a

across

Adjective

  1. All.

Origin

From Northern Middle English aw, alteration of all.

Forms

a'

Adverb Entry 2

  1. across
    • Do you have the answer for 23a?
  2. Alternative spelling of a.m. (“ante meridiem”) or am

Adverb Scotland, not comparable

  1. All.

Forms

a'

Article

  1. An unspecified example of (something); the indefinite article.
    • There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
    • He had another formidable difficulty in getting him across the river, where both horses stuck for a time in the mire, and Beatte was nearly unseated from his saddle by the force of the current and the struggles of his...
    • The young man thanked me, and took his leave with some little precipitation, after declining a glass of liquor. - 1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted...
  2. One; used before score, dozen, hundred, thousand, million, etc.
    • I've seen it happen a hundred times.
    • Everybody drinks a lot in wartime, but it seemed to me that I must have drunk enough to float a couple of battleships. - 1945, Peter Cheyney, Sinister Errand, London: Collins, published 1952, page 8:
    • You've seen it a dozen times already. - 1999, Sara Hylton, Separate Lives, London: Piatkus, →ISBN, page 93:
  3. Used in some phrases denoting quantity, such as a few, a good many, a couple, a little, a bit, etc.
    • He's a bit thick, isn't he?
    • They asked me a few questions.
    • But I was going to say, that while I was dawdling about abroad, I saw a good many talented young fellows making all sorts of sacrifices, and enduring real hardships, that they might realize their dreams. Splendid...

    1. Used before a numeral.

      • There are a few hundred orders that need to be fulfilled by tomorrow.
      • The blues were eating leisurely, swimming about and opening their great mouths, spouting and filling their enormous stomachs with intense satisfaction. They had no idea of danger. There must have been about fifteen of...
      • The impact of hidden virality can't be stopped by retroactively banning a few thousand Twitter accounts; it is an iterative, memetic phenomenon that outpaces terms of service. - 2020 July 31, Brian Friedberg, “The Dark...
  4. Used in some adverbial phrases denoting the degree or extent of an action, such as a little, a bit, a lot, etc.
    • The door was opened a little.
    • If, for example, you ask a child what he likes to do, he may say he doesn't know. However, if you watch him during free time, and note that he plays basketball a lot, you may infer that this is a high-probability...
    • The bridge was shifted a bit to the east and rebuilt, this time with the shops of money-changers along both sides. - 2009, James H. S. McGregor, Paris From the Ground Up, Cambridge, M.A.; London: Belknap Press, →ISBN,...
  5. The same; one and the same. Used in phrases such as of a kind, birds of a feather, etc.
    • We are of a mind on matters of morals.
    • They're two of a kind.
  6. Any; every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope.
    • A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
  7. Any; used with a negative to indicate not a single one.
    • It was so dark that we couldn't see a thing.
    • He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
    • No, it is impossible. My conscience would give me not a moment's peace if I let you go. I would never forgive myself. - 2001, Stephen Lawhead, The Mystic Rose Book (Celtic Crusades; III), London; […]: BCA, page 180:
  8. Used before an adjective that modifies a noun (singular or plural) delimited by a numeral.
    • The lottery jackpot is worth a staggering three hundred million dollars.
    • The holidays are a mere one week away.
  9. One; someone named; used before a person's name, suggesting that the speaker knows little about the person other than the name.
    • We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
  10. Used before an adjective modifying a person's name, typically used to emphasize that person's current condition or emotional state.
    • At Waterloo she asked George for £5 and said that she would go home by tube, and a relieved George watched her descend the Underground steps. - 1963, Robert Hancock, Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman To Be Hanged, London:...
    • "There, I think that's done it," declared a triumphant John, "we just need to try it with the bar now, where is it?" - 2016, David J. Bailey, The Storm, London: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd., →ISBN, page 147:
    • "I will continue my campaign to fight for the rights of all Rwandans," a surprised but happy Rwigara told reporters after celebrating. - 2018, “Rwandan court drops all charges against opposition figure”, in Associated...
  11. Someone or something like; similar to; used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
    • The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.
    • The man is a regular Romeo.
    • [Jules] Pécher actually sculpted a sort of Statue of Liberty for the centerpiece of the monument, but for the rest he thought it advisable to call in Van Rasbourgh, and Rodin thus became a ghost sculptor to a ghost...

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-West Germanic *ain Old English ān Middle English an Middle English a English a From Middle English a, an, from Old English ān (“one; a; lone; sole”). More at one. The "n" was gradually lost before consonants in almost all dialects by the 15th century. Cognate with Alemannic German a (“a, an”), East Franconian a (“a, an”).

Synonyms

an one

Antonyms

every the

Related

an

Derived

a few a great many

Character

  1. The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.
    • This expression is zero, for we have replaced the column of a''''s by the column of bs and hence the determinant has two columns identical. - 1917, John Wesley Young, Frank Millett Morgan, Elementary Mathematical...
    • Passmore. Capital P-a-double s-m-o-r-e. - 1926, George Kelly, Craig's Wife, Act I, page 5:
    • Note that with 18-point type, fifteen capital A's, twenty-five lowercase a's, and twelve 1's are obtained with one font. With this information, it is possible to refer to Table 10-1 which gives the number of characters...

Origin

The letter name is from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced the futhorc letter ᚪ (a) beginning in the 7th century, and partially also ᚫ (æ).

Forms

A as a's

Related

letter A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L

Derived

ae ah ai au aw ay ea eau ia oa ua

Conjunction

  1. Contraction of and.
    • By cock a pie and Mous-foot Dent bring's in, / Examples to express forbidden Sin: - 1655, William Barton, Man's Monitor, or, the Free-school of Virtue; Holding Forth the Duties Required and Sins Forbidden in the Two...
    • Thee lace ma? Chem a laced well-a-fine aready.—Zey wone word more, and chell breſh tha, chell make thy boddize pilmee. - 1746, “Exmoor Scolding: Or, a Devonſhire Dialogue:”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical...
    • 4. as if. "I'll gi ye a dunt i' the hid 'a ye dew so no more." This is equivalent to the "an if" of some of our old writers. - 1823, Edward Moor, Suffolk Words and Phrases: Or, An Attempt to Collect the Lingual...

Origin

Contraction of and.

Related

methera-a-dick tethera-a-bumfit tethera-a-dick tyan-a-bumfit tyan-a-dick yan-a-bumfit yan-a-dick

Contraction

  1. Used to express a future action; going to.
    • I'm a go see what's going on out there.
    • "Sure, Billy, I'm a run downstairs to the machine and get me a pack of bigarettes," he said, taking off with his Melody. - 2010, Todd Bridges, Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I...
    • Ain't nothin' in the house to eat and now that we has Mr. Alex staying with us a few days I'm a need to buy some groceries so yous two can have the house to yo'self 'til I get back. - 2012, Bertrand E. Brown, Sylvia's...

Origin

Contraction of gonna, itself a reduction of going to; see Etymology 8 above (“to”).

Related

Imma I'm 'onna

Interjection

  1. ah; er (sound of hesitation)
    • "We will resume yesterday's discourse, young ladies," said he, "and you shall each read a page by turns; so that Miss a—Miss Short may have an opportunity of hearing you"; and the poor girls began to spell a long dismal...

Noun Entry 9

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.
    • This piece somewhat resembles an a. On the left is a man seated on the ground, with a dog between his legs, and a large bird of prey in his hands, which appears to be biting his head. - 1816, William Young Ottley, An...
    • But with some prelude of disparagement, / Read, mouthing out his hollow oes and aes, / Deep-chested music, and to this result. - 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Epic”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […],...
    • Letters should be spelled as follows; aes, bees, cees, dees, ees, efs, gees, aitches, ies, jays, kays, els, ems, ens, oes, pees, ques, ars, esses, tees, ues, vees, ws or dubleyuz, exes, wyes, zees. - [1906, Leigh...

Forms

a's aes

Related

letter bee cee dee e ef gee aitch i jay kay el em en o pee cue ar ess tee u vee double-u ex

Derived

A-okay

Noun Entry 10

  1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter А/а.

Origin

Etymology tree Russian а (a)bor. English a Borrowed from Russian а (a).

Noun entertainment, lifestyle

  1. The fourth semiquaver (sixteenth note) of a beat.
    • The pianist played a C on the a of four.

    Coordinate Terms: e and

Origin

From the common method of counting semiquavers as "one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a" and so on.

Forms

uh

Numeral

  1. The first numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called ay and written in the Latin script.

Forms

A as a's

Particle alt of, pronunciation spelling

  1. Pronunciation spelling of to.
    • James was going with his mother to attend the ceremonies at which his oldest sister in the convent would make perpetual vows. Being asked where he was going, he answered, “I’m goin’ a see my sister make percapital...
    • The man walks toward me. “I met that asshole. He’s tryin’ a sell us a bag a bullshit.” - 2007, BK Loren, “Got Tape?”, in Barry Lopez, editor, The Future of Nature: Writing on a Human Ecology from Orion Magazine,...
    • Don’tcha try deny it, / ’Cause Hose knows you dyin’ a try it— […] Knows you out tryin’ a buy it, / But Hose only gives it free - 2012 October 23, Tom Wolfe, Back to Blood: A Novel, Large Print edition, New York, N.Y.:...

Forms

'a

Related

gonna gotta oughta tryna wanna

Particle alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”).
    • “I show a you right a here I can fuck a you.” “Is she crazy?” I asked Wyman. - 2001, Louis F. Newcomb, Car Salesman: A Legacy, iUniverse, page 91

Preposition Entry 15

  1. To do with separation; In, into.
    • torn a pieces
  2. To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by. Often occurs between two nouns, where the first noun occurs at the end of a verbal phrase.
    • I brush my teeth twice a day.
    • A Sundays - c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Patent requests for machine learning activities grew on average by 28 percent a year between 2013 and 2016, the study found. - 2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of...
  3. To do with status; In.
    • To set the people a worke. - King James Bible (II Chronicles 2:18)
  4. To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto.
    • stand a tiptoe
  5. To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing.
    • The times, they are a-changin'. - 1964, Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are a-Changin'”:
  6. To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in.
    • It was a doing. - c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • Jacob, when he was a dying - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 11:21:
  7. To do with an action/movement; To, into.
  8. To do with method; In, with.
    • Stands here a purpose. - c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published...
  9. To do with role or capacity; In.
    • a God’s name

Origin

* From Middle English a, o, from Old English a-, an, on. * Unstressed form of on.

Related

on a-

Preposition archaic, slang

  1. Of.
    • The name of John a Gaunt.
    • cloth a gold; time a day
    • What time a day is it? - c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard,...

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English a From Middle English of, with apocope of the final f and vowel reduction.

Forms

o' o

Pronoun

  1. He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative.
    • He've a got a great venture on hand, but what a [it] be he tell'th no man. - 1855, Kingsley, W. Ho!, page 120 (edition of 1889)
    • Doctors, they knaws nowt, fur a [they] says what's nawways true. - 1864, Tennyson, N. Farmer, Old Style, st. 2

    1. (obsolete outside England and Scotland dialects) He, the third-person singular nominative.

      • a’ brushes his hat o’ mornings. - 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard,...
      • Well! in a come [in he came]—KING GEORGE to town, / With doust and zweat az netmeg brown, / The hosses all in smoke; - 1795, Peter Pindar, The Royal Visit to Exeter, a Political Epistle: by John Ploughshare ......
      • A do veed amang th' lilies. - 1860, Kite, Sng. Sol., ii, 16

    2. (obsolete outside England and Scotland dialects) She, the third-person singular nominative.

      • A wanted me to go with her. - 1790, Grose, MS. add. (M.)
      • Did a do it! - 1876, Bound, Prov.
      • A's getting wambling on her pins [shaky on her legs]. - 1883, Hardy, Tover, page 124 (edition of 1895)

Origin

From Middle English a, a reduced form of he (“he”)/ha (“he”), heo (“she”)/ha (“she”), ha (“it”), and hie, hie (“they”).

Forms

'a

Symbol

  1. Distance from leading edge to aerodynamic center.
  2. specific absorption coefficient
  3. specific rotation
  4. allele (recessive)

Verb

  1. Have (auxiliary verb).
    • I'd a come, if you'd a asked.
    • So would I a done, by yonder Sunne, / If thou hadſt not come to my bed. - c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […]...
    • "Well, I reckon it did, marm, for that shot would a gone a couple a inches deeper but for my old mammy's camphor bag," answered the cheerful philosopher. - 1863 May 22 – 1863 June 26, L[ouisa] M[ay] Alcott, “A Day”, in...
  2. had (auxiliary verb).
    • I wisht you a seen 'im; fust he looked mighty gubious; then he begins ter laff. He'll git likened ter ridin' mighty briefly." - 1887 October, Octave Thanet [pseudonym; Alice French], “The Mortgage on Jeffy”, in...

Origin

From Middle English a, ha contraction of have, or haven.

Forms

'a 'a' ha ha'

Derived

coulda shoulda woulda