a

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The pirates are based in Somalia -- a land racked by poverty and conflict -- and say hijacking ships is all about the money and the lifestyle.

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Definitions (49)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (22)

  1. noun The first letter of the modern English alphabet.
  2. noun Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter a.
  3. noun The first in a series.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Two foreign journalists -- a Briton and a Spaniard -- were released in good health Sunday after nearly six weeks in captivity in Somalia. —  The Online News Page
  • The Italians call it a fiasco -- the basket, I mean -- and soon I'm making the obvious joke that if I drink any more of this chianti, I'll become a fiasco myself, which suddenly seems screamingly funny to me in the way things can seem funny during a night of chianti and then tragic the next day.
  • The only admissible American is from the East Coast, knows Henry James, is comfortable in French - a sort of European on the other side of the Atlantic. —  TIME.com: Top Stories
  • The pirates are based in Somalia -- a land racked by poverty and conflict -- and say hijacking ships is all about the money and the lifestyle. —  CNN.com
  • They spoke excitedly to each other in Hebrew - a language I instantly recognized from my two decades as a Manhattanite - but clumsily claimed to be "Polish" when I asked where they were from. —  Signs of the Times
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This word has been looked up 887 times.

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Etymologies (10)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English, variant of an, an; see an1.
  2. Middle English, from Old English an, in; see on.
  3. Middle English, alteration of haven, to have; see have.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (7)

  1. from Middle English a (before consonants), earlier an, orig. with long vowel, from Anglo-Saxon ān, one, an: see an.
  2. from Middle English and late Anglo-Saxon a, reduced form of an, on, on, in: see on.
  3. English dial., corruption of I, being the first element, obscured, of the diphthong äi.
  4. English dial., from Middle English dial. a, corruptly for he, he, heo, she, he, it, heo, hi, they.
  5. English dial., from Middle English a, ha, reduced form of have, the v being dropped as in a or o' for of (ov).
  6. Scots, usually written a', = English all, like Scots ca' = English call, fa' = fall, ha' = hall, etc.
  7. See ah and O.
 

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/ə/
by American Heritage
by American Heritage
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne

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