participial adjective.
-
per annum.
-
press agent.
P.A.
7
American
abbreviation
-
Parents' Association.
-
Insurance. particular average.
-
passenger agent.
-
post adjutant.
-
power of attorney.
-
press agent.
-
public-address system.
-
publicity agent.
-
purchasing agent.
PA
1
British
abbreviation
-
Pennsylvania
-
personal appearance
-
personal assistant
-
military Post Adjutant
-
power of attorney
-
press agent
-
Press Association
-
banking private account
-
public-address system
-
publicity agent
-
Publishers Association
-
purchasing agent
-
insurance particular average
-
(in New Zealand) probationary assistant
-
Panama (international car registration)
pa
2
British
/ pɑː /
noun
-
a Māori village or settlement
-
history a Māori defensive position and settlement on a hilltop
-
to abandon city life in favour of rural life
Pa
3
British
symbol
symbol
Pa.
4
British
abbreviation
pa
5
British
/ pɑː /
noun
pa
6
British
abbreviation
p.a.
7
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pa
Short for papa
Vocabulary lists containing pa
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:
Much of her sophomore album “Vanity” has main character energy, and Lovestory’s “Telenovela,” with its extended metaphors of Barbarella bad bitches, “tragica erotica,” and using “su lengua pa cambiar el canal” is the descriptive centerpiece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
Do you and your pa bond best over a meal or a pint?
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2023
“Trumpets,” Zárate instructed three students in the back, “make the introduction sound majestic — pa ra ra ra ra — like a king is coming!”
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Cleveland disputed some of the details of the story, and his supporters countered jeers of "Ma, ma, where's my pa?" with chants of "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha."
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2020
“I think your pa is pulling your leg. He knows you can’t find seven folks to agree in Sassafras Springs, much less seven wonderful sights to see.”
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
On Monday, he appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which was broadcasting remotely from Steelers camp in Latrobe, Pa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“It’s a perfect storm of post-pandemic burnout and a re-evaluation of one’s priorities, and also booming AI and a sense of what’s possible,” said Samir Ahmad, 39, who lives in Breinigsville, Pa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Charles and Caroline are a handsome couple, with Pa hewn in the rugged spirit immortalized by Michael Landon in the 1970s TV classic.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
With Pa being a fiddler, music played a significant role in Wilder’s work and Sonnenshine was determined to reflect that; all the songs played in Season 1 are from the books.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
That was a Wonder, because Pa wasn’t one to waste gas.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
The monarch "welcomes the opportunity to see more of the family in a personal capacity", but there will be no change in their status and the couple would still not be working royals, PA said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The PA news agency and several media outlets said Harry's family had travelled from an unspecified destination in Europe for the meeting at Highgrove, Charles's private residence in southwestern England.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
The officer had some thoughts on that: “I promise I’m a better rider than you,” the officer said over the PA system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
In Montgomery County, PA, home prices climbed 2.5% month-over-month in April, the biggest increase among the U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
“Code blue, code blue in Trauma,” blares the PA.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
The Earthquake Kids from Northridge Little League made it to the championship game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., after the destructive 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Delaware County, Pa., in suburban Philadelphia, already has taken such a step — adding prediction markets to an oath poll workers already were required to sign affirming that they have not wagered on the election.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The country’s first commercial oil well was tapped near Titusville, Pa., in 1859.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I never saw myself as a rail fan,” said Tobias, a 64-year-old semi-retiree from Wayne, Pa. But after his first sighting, he was hooked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“I don’t know. I’m going to find Pa. He will know.”
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
There's plentiful money if usa spends billions $ less p.a.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2016
And for online degree programs delivered via a self-paced, competency-based model, the marginal cost including support and advising is likely under $1,000 p.a.
From Forbes ● Jun. 10, 2015
The US gdp/capita grew 1.4 pct p.a. in the 19th century with an average inflation of zero, inflation in war-time and deflation afterwards.
From Economist ● Jul. 26, 2012
Manager cheshire east council. you will provide strategic leadership and be respo…. £55,067 - £61,098 p.a..
From The Guardian ● Mar. 16, 2010
On a recent Song trip, a flight attendant asked over the p.a. system, "Can I have your attention?"
From Time Magazine Archive
With these three factors, it’s possible to predict the likelihood of an accident, says sleep researcher Hans P.A.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2025
During a rousing rendition of the 1978 ballad “Human Highway,” a P.A. seemed to blow out, cutting off Young’s amplification entirely.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
When the two teams walked out of the tunnel, Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” played on the P.A.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
He remembers working as a writer’s P.A. on a popular sitcom and being the only Latino in the writers’ room during its final season, despite the fact that the show featured a character from Colombia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
One night at supper I tried to imagine what people in Washington, P.A., talked about at the end of the day.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
Sombert and Youskevitch rendezvous for a haunting, lamplit pas de deux.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Canada has form in Eurovision: appearing for Switzerland, Canadian then-starlet Celine Dion triumphed in 1988 singing "Ne partez pas sans moi", launching her career internationally.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
They dissect the most famous pas de deux with trenchant insight and introduce their audience to the greatest dancers, including Natalia Osipova and Roberto Bolle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
She was quick to try to clean up her faux pas, claiming she had skipped over the section because her statement was running long, but no one believed it.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2026
This isn’t the first time I’ve danced the act-two pas de deux from Swan Lake onstage as Odile, the dark and cunning daughter of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
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.
