Pronunciations (13)
-
/æ/
Pronunciation notes
- phoneme
-
/ɑː/
Pronunciation notes
- phoneme
-
/eɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- phoneme
-
/ə/
Pronunciation notes
- phoneme
-
/eɪ/
-
/ə/
Pronunciation notes
- unstressed
-
/ə/
-
/ʌ/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/ɑ/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/ə/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
- US
-
/ɔ/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/ˈʌ/
-
eɪ̯
Character
The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Usage- letter
- lowercase
- Examples
-
This expression is zero, for we have replaced the column of as by the column of bs and hence the determinant has two columns identical.
Passmore. Capital P-a-double s-m-o-r-e.
More examples (3)
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 for each letter, punctuation mark, or figure.
Across every sheet of paper were lines and lines of letters of the alphabet. A row of a's followed by a row of b's and so on, pages of them, like pages from a copy book, crudely formed as if from the hand of a young child.
In the seventh grade I admired a charismatic, witty girl who had a particular way of writing her lowercase a's. After some practice, I took to writing my lowercase a's in the same fashion.
Numeral
The first numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called ay and written in the Latin script.
Usage- lowercase
- number
Noun
The name of the Latin script letter A/a.
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
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.
But with some prelude of disparagement, / Read, mouthing out his hollow oes and aes, / Deep-chested music, and to this result.
More examples (2)
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.
St Lynas was chatting with a group of rebellious young college students one day, who decried the moral standards of the past. ¶ So St Lynas drew an 'a' on some paper, and asked them what it was. ¶ 'A' they said.
Compare Lydia's signature on some of the work orders with the warning notes. The loop through the lowercase a is similar. See what I mean?
Article
An unspecified example of (something); the indefinite article.
- Examples
-
There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
More examples (1)
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 captive.
The young man thanked me, and took his leave with some little precipitation, after declining a glass of liquor.
More examples (6)
Speaking as a servant, I am deeply indebted to you. Speaking as a man, I consider you to be a person whose head is full of maggots, and I take up my testimony against your experiment as a delusion and a snare.
With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
Hoots the Owl: Yes a, fruit, is a , any, time, food!
Anna, do you have a pen? — Yes. I have a pen in my bag. I have a (stressed) …
In retrospect, I realise, I had been unconsciously devoting a large amount of energy to negative choice, a concept I'm borrowing and adapting from sociologist Eva Illouz's 2019 treatise, The End of Love (by way of a viral Paris Review essay).
The C.I.A. infiltrated not just magazines, radio, and movies but youth organizations and movements like Abstract Expressionism; all were meant to inspire a reverence for democracy and freedom, a project that, in Walker's telling, often tips into absurdity.
One; used before score, dozen, hundred, thousand, million, etc.
- Examples
-
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.
More examples (2)
You've seen it a dozen times already.
By the time he gets onto a chair, the pristine powder snow below the lift has already been chopped up by a hundred tracks, and the line to get back up stretches the length of a football field.
Used in some phrases denoting quantity, such as a few, a good many, a couple, a little, a bit, etc.
- Examples
-
He's a bit thick, isn't he?
They asked me a few questions.
More examples (3)
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 fellows, some of them, working like heroes, poor and friendless, but so full of courage, patience and ambition, that I was ashamed of myself, and longed to give them a right good lift.
The main influence here is job tenure—the men had been at their specific jobs a good while longer than the women.
Twenty years after the movie's release, we know a lot more about the Atlantic Ocean's circulation. Instruments deployed in the ocean starting in 2004 show that the Atlantic Ocean circulation has observably slowed over the past two decades, possibly to its weakest state in almost a millennium.
Used in some phrases denoting quantity, such as a few, a good many, a couple, a little, a bit, etc. Used before a numeral.
- Examples
-
There are a few hundred orders that need to be fulfilled by tomorrow.
More examples (2)
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 them, peacefully feeding. One of them, its belly gorged probably with a few trillion plankton, seemed to be lying asleep on the surface.
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.
That was on the first day's walk. It took him until day three, after a good ten miles, to ask her out.
Used in some adverbial phrases denoting the degree or extent of an action, such as a little, a bit, a lot, etc.
- Examples
-
The door was opened a little.
More examples (1)
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 behavior, and he finds it reinforcing.
The bridge was shifted a bit to the east and rebuilt, this time with the shops of money-changers along both sides.
More examples (1)
You don't need to go cold turkey to help your health. Even reducing a little bit can be beneficial, especially if you currently drink over the recommended limits.
The same; one and the same. Used in phrases such as of a kind, birds of a feather, etc.
- Examples
-
We are of a mind on matters of morals.
They're two of a kind.
Any; every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope.
- Examples
-
A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
Any; used with a negative to indicate not a single one.
- Examples
-
It was so dark that we couldn't see a thing.
He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
More examples (3)
No, it is impossible. My conscience would give me not a moment's peace if I let you go. I would never forgive myself.
When had my own feelings become so muddled and complicated? Before I take a single step, he catches my arm, turning me to him.
My friend Cindy's husband, Michael Zahavi, a true chocoholic if there ever was one, adores this tart. In fact, when I visited their cottage up in Muskoka, Ontario one summer and brought this along as a treat, he got up in the middle of the night to nosh away at it, leaving us sleepyheads with nary a crumb the next day.
Used before an adjective that modifies a noun (singular or plural) delimited by a numeral.
- Examples
-
The lottery jackpot is worth a staggering three hundred million dollars.
The holidays are a mere one week away.
One; someone named; used before a person's name, suggesting that the speaker knows little about the person other than the name.
- Examples
-
We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
Used before an adjective modifying a person's name, typically used to emphasize that person's current condition or emotional state.
- Examples
-
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.
"There, I think that's done it," declared a triumphant John, "we just need to try it with the bar now, where is it?"
More examples (1)
"I will continue my campaign to fight for the rights of all Rwandans," a surprised but happy Rwigara told reporters after celebrating.
Someone or something like; similar to; used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
- Examples
-
The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.
The man is a regular Romeo.
More examples (3)
[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 sculptor.
Billy fancied himself as a bit of a Han Solo, but he shook his head. 'Stop being a wuss.' He grinned. 'Your go.'
For the first 5 or 6 days after the eggs hatch, the mother spends most of her time keeping the chicks warm while the father provides most of their meals. All that work may be what prompts the female to leave the family. They share feeding duties more equally during the next week or 10 days, until the young leave the nest. Producing a second batch is easier if she skips the last grueling week or two of provisioning fledglings. She can recharge her batteries by moseying off and, while on vacation, looking for a new Casanova.
Preposition
To do with separation; In, into.
- Examples
-
torn a pieces
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.
- Examples
-
I brush my teeth twice a day.
A Sundays
More examples (1)
Patent requests for machine learning activities grew on average by 28 percent a year between 2013 and 2016, the study found.
To do with status; In.
- Examples
-
To set the people a worke.
To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
-
stand a tiptoe
To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
-
The times, they are a-changin'.
To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
-
It was a doing.
Jacob, when he was a dying
To do with an action/movement; To, into.
Usage- Archaic
To do with method; In, with.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
-
Stands here a purpose.
To do with role or capacity; In.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
-
a God’s name
Verb
Have (auxiliary verb).
Usage- dialectal
- Slang
- Examples
-
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.
More examples (5)
"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.
He dropped below me, with the current, and by-and-by he come a-swinging up shore in the easy water, and he went by so close I could a reached out the gun and touched him.
Oi'd a gen im a clout, if oi'd been theer.
They live in the river bottom. Don't you know a thing? I thought you must a seen them, since they was here all winter, cutting at the woods and burning brush.
'I never told him, pleaded Liam. 'If I 'ad a done, he'd a taken the rifles, wouldn't he? Thing is, I wanted to fire a gun for real. See what it felt like. So I just borrowed it and went out on me own to have a go. But I didn't get the chance because I came across a patrol and I panicked and chucked the thing in a bin.'
Had (auxiliary verb).
Usage- dialectal
- Rare
- Slang
- Examples
-
I wisht you a seen 'im; fust he looked mighty gubious; then he begins ter laff. He'll git likened ter ridin' mighty briefly."
Pronoun
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative.
- Examples
-
He've a got a great venture on hand, but what a [it] be he tell'th no man.
Doctors, they knaws nowt, fur a [they] says what's nawways true.
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative. He, the third-person singular nominative.
- Examples
-
a’ brushes his hat o’ mornings.
Well! in a come [in he came]—KING GEORGE to town, / With doust and zweat az netmeg brown, / The hosses all in smoke;
More examples (3)
A do veed amang th' lilies.
"The amoighty's a taakin' o' you to 'issén, my friend," a said, […]
And, by your leave, for all the marvellous rich and sumptuous coat a weareth, he is very like a false jewel in a rich casing.
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative. She, the third-person singular nominative.
- Examples
-
A wanted me to go with her.
Did a do it!
More examples (1)
A's getting wambling on her pins [shaky on her legs].
Preposition
Of.
Usage- Archaic
- Slang
- Examples
-
The name of John a Gaunt.
cloth a gold; time a day
More examples (4)
What time a day is it?
It’s six a clock.
Two bottles 'a whiskey for the way
Isis rode my mug like she was on a ten-inch dick, and as soon as she nutted I tossed her ass off a me and flipped her on her back, then fucked the shit outta her cause it was payback time.
Adverb
All.
Usage- Scotland
- not-comparable
Adjective
All.
Usage- Scotland
- not-comparable
Used to express a future action; going to.
Usage- contraction
- Examples
-
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.
More examples (3)
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.
I'm a head out there now and take a look.
"The Glock 26 and the motherfucking, uh, the Hi-Point. I'm a try to get the both of them," another said.
Distance from leading edge to aerodynamic center.
specific absorption coefficient
specific rotation
allele (recessive)
Adverb
across
- Examples
-
Do you have the answer for 23a?
Noun
The name of the Cyrillic script letter А/а.
Interjection
ah; er (sound of hesitation)
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
"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 sermon delivered at Bethesda Chapel, Liverpool, on behalf of the mission for the Chickasaw Indians.
Noun
The fourth semiquaver (sixteenth note) of a beat.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
-
The pianist played a C on the a of four.
Noun
the 1st letter of the Roman alphabet
- Synonyms
- Broader terms