U
noun
the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
U
1 American
[yoo]
/ ju /
Or
u
noun
U's,
plural
Us,
plural
u's,
plural
us
plural
-
the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
-
any spoken sound represented by the letter U or u, as in music, rule, curious, put, or jug.
-
something having the shape of a U .
-
a written or printed representation of the letter U or u.
-
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter U or u.
U
2
American
[yoo]
/ ju /
pronoun
Informal.
U
3
American
[yoo]
/ ju /
adjective
Informal.
U
4
American
[oo]
/ u /
noun
U
5
American
Symbol.
-
(on a packaged product) certified as kosher by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.
-
the 21st in order or in a series.
-
Chemistry. uranium.
-
Biochemistry. uracil.
-
Thermodynamics. internal energy.
-
British. a designation for motion pictures determined as being acceptable for viewing by all age groups.
u.
6
American
abbreviation
u.
7
American
abbreviation
-
uniform.
-
unit.
-
unsatisfactory.
-
upper.
U.
8
American
abbreviation
U.
9
American
abbreviation
-
uncle.
-
uniform.
-
union.
-
unit.
-
united.
-
university.
-
unsatisfactory.
-
upper.
U
1
British
symbol
-
united
-
unionist
-
university
-
-
universal (used to describe a category of film certified as suitable for viewing by anyone)
-
( as modifier )
a U film
-
-
chem uranium
-
biochem uracil
abbreviation
adjective
U.
2
British
abbreviation
-
maths union
-
unit
-
united
-
university
-
upper
u
3
British
/ juː /
noun
-
the 21st letter and fifth vowel of the modern English alphabet
-
any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in mute, cut, hurt, sure, pull, or minus
-
-
something shaped like a U
-
( in combination )
a U-bolt
a U-turn
-
U
4
British
/ uː /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of U2
First recorded in 1840–45
Origin of U3
First recorded in 1950–55; u(pper class)
Origin of U4
First recorded in 1930–35; from Burmese ʔú, roughly “Mister, Uncle,” used for senior men and monks
Origin of u.6
From the German word und
Origin of U.8
From the German word und
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:
With a packet of biscuits in one hand and her smartphone in the other in the biscuits sucrées aisle of her local Hyper U supermarket west of Paris, Nathalie sees red.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The 21-year-old US singer, famous for hits including Drivers License and Good 4 U, was also spotted shopping at a local Marks & Spencer in November 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
Researchers describe this pattern as an inverted U shaped response.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026
In 2015, Turner paid $32.4 million for Standing Butte—then known as Triple U Ranch—a 46,000-acre ranch in South Dakota featured in commercials and movies including “Dances With Wolves.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Calder popped the U back into his pocket.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
“Great! Miss u. See u soon. <3,” she replied.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2022
“My Prayers are with u. I’ve lost 1 of the best coaches I’ve ever had.”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 8, 2021
“Tom, Harry again! Really need to speak to u. U do not need to apologize, we understand the circumstances but ‘going public’ will only make the situation worse.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2020
“U didn’t offend me but apology accepted on behalf of those that will still question u. Those perfect people out there! God is good! Stay Blessed!”
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2019
“Thought I knew u. Looks like I was wrong. One day ur gonna turn around and realize what u thru away.”
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
The bottom line is that there is too much natural gas being produced in the U. S.—and Texas in particular—and not enough pipelines to transport it.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
The deadline puts pressure on negotiators ahead of the U. S-Iran talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
The opinion then states, “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.”
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
Beam was featured in the fifth season of Last Chance U. The series profiles him and his team, the Laney Eagles, as they fend off rival teams in the northern California city.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
“When I told Daddy that Shotgun had been decorated by U. S. Grant and wounded three times at Bull Run, it brought it all back to him, and we had to come.”
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
He told her to "put 120£ in this ac… please thank u baby".
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
"Googled u after last email," she wrote in October 2011.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
"Hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?" the nine-time Grammy winner wrote in an Instagram story post.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
“But I would not recognize u in the wild without the bathrobe.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Bre said she invited u 2 to the Slam.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
The U's have been up for sale since last year, and having had two other takeover attempts fail in that time, fans are anxious for a deal to be done before the summer transfer window.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
But he defended Better U’s model, saying that it’s designed around careful screening, conservative dosing, required preparation appointments and safety protocols like blood-pressure monitoring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
“If I was to describe Big U’s role in rap, he would definitely be the godfather,” Khalifa said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
"Expectations for a flood of fresh funding into Man U's coffers for a new stadium and new players are being revised."
From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2023
The worst report card I’d ever gotten from Mountford Prep had three U’s for Unsatisfactory, and I threw that one down the garbage chute.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Appeared in the July 14, 2026, print edition as 'Mick Jagger Doesn’t Love Us Anymore'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
She made her first ever New Year's resolution, to read just one book, Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, which was released as a film starring Blake Lively in 2024.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
This was an era during which “you could just walk onto the tarmac without a ticket,” said Brendan Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
“Extreme diets: How Lindsay and Nicole got so skinny — but have they gone too far?” the honorable Us Weekly wondered.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Meaning G. Mika has a stack of Peoples and Us Weeklys under her arm.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Webster is the man definitively responsible for removing the u’s from “colour” and “honour,” for example.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
And then, every fourth January, we’re suddenly expected to say it, to spell it, to know where to place the u’s and a’s.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2017
And there are going to be a lot more u’s on the prompter.
From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2013
To simplify matters, the new rules would remove it from i's and u's.
From Time Magazine Archive
Let u's face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
He gave us dozens of hours of inventive comedy and deserves much more glory than he has yet received.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Quijada and Robinson invite us into the process of making their musical, constructing the show’s soundscape and musical score in real time by recording musical phrases into a looping station and layering in sound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
"From starting out on the late-night show to hosting the Live Lounge, we have made so many amazing memories that we'll take with us," they added.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“For us, that means treating every stock as an ownership stake in the business,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
A few students walking down the hall holding oboes turn and look at us.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
