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• U
  U

  noun

  the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
• u.
  u.

  abbreviation

  and.
• U.
  U.

  abbreviation

  and.
• u
  u

  noun

  the 21st letter and fifth vowel of the modern English alphabet

U

¹ American  

[yoo] / ju /

Or u

noun

• U's,
  plural
• Us,
  plural
• u's,
  plural
• us
  plural

1. the 21st letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter U or u, as in music, rule, curious, put, or jug.

3. something having the shape of a U .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter U or u.

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

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U ² American  

[yoo] / ju /

pronoun

Informal.

1. you.

   Shoes Fixed While U Wait.

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U ³ American  

[yoo] / ju /

adjective

Informal.

1. characteristic of or appropriate to the upper class, especially of Great Britain.

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U ⁴ American  

[oo] / u /

noun

1. a Burmese title of respect applicable to a man: used before the proper name.

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U ⁵ American  

Symbol.

1. (on a packaged product) certified as kosher by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

2. the 21st in order or in a series.

3. Chemistry. uranium.

4. Biochemistry. uracil.

5. Thermodynamics. internal energy.

6. British. a designation for motion pictures determined as being acceptable for viewing by all age groups.

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u. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. and.

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u. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. uniform.

2. unit.

3. unsatisfactory.

4. upper.

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U. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. and.

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U. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. uncle.

2. uniform.

3. union.

4. unit.

5. united.

6. university.

7. unsatisfactory.

8. upper.

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U ¹ British  

symbol

1. united

2. unionist

3. university

4. 1. universal (used to describe a category of film certified as suitable for viewing by anyone)

   2. ( as modifier )

      a U film

5. chem uranium

6. biochem uracil

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abbreviation

1. text messaging you

adjective

1. old-fashioned (esp of language habits) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper class Compare non-U

U. ² British  

abbreviation

1. maths union

2. unit

3. united

4. university

5. upper

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u ³ British  

/ juː /

noun

1. the 21st letter and fifth vowel of the modern English alphabet

2. any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in mute, cut, hurt, sure, pull, or minus

3. 1. something shaped like a U

   2. ( in combination )

      a U-bolt

      a U-turn

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U ⁴ British  

/ uː /

noun

1. a Burmese title of respect for men, equivalent to Mr

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• U's
  plural
• Us
  plural
• u's
  plural
• us
  plural

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

See Examples For:

U u. U. u U's Us u's us

Some juicy wordplay: How many words can you make with the letters N, U, E, P, G, and R?

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

Researchers describe this pattern as an inverted U shaped response.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

The album is executive produced and written by Grande and Ilya Salmanzadeh, an Iranian Swedish producer who worked on Grande’s albums “Sweetener,” “Thank U, Next” and “Eternal Sunshine.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

The only other object in the cage was a steel bar in the shape of an upside-down U, cemented into the pavement like a bike rack.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

“Great! Miss u. See u soon. <3,” she replied.

From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2022

"But reading all the positive messages from u guys is makin me cry tnight. Thank u. So grateful for the support & love. U have no idea how much it's helping."

From Fox News ● Sep. 18, 2021

“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

“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 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

“We categorically reject any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war,” a U. A.E official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

—And in the frosty pupils of his guest, Dr. Susan Calvin of U. S. Robots & Mechanical Men Corporation.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Reacting to the trailblazing astronauts vibing to their song, the band said on Instagram: "Omg... I love u guys."

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026

“I need your help and u r powerful strong man.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

“James u were the best. So kind, so caring, so thoughtful, so talented, great father, and just an absolute inspiration of a human being,” Beck wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 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

“Let’s count cars,” I suggest. u ml y n 1 here s one.

From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord

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

It is also the most significant single gift ever made to a university in Washington state and the largest gift of any kind in Seattle U’s 133-year history, the university said.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

U's manager Danny Cowley said how much he was looking forward to putting points on the board this week, and his players seem in the mood to oblige.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2024

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

Mehrabian recalled seeing acts like Tale Of Us and Solomun at Lot 613 in their early days.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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

Us Weekly also reported, citing an unnamed insider, that guests were told the theme was "whimsical".

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Us two meaningless kids with some meaningless plan, and how if you got right down to it absolutely nothing we did or planned to do even mattered.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

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

“So for us to be able to be down here, open it up for them, I don’t know how many there were here, but there were two flag football teams here as well.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek said Newcastle want to "show the opponents that they will have a hard time against us", while defender Malick Thiaw has spoken about the intensity under Jaissle being "really high".

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

“He was telling us to get him out, and we provided support.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Presidents rightly expect more security than the rest of us, but that typically comes with greater scrutiny of their locations and activities too.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

"I think you have been shown that the subsequent history and progress of the case only warrant us in saying that physically, the recovery was quite complete," says Dr. Harlow.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman