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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

A delicious word salad: How many words can you create with the letters Y, B, O, F, U, and N?

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Anderson, a professor of nutritional sciences at U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, says the evidence from human research has not always matched those concerns.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 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

As news of Tree’s death circulated, numerous music stars paid tribute, including “Buy U a Drank” hitmaker T-Pain, who shared that he and Tree had connected before the singer’s sudden death.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

“In how many ways does the U come apart?” he wrote a fellow physicist.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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

From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2022

"Thank you. Love u. Showtime!" the message read.

From Fox News ● Jan. 10, 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

“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 new 50% tariff was set to cover $20 billion worth of Canadian goods—about 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the U. S.—ranging from hockey sticks and electronics to plastics and building materials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

On Saturday, he said that starting Feb. 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U. K., the Netherlands, and Finland will be charged a 10% tariff on goods sent to the U.S.

From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 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

Burd also is a professor of nutritional sciences and is affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025

He worked at a record store and was going to U. of D. Law School, nights.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

“You promissed me, u gave me the hope, I believed u,” wrote the woman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

After the subsequent death of Alex Pretti, she posted a selfie with the caption: "Hey my fellow celebrities, u gonna speak up?"

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 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

I hope u can 4give me Hope we can b friends agen.

From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio

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 was quite bizarre," said former U's striker Basham.

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2024

"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

It’s Bigger Than Us is a South Los Angeles-based nonprofit offering educational programs, community health resources and crisis response to youth, families and neighborhoods in need.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

In 2015, when he gave a talk on “How Dogs Make Us Human,” answers had begun to form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 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

Some fans are curious to see whether her one-time bestie actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into a bitter legal battle with Lively's It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will be invited.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

“The ease. Us, the children...I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.”

From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler

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 there are going to be a lot more u’s on the prompter.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2013

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

Mother and son shared a strong sense that certain colors and certain letters of the alphabet are related—p was an unripe apple green, for instance; y's and u's had a brassy "olive sheen."

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

“Though we were told over and over when we were in the Soviet Union that the refuseniks wanted us there, indeed needed us there, I never fully understood the consequences until we got this news.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

For us, Cuenca checks a lot of boxes, but the lack of an international airport makes travel long and exhausting.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

“To see us now, it’s crazy,” Freeman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Meal prep often asks us to make an absurdly confident prediction about our future appetites.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

The guy next to us looks inside our car.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold