a
- noun
- /eɪ/
- Was that an "e" or an "a" or an "o"?
Examples
-
Say company "a" is a hammer.
-
Contract dated June 8, 1925 paragraph 34, subdivision letter 'A': 'The party of the first part'...
-
My question is, what would you say to a young female photographer?
-
Scale bar in panel A represents 2 mm; scale bars in panels B-E represent 500 m.
Academic text (2014) -
As an example, one pull (the letter "O") refers to "OK," two pulls (the letter "A") refer to "Advance," and so on.
Academic text (1994) -
The teacher pointed to the letter a on the board.
-
In the word 'apple', the first letter is a.
-
Please write the letter a in lowercase.
Synonyms
The first letter of the English alphabet
Idioms
- Informal
Stop what you are doing for the evening, usually to go to bed or go home
Compounds
A large amount of money that lets you buy expensive things or do big projects
Small group of the most famous or important people in an area, for example film and fashion
- Specialized
A substance in food that helps you see at night, keeps skin healthy, and helps the body fight infections
- UK
An advanced school exam taken after two years of study, usually at age 18 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
- Offensive
A very rude name people use to show strong anger or dislike toward someone
A skirt or dress that is tight at the top and becomes wider towards the bottom like the letter A
- Jargon
A boxing tactic of pretending to be weak to tire an opponent and outsmart them by appearing passive
- Specialized
A liver infection caused by a virus that spreads through contaminated food or water, usually mild
- Literature
A note put in a bottle and thrown into the sea to be found later
- Slur
Feeling proud to come from the countryside and the working class in the United States
- Offensive
A person who has a very strong interest in sex that people think is too much
- Specialized
A green pigment in plants, algae, and some bacteria that absorbs light to help make food
- Specialized
An antibody mainly in the linings of the gut and airways that helps protect them from infection
Playing a game of crossing pretend roads and obstacles like the video game Frogger
- Specialized
A medicine made from germs that relaxes muscles to treat muscle tightness and reduce wrinkles
- Offensive
A man who keeps helping women in a way that is too much and makes him seem foolish and self-important
- Slur
An insulting slang phrase for a person who lives as a woman but has male body parts
- Specialized
A printer that prints one letter or number at a time instead of a whole line
- Archaic
A rude gesture showing no respect by putting a thumb on the nose and wiggling the fingers
- Specialized
A small chemical in cells that helps make and break down fats, sugars, and parts of proteins
- Jargon
Removal of something that annoys or harms people, ordered by a court
- Specialized
An enzyme in the liver that helps make cholesterol
Surface Forms
Etymology
The letter a comes from a very old sign called aleph, which meant 'ox' and looked like an ox's head. That sign became the Greek alpha and then our letter a, so a stays the first letter of the alphabet.