s

an ending used in writing to represent the possessive morpheme after most singular nouns, some plural nouns, especially those not ending in a letter or combination of letters representing an s or z sound, noun phrases, and noun substitutes, as in man's, women's, baby's, James's, witness's, (or witness'), king of England's, or anyone's.

Origin of 's

Middle English -es,Old English

Other definitions for s (4 of 19)

's²

contraction of is:She's here.

contraction of does:What's he do for a living now?

contraction of has:He's just gone.

usage note for 's

See contraction.

Other definitions for s (5 of 19)

's³

Archaic.

a contraction of God's, as in 'swounds; 'sdeath; 'sblood.

Other definitions for s (6 of 19)

's⁴

a contraction of us, as in Let's go.

usage note for 's

See contraction.

Other definitions for s (7 of 19)

's⁵

a contraction of as, as in so's to get there on time.

Other definitions for s (8 of 19)

S¹

or s

[ es ]

/ ɛs /

noun, plural S's or Ss, s's or ss.

the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

any spoken sound represented by the letter S or s, as in saw, sense, or goose.

something having the shape of an S.

a written or printed representation of the letter S or s.

a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter S or s.

Other definitions for s (9 of 19)

S²

abbreviation

satisfactory.

Baseball. sacrifice (def. 6).

Baseball. save¹ (def. 17).

Saxon.

sentence.

short.

Electricity. siemens.

signature.

single.

small.

soft.

Music. soprano.

South.

Southern.

state (highway).

Grammar. subject.

Other definitions for s (10 of 19)

S³

Symbol.

the 19th in order or in a series

(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 7 or 70.Compare Roman numerals.

second.

Biochemistry. serine.

Thermodynamics. entropy (def. 1b).

Physics. strangeness (def. 2).

Chemistry. sulfur (def. 1).

Other definitions for s (11 of 19)

-s¹

a native English suffix used in the formation of adverbs: always; betimes; needs; unawares.

Compare -ways.

Origin of -s

Middle English -es,Old English; ultimately identical with 's¹

Other definitions for s (12 of 19)

-s²

an ending marking the third person singular indicative active of verbs: walks.

Origin of -s

Middle English (north) -(e)s,Old English (north); originally ending of 2nd person singular, as in Latin and Greek; replacing Middle English, Old English -eth-eth¹

Other definitions for s (13 of 19)

-s³

an ending marking nouns as plural (boys; wolves), occurring also on nouns that have no singular (dregs; entrails; pants; scissors), or on nouns that have a singular with a different meaning (clothes; glasses; manners; thanks). The pluralizing value of -s3 is weakened or lost in a number of nouns that now often take singular agreement, as the names of games (billiards; checkers; tiddlywinks) and of diseases (measles; mumps; pox; rickets); the latter use has been extended to create informal names for a variety of involuntary conditions, physical or mental (collywobbles; d.t.'s; giggles; hots; willies). A parallel set of formations, where -s3 has no plural value, are adjectives denoting socially unacceptable or inconvenient states (bananas; bonkers; crackers; nuts; preggers; starkers); cf. -ers.

Also -es.

Origin of -s

Middle English -(e)s,Old English -as, plural nominative and accusative ending of some masculine nouns

Other definitions for s (14 of 19)

-s⁴

a suffix of hypocoristic nouns, generally proper names or forms used only in address: Babs; Fats; Suzykins; Sweetums; Toodles.

Origin of -s

⁴

Probably from the metonymic use of nouns formed with -s³, as boots or Goldilocks

Other definitions for s (15 of 19)

abbreviation

saint.

school.

second.

section.

see.

series.

shilling; shillings.

sign.

signed.

silver.

singular.

sire.

small.

society.

son.

south.

southern.

steamer.

stem.

stem of.

substantive.

Other definitions for s (16 of 19)

S.¹

abbreviation

(in prescriptions) mark; write; label.

Origin of S.

From the Latin word signa

Other definitions for s (17 of 19)

S.²

abbreviation

(in prescriptions) let it be written.

Origin of S.

From the Latin word signētur

Other definitions for s (18 of 19)

S.³

abbreviation

Fellow.

Origin of S.

From the Latin word socius

Other definitions for s (19 of 19)

S.⁴

abbreviation

Sabbath.

Saint.

Saturday.

Saxon.

(in Austria) schilling; schillings.

School.

Sea.

Senate.

September.

shilling; shillings.

Signor.

Small.

Socialist.

Society.

sol³ (def. 1).

South.

Southern.

(in Ecuador) sucre; sucres.

Sunday.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use s in a sentence

“A guy drives up in a 2008 Mercedes, brand new,” Harry S. Connelly Jr. says in the video, according to the Times.
Are Police Stealing People’s Property?|Joan Blades, Matt Kibbe|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Personal hotspots can get speeds of up to 60 Mb/s down, whereas hotel Wi-Fi can be as slow as 1.5 Mb/s,” Sesar said.
How ‘Ethical’ Hotel Chain Marriott Gouges Guests in the Name of Wi-Fi Security|Kyle Chayka|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In our headlong quest for a legally perfect society, we don’t take the time to take stock of what‘s been created so far.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The thing [North Korean government] want[s] the most is the non-release of this film,” Schiff said.
Obama Could Hit China to Punish North Korea|Shane Harris, Tim Mak|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A third cabinet member used public funds to pay in an S & M bar.
Japan’s Nasty Nazi-ish Elections|Jake Adelstein|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ajoutez cecy, s'il vous plaist, la grande difficult qu'il y a de tirer d'eux les mots mesmes qu'ils ont.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
Neantmoins le vieil Membertou, pere du malade, conceut asss l'affaire, et me promit qu'on s'arresteroit tout ce que j'en dirois.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
En effet un soir, sa femme et enfans l'abandonnerent entierement, et s'en allerent cabaner ailleurs, pensant que c'en estoit vuid.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
Mrs. S. said she was familiar with it from having heard Thomas's orchestra play it in New York.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
C'est asss demeur la maison; sortons un peu dehors, comme nous avons promis de faire, et racontons ce qui s'est pass par le pays.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various

British Dictionary definitions for s (1 of 10)

symbol for

second (of time)

British Dictionary definitions for s (2 of 10)

S

/ (ɛs) /

noun plural s's, S's or Ss

the 19th letter and 15th consonant of the modern English alphabet

a speech sound represented by this letter, usually an alveolar fricative, either voiceless, as in sit, or voiced, as in dogs

something shaped like an S
(in combination)an S-bend in a road

British Dictionary definitions for s (3 of 10)

symbol for

satisfactory

Society

small (size)

South

chem sulphur

physics

entropy
siemens
strangeness

currency

(the former) schilling
sol
(the former) sucre

abbreviation for

Sweden (international car registration)

British Dictionary definitions for s (4 of 10)

-'s

suffix

forming the possessive singular of nouns and some pronounsman's; one's

forming the possessive plural of nouns whose plurals do not end in -schildren's

forming the plural of numbers, letters, or symbols20's; p's and q's

informal contraction of is or hashe's here; John's coming; it's gone

informal contraction of us with letlet's

informal contraction of does in some questionswhere's he live?; what's he do?

Word Origin for -'s

senses 1, 2: assimilated contraction from Middle English -es, from Old English, masculine and neuter genitive singular; sense 3, equivalent to -s 1

British Dictionary definitions for s (5 of 10)

-s'

suffix

forming the possessive of plural nouns ending in the sound s or z and of some singular nounsgirls'; for goodness' sake

British Dictionary definitions for s (6 of 10)

-s¹

-es

suffix

forming the plural of most nounsboys; boxes

Word Origin for -s

from Old English -as, plural nominative and accusative ending of some masculine nouns

British Dictionary definitions for s (7 of 10)

-s²

-es

suffix

forming the third person singular present indicative tense of verbshe runs; she washes

Word Origin for -s

from Old English (northern dialect) -es, -s, originally the ending of the second person singular

British Dictionary definitions for s (8 of 10)

-s³

suffix

forming nicknames and names expressing affection or familiarityFats; Fingers; ducks

Word Origin for -s

special use of -s 1

British Dictionary definitions for s (9 of 10)

abbreviation for

see

semi-

shilling

singular

son

succeeded

British Dictionary definitions for s (10 of 10)

abbreviation for

plural SS Saint

school

Sea

Signor

Society

Word Origin for S.

Latin socius

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

Scientific definitions for s (1 of 2)

Abbreviation of second (of time), second (of an arc)

The symbol for strangeness.

Scientific definitions for s (2 of 2)

The symbol for sulfur.