# a

Pronunciation: say "UH" /ə/

## Article

1. The indefinite article, used before a noun to refer to one example of something without saying which one.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to talk about one of something, without saying which one.
   - _There's a woman at the front desk asking for you._
   - _After the storm, a fallen tree blocked the road._
2. Used in set phrases that express an amount or degree, such as a few, a couple, a good many, a little, a bit and a lot, including before numbers, as in a few hundred.
   - Simple: Used in phrases about how much or how many, like a few, a couple, a little, a bit and a lot.
   - _We waited a couple of hours before the doctor came in._
   - _A good many voters stayed home because of the rain._
4. Used before an adjective describing a noun that is counted by a number, whether the noun is singular or plural.
   - Simple: Used before a describing word that comes before a number and a noun, as in a full two weeks.
   - _The company lost a whopping two billion dollars last year._
   - _The winner crossed the line a mere three seconds ahead of the runner-up._
5. Used to mean one before number words such as score, dozen, hundred, thousand and million.
   - Simple: Used to mean one before words like dozen, hundred, or million.
   - _I've told you a thousand times to lock the back door._
   - _The renovation cost the city nearly a million dollars._
6. Used with a negative to mean any, so that the phrase signals not a single one.
   - Simple: Used with words like not or never to mean not even one.
   - _Not a single person offered to help._
   - _He hasn't said a word to me since the argument._
10. Used to mean any or every before a noun that has been modified to narrow what it refers to.
   - Simple: Used to mean any or every, when other words tell which kind of person or thing.
   - _A driver who ignores the speed limit puts everyone on the road at risk._
   - _The law protects a tenant who reports unsafe living conditions._
11. Used before a proper noun to mean someone or something like it, turning the name into an example of a type.
   - Simple: Used before a name to mean someone or something like that person or place.
   - _It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to see who ate the cake._
   - _Her uncle fancies himself a Casanova, but nobody falls for his lines._
12. Used before a person's name to mean someone with that name, suggesting the speaker knows little about the person beyond it.
   - Simple: Used before a person's name when you know little else about them.
   - _The complaint was signed by a Robert Pike of Denver._
   - _Police are looking for a Daniel Reyes, who was last seen near the station._
16. Used before an adjective and a person's name, typically to stress that person's condition or emotional state at the moment.
   - Simple: Used before a word like happy or tired and a person's name, to show how they feel right then.
   - _A visibly shaken Mayor Collins spoke to reporters outside the courthouse._
   - _The judge read the verdict, and a tearful Tom hugged his lawyer._
17. The same, or one and the same, in set phrases such as of a kind and birds of a feather.
   - Simple: The same, used in a few fixed phrases like two of a kind.
   - _The board members were of a mind on the merger and voted quickly._
   - _Those two con artists are birds of a feather, always chasing the next easy mark._

## Preposition

3. Used between a price or amount and a unit of measure or item to state a rate, meaning for each: five dollars a pound.
   - Simple: Used between a price or amount and a unit to mean for each one, as in five dollars a pound.
   - _Gas was selling for nearly five dollars a gallon last summer._
   - _Tickets for the gala are eighty dollars a person, dinner included._
7. Used with a word for a period of time to mean each, per, in, on or by, often between two nouns, as in 28 percent a year.
   - Simple: Used before a word for a time period to mean each or every, as in twice a day.
   - _Sales grew by about 15 percent a year over the last decade._
   - _The ferry runs four times a day in summer._
23. Used before a verb ending in -ing to mean engaged in the action the verb names. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Used before a word ending in -ing to mean in the middle of doing it.
   - _Once word of the lottery win got out, distant relatives came a-calling._
   - _By midnight the whole town was a-buzzing with the news._

## Character

Pronunciation: say "AY" /eɪ/

8. The first letter of the English alphabet, written A as a capital and a in lowercase.
   - Simple: The first letter of the English alphabet, written A or a.
   - _In cursive, the lowercase a joins smoothly to the letter after it._
   - _Typesetters needed far more lowercase a's than capital Q's._

## Symbol · A

Pronunciation: say "AY" /eɪ/

9. The highest grade or rank on a scale that uses letters, especially the top grade given for schoolwork.
   - Simple: The best mark on a scale that uses letters, especially the top grade for school work.
   - _Only three students earned an A in organic chemistry this semester._
   - _Her report card was all A's except for one B in Spanish._
14. The note a major sixth above C, the sixth note of the C major scale; the A above middle C, tuned to 440 Hz, is the standard tuning pitch.
   - Simple: The sixth note in the C major scale. Orchestras often tune their instruments to it.
   - _Before the concert, the oboe sounded an A for the orchestra to tune to._
   - _The choir director played an A on the piano to give the altos their starting note._
15. The blood type in the ABO system whose red cells carry the A antigen but not the B antigen; people with it can be given red cells from type A or type O donors.
   - Simple: A blood type with the A marker, but not the B marker, on its red blood cells.
   - _Her test came back showing she is A positive._
   - _Because he is type A, the patient could safely receive O blood._

## Noun

13. The name of the letter written A or a in the Latin script. (pronounced: say "AY" /eɪ/)
   - Simple: The name of the letter A or a.
   - _The agent read my booking code back as bee, a, seven, four._
   - _In the spelling bee, Mia started with es, ee, pee, a, then froze._

## Noun · A

18. Short for ace: the playing card marked with a single symbol, which ranks highest in most card games. (pronounced: say "AY" /eɪ/)
   - Simple: Short for ace: the playing card with one symbol on it, often the highest card.
   - _In the bridge column, South holds the A and K of spades._
   - _She went all in with A K suited and lost to pocket sevens._
20. Short for answer: used to mark the reply to a question, especially in Q and A. (pronounced: say "AY" /eɪ/)
   - Simple: Short for answer: used to mark a reply, as in Q and A.
   - _Q: Can I bring my dog? A: Only service animals are allowed inside._
   - _The senator stayed for an hour of Q and A with students._
22. Symbol for the ampere, the unit of electric current in the International System of Units.
   - Simple: The symbol for ampere, the unit used to measure electric current.
   - _The circuit breaker trips whenever the load exceeds 20 A._
   - _Engineers measured currents of up to 400 A in the welding cable._
24. Short for adult: a film rating marking a movie as meant for adult audiences. (pronounced: say "AY" /eɪ/)
   - Simple: Short for adult: a movie rating for films meant for grown-ups.
   - _The censors gave the thriller an A certificate._
   - _The theater checked IDs at the door because the film carried an A rating._
25. Short for asexual: used as a label for a person who feels little or no sexual attraction to others. (pronounced: say "AY" /eɪ/)
   - Simple: Short for asexual: a word for a person who feels little or no sexual attraction to anyone.

## Adverb

Pronunciation: say "AY" /eɪ/

19. Alternative spelling of a.m.: between midnight and noon, written straight after a clock time, chiefly in the US. *(US)* — Alternative spelling of a.m. (“ante meridiem”) or am
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of a.m.: in the morning, put after a time, mostly in the US.

## Numeral

Pronunciation: say "AY" /eɪ/

21. The ordinal number first, represented by the letter a. — The ordinal number first, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
   - Simple: Means first, shown by the letter a. It labels the first thing in a list that uses letters.
   - _Under clause a of the lease, the tenant pays all utilities._
   - _Item a on the checklist is to shut off the gas._

## Particle

26. Pronunciation spelling of to: the word to as it sounds when said quickly and weakly, especially after a verb like going or got. — Pronunciation spelling of to.
   - Simple: Pronunciation spelling of to: how to can sound in fast, casual speech.
   - _“I been meanin' a call you,” he said, leaning on the fence._
   - _“Somebody's got a do somethin' about that dog,” she muttered._

## Contraction

27. Short form of going to, used to express a future action. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: Means going to, used to talk about what you will do.
   - _Soon as this rain stops, I'm a walk to the store._
   - _I'm a tell you straight up: that car ain't worth the money._

## Other meanings

- (preposition) In or into pieces or parts, used of something being split or divided, as in torn a-two.
- (preposition) In a given state or condition, as in a-bed for in bed.
- (preposition) Showing where something is or which way it is headed, as in a-shore or a-field.
- (preposition) Used before a verb ending in -ing with a passive sense, meaning while being done, as in the house was a-building.
- (preposition) Expressing motion toward a place or entry into a state or activity.
- (preposition) Indicating the means or manner by which something is done.
- (preposition) In, when used of the role or position in which someone does something.
- (verb) A reduced, unstressed form of have used as a helping verb in casual or regional speech, as in should a known.
- (verb) A reduced, unstressed form of had used as a helping verb in regional speech, as in if I a known.
- (pronoun) A regional or old pronoun used as the subject for a third person or for several people, standing for he, she or they.
- (pronoun) A regional or old form of he, used as the subject of a sentence.
- (pronoun) A regional or old form of she, used as the subject of a sentence.
- (preposition) A reduced spoken form of the word "of", as in a cup a tea.
- (adverb) Scottish form of all, meaning wholly or completely.
- (adjective) Scottish form of all, meaning the whole of or every one of.
- (conjunction) A shortened spoken form of and, heard in quick or casual speech.
- (symbol) A symbol for how far a wing's aerodynamic center lies behind its leading edge.
- (symbol) A symbol for the specific absorption coefficient, which measures how strongly a substance takes up light per unit of concentration and path length.
- (symbol) A symbol for specific rotation, the angle by which a substance turns polarized light under standard conditions.
- (symbol) Lowercase symbol for the recessive form of a gene in genetics notation.
- (adverb) An abbreviation for across, used in numbering crossword clues, as in 12a.
- (particle) A meaningless extra syllable inserted into song lyrics or verse to fit the beat or meter.
- (noun) The English name for А or а, the first letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.
- (interjection) A sound made while hesitating or pausing to think, much like uh.
- (noun) In counting rhythms aloud, the syllable for the last sixteenth note of each beat, as in one-e-and-a.
- (symbol) A symbol for the mass number, the total count of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus.
- (symbol) In traditional logic, the letter for a universal affirmative statement, one of the form all S are P.
- (symbol) The letter once burned into the skin, or sewn onto the clothes, of someone guilty of adultery as a public mark of shame.
- (symbol) Capital symbol for the dominant form of a gene in genetics notation.
- (noun) Abbreviation for acre, a unit of land area equal to 43,560 square feet.
- (noun) Symbol for an ammeter, a device that measures electric current, in circuit diagrams.
- (noun) Symbol for the angstrom, a unit of length equal to one ten-billionth of a meter.
- (noun) Abbreviation for an assist in sports statistics, such as in hockey or basketball scoring.
- (noun) Short for arsehole, a rude word for the anus or for a nasty, contemptible person.
- (noun) Short for atom, mainly in compounds such as A-bomb.
- (adjective) Short for atomic, as in A-bomb for atomic bomb.

## Origin

**Meanings 8, 13, 21** — The letter name comes from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. From the 7th century, the Latin letter replaced the runic (futhorc) letter ᚪ (a) in Old English writing, and partly also ᚫ (æ).
**Meanings 18, 20, 22, 24–25** — An abbreviation or symbol: in these uses A stands for a word or name that begins with it, such as ace, adult, answer, asexual, ampere or A.M.
**Meanings 1–2, 4–6, 10–12, 16–17** — From Middle English a, an, from Old English ān ("one"). The n was gradually dropped before consonant sounds, in almost all dialects by the 15th century.
**Meanings 9, 14–15** — The article comes from Old English ān (“one”), which wore down to an and then, before consonant sounds, to a. The grade, rank and music senses come from A's place as the first letter, and the blood type is named after the A antigen.
**Meanings 3, 7, 23** — It is on said without stress. Old English had a-, an, on, which turned into Middle English a or o.
**Meaning 27** — A contraction of gonna, which is itself a reduced form of going to.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/a (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).