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• s
  s

  abbreviation

  satisfactory.
• 's
  '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, (orwitness' ), king of England's, or anyone's.
• S
  S

  noun

  the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
• -s
  -s

  a native English suffix used in the formation of adverbs.
• s.
  s.

  abbreviation

  saint.
• S.
  S.

  abbreviation

  (in prescriptions) mark; write; label.
• -'s
  -'s

  suffix

  forming the possessive singular of nouns and some pronouns
• -s'
  -s'

  suffix

  forming the possessive of plural nouns ending in the sound s or z and of some singular nouns

s

¹ American  

abbreviation

1. satisfactory.

2. signature.

3. small.

4. soft.

5. south.

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s ² American  

Symbol.

1. second.

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's ³ American  

1. 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, (orwitness' ), king of England's, or anyone's.

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's ⁴ American  

1. contraction of is:

   She's here.

2. contraction of does:

   What's he do for a living now?

3. contraction of has:

   He's just gone.

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's ⁵ American  

Archaic.

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

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's ⁶ American  

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

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's ⁷ American  

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

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S ⁸ American  

[es] / ɛs /

Or s

noun

• S's,
  plural
• Ss,
  plural
• s's,
  plural
• ss
  plural

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

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

3. something having the shape of an S .

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

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

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S ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. satisfactory.

2. Baseball. sacrifice.

3. Baseball. save.

4. Saxon.

5. sentence.

6. short.

7. Electricity. siemens.

8. signature.

9. single.

10. small.

11. soft.

12. Music. soprano.

13. South.

14. Southern.

15. state (highway).

16. Grammar. subject.

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S ¹⁰ American  

Symbol.

1. the 19th in order or in a series

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

3. second.

4. Biochemistry. serine.

5. Thermodynamics. entropy.

6. Physics. strangeness.

7. Chemistry. sulfur.

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-s ¹¹ American  

1. a native English suffix used in the formation of adverbs.

   always; betimes; needs; unawares.

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-s ¹² American  

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

   walks.

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-s ¹³ American  

1. 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.

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-s ¹⁴ American  

1. a suffix of hypocoristic nouns, generally proper names or forms used only in address.

   Babs; Fats; Suzykins; Sweetums; Toodles.

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s. ¹⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. saint.

2. school.

3. second.

4. section.

5. see.

6. series.

7. shilling; shillings.

8. sign.

9. signed.

10. silver.

11. singular.

12. sire.

13. small.

14. society.

15. son.

16. south.

17. southern.

18. steamer.

19. stem.

20. stem of.

21. substantive.

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S. ¹⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. (in prescriptions) mark; write; label.

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S. ¹⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. (in prescriptions) let it be written.

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S. ¹⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. Fellow.

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S. ¹⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. Sabbath.

2. Saint.

3. Saturday.

4. Saxon.

5. (in Austria) schilling; schillings.

6. School.

7. Sea.

8. Senate.

9. September.

10. shilling; shillings.

11. Signor.

12. Small.

13. Socialist.

14. Society.

15. sol.

16. South.

17. Southern.

18. (in Ecuador) sucre; sucres.

19. Sunday.

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S ¹ British  

symbol

1. satisfactory

2. Society

3. small (size)

4. South

5. chem sulphur

6. physics

   1. entropy

   2. siemens

   3. strangeness

7. currency

   1. (the former) schilling

   2. sol

   3. (the former) sucre

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abbreviation

1. Sweden (international car registration)

-'s ² British  

suffix

1. forming the possessive singular of nouns and some pronouns

   man's

   one's

2. forming the possessive plural of nouns whose plurals do not end in -s

   children's

3. forming the plural of numbers, letters, or symbols

   20's

   p's and q's

4. informal contraction of is or has

   he's here

   John's coming

   it's gone

5. informal contraction of us with let

   let's

6. informal contraction of does in some questions

   where's he live?

   what's he do?

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s. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. see

2. semi-

3. shilling

4. singular

5. son

6. succeeded

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S. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Saint

2. school

3. Sea

4. Signor

5. Society

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s ⁵ British  

/ ɛs /

noun

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

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

3. 1. something shaped like an S

   2. ( in combination )

      an S-bend in a road

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-s ⁶ British  

suffix

1. forming the plural of most nouns

   boys

   boxes

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-s ⁷ British  

suffix

1. forming the third person singular present indicative tense of verbs

   he runs

   she washes

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-s ⁸ British  

suffix

1. forming nicknames and names expressing affection or familiarity

   Fats

   Fingers

   ducks

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-s' ⁹ British  

suffix

1. forming the possessive of plural nouns ending in the sound s or z and of some singular nouns

   girls'

   for goodness' sake

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s ¹⁰ British  

symbol

1. second (of time)

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Usage

See contraction.

See contraction.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• S's
  plural
• Ss
  plural
• s's
  plural
• ss
  plural

Etymology

Origin of 's³

Middle English -es, Old English

Origin of -s¹¹

Middle English -es, Old English; ultimately identical with 's ¹

Origin of -s¹²

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 -eth ¹

Origin of -s¹³

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

Origin of -s¹⁴

Probably from the metonymic use of nouns formed with -s ³, as boots or Goldilocks

Origin of S.¹⁶

From the Latin word signa

Origin of S.¹⁷

From the Latin word signētur

Origin of S.¹⁸

From the Latin word socius

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

s 's S -s s. S. -'s S's Ss s's ss

The message being sent by the market was clear: It’ s becoming increasingly obvious that there’s no easy fix for Washington’s persistent deficits.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

“You have some tough decision s to make,” Epstein messaged her in November when she didn’t get a reply from Gates on her proposal, pressing her to use a stronger approach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

Not everyone agrees on the benefits of “Fedspeak,” a phrase popularized during former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan’ s term.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

At the same time, oxygen isotope analysis of fossil tooth enamel revealed that the pygmy elephants depended heavily on river water that became harder to find s conditions grew drier.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026

And the r after the s, that’s one you have to roll on your tongue, like a cat’s purr.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

The prime minister ’s approach has broad support from the Canadian public and his political opponents, but it isn’t without risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Gov. Shin Hyun-song ’s remarks will likely reinforce market expectations that the central bank will resume tightening as soon as next month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Anthony 's 66th-minute equaliser appeared to have earned Burnley a point and increased the pressure on under-fire boss Amorim - but Anthony turned from hero to villain when he brought down Amad.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025

He agreed with Jurors 9 and 11, arguing No.5 ‘s assertions were “not coming from what we heard.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025

Say, my spirit, How fares the king and ’s followers?

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Some production cars, including Tesla’s performance Model S sedan, can do it under two seconds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Earlier this year, Tesla discontinued the Model S and Model X vehicles.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar praised the pilot's "extraordinary courage and remarkable presence of mind, even in the face of grave danger".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some people—including former President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich—use closely held S corporations to avoid the tax on some of their income.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“On three,” said Harry, looking back down at the locket and narrowing his eyes, concentrating on the letter S, imagining a serpent, while the contents of the locket rattled like a trapped cockroach.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

I am struck by how busy the the waiting room -s, with several patients of varying ages and ethnicity willing to take part.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2023

However, some English dialects omit the -s ending for singular verbs or use a singular verb with a plural subject: The man ask for help.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

Poets, Poetasters, Poeticules Sirs: In re poet, -s, -asters, -icules under Books in the issue of Dec. 26, my curiosity will allow me no peace.

From Time Magazine Archive

In none of these words is the -s radical, and in none is it limited to the singular number.

From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

Beyond the words derived from these five languages, none form their plural other than after the English method, i.e., in -s, as waltzes, from the German word waltz.

From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

Lowe’s Co s. started reopening some of its Texas stores Monday, although 26 remained closed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2017

Before Getty, she was finance chief for McCann Worldgroup, a subsidiary of Interpublic Group of Co s., a publicly traded advertising company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2017

Ms. Ganim wrote: "There are unanswered? s. price of paper, which days will publish, no. of positions, organization mode."

From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2012

This makes the income tax on this class of income 4 s. instead of 4/6d.

From Time Magazine Archive

“I heard ... it was on the new s. I just wanted ... is it him? Have they arrested him?”

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

“We were wrong,” said a team of Morgan Stanley currency strategists led by David S. Adams.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

"A tropical cyclone has to stand up straight before it can intensify," said Michael S. Fischer, the lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Rosenstiel School.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

This is no secret to my forbearing friends who slouched in theater seats next to me during, say, every Paul W. S. Anderson-directed disaster in the “Resident Evil” series.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

Skywalker Grill is located atop the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art at One Lucas Plaza, 3800 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, and is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.;

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Then Michael S. gave Lucy one of those Michael S. looks, and Lucy changed her vote.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

I. and II. of the heavily illustrated 'Adventures of David Balfour' at 7s. 6d. each, sold separately. -'s letter was vastly sly and dry and shy.

From Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson

I'm glad to think I owe you the review that pleased me best of all the reviews I ever had; the one I liked best before that was -'s on the ARABIANS.

From Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

He was silent, and the corners of his mouth were drawn down just like -’s at an evening party.

From Letters from the Cape by Lady Lucie Duff Gordon

In later scenes, M has died and S’s main conversation partner is an artificial-intelligence voice agent that was trained on M’s writing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

She says the close-knit trio, who dubbed themselves the Three S's, called them "happy Fridays" as it meant another week of work and school was over.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025

He focused on what he called the three S’s: “Speed, story and spectacle.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023

“There are four S’s when it comes to heat exposure,” Levy says.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 5, 2023

She rolls her R’s, draws out her S’s.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Ss and Zs were challenges for his reconstructed tongue.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2024

We built more Series Xs than we did Series Ss.

From The Verge ● Nov. 24, 2020

They originally planned to marry on May 24 at the Ss.

From New York Times ● Jun. 26, 2020

The Model 3 will be built alongside the Ss and Xs in Tesla's huge California factory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2016

Crenshaw’s tail rose and fell, making lazy Ss in the air.

From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate

Add 160s to get the s’s to the right.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

"They were Kentucky guys with beautiful, perfect-pitch harmonies and great diction. All those vowels and consonants, those s's and t's, every one of them killed me," he said.

From Reuters ● Jan. 4, 2014

It’s thin and high-pitched, with elongated vowels and extra-sibilant s’s — the voice of a crooner more than a sportscaster.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2012

The President-Elect pondered s's and c's, and answered: "D-e-s-s-i-c-a-t-e."

From Time Magazine Archive

Almost immediately, on a shortwave band, they can hear someone talking in a strange language full of zs and s’s.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

She ultimately settled down with Lisa Hintelmann, a former magazine editor who ss the director of talent and entertainment partnerships at Audible.

From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2017

Until then, they are ss screening phone calls and keeping the television turned off.

From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2017

M ss ng P eces has nine employees, and Kuschnir expects they all would have voted even without a day off to do it.

From Inc ● Nov. 2, 2012

He demonstrated this by making an odd whistling noise, which sounded something like "s, s, ss, ss, s".

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2011

“Let’s see, where were we?” ss “Harry was about to use his cloak.”

From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord