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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

Yet she eventually found success writing songs for her friend Ariana Grande — chart-topping hits like “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings” that set up Monét for a breakthrough as a performer with “Jaguar II.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Garces Perez’s attorneys hope to secure him a U visa, granted to crime victims, so he can remain in the country to assist in the investigation, according to court filings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

U Min Zin, the director at a think tank focused on Myanmar, was arrested on 3 June after travelling to the Chinese city of Kunming for an academic conference.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The version of SPH used in the study was developed at the U of A and the University of Bern in Switzerland.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

“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

When the instructions are copied into RNA, the letter T is replaced by U. Consequently, the corresponding stop codons in RNA are written as UAA, UAG, and UGA.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

By contrast, three countries with significantly smaller debt-to-GDP ratios than the U. S.—Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada—all saw smaller jumps in sovereign yields.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Its population of Torrey pine trees is one of just two spots in the U. S. where that species is found.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

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

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

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Shortly after Khalife absconded from prison, at around 20:41 BST, Khan messaged his then-girlfriend Chowdhury's bank details and told her to "put 120£ in this ac… please thank u baby".

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

“Buy tickets rn,” he said, “or u might miss ur chance to see me perform live bruh!”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 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 it doesn’t matter, I will utter those few words I still remember: La illaha il Allah, Muhammad u rasul ullah.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

The U's kick-off their League One campaign on Saturday when they host Wigan at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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

Friday's episode saw the the Traitors at it again, murdering Last of Us actor Bella Ramsey, before the faithfuls did their dirty work for them by killing another of their own, Julie Hesmondhalgh.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

The Last of Us and Game of Thrones star Bella Ramsay, a key player in the task, had grabbed a captain's hat from the boat.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Indeed, the listing came as reports emerged about the couple’s dedication to their future together, with a source telling Us Weekly that they are “very serious and committed to each other.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Macklemore, known for hits including "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us," has long vocally supported Palestinians.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

The next thing he did was to throw away Us sword and rush straight into the pavilion.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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

Or ‘you are sooo ugly’ — but with 10 u’s, 10 g’s, 10 l’s, like they’re all screaming it at someone.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2010

To simplify matters, the new rules would remove it from i's and u's.

From Time Magazine Archive

No mistaking her u's for n’s or her is for e's.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

“They kept us in games when we weren’t scoring. Not surprised.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

“All of us together are so close. We root each other on, we help each other throughout the week.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

"At the end of the day, as artists, we speak for the culture and we speak for the people that listen to us," she added.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

They promised us the future, and now they want us terrified of it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

I had to tell her once she started living with us.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold