A
Language: English
Part of speech: symbol
Pronunciation: ipa: /eɪ̯/
ipa: /æɪ/
note: Indic
ipa: /eː/
rhymes: -eɪ
Etymology: * (highest rank, grade, music): From the initial position of the letter A in the English alphabet.
* (blood type): From A antigen
Senses: examples: text: We assign each item inspected a rating from A through G, depending on various factors.
text: In the UK, the highest social grade is A – upper middle class.
text: The only standard brassiere cup size smaller than the A cup is the AA cup.
glosses: A rank, normally the highest rank, on any of various scales that assign letters.
examples: text: I was so happy to get an A on that test.
text: Darcy's pretty sharp. She pulls A's.
ref: 1999, W. Peter Iliff, Varsity Blues, spoken by Mox (James Van Der Beek):
topics: education
glosses: The highest letter grade assigned (disregarding plusses and minuses).
examples: text: Orchestras traditionally tune to a concert A.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A tone three fifths above C in the cycle of fifths; the sixth tone of the C major scale; the first note of the minor scale of A minor; the reference tone that occurs at exactly 440 Hz; the printed or written note A; the scale with A as its keynote.
examples: text: My blood type is A negative.
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: A blood type that has a specific antigen that aggravates the immune response in people with type B antigen in their blood. People with this blood type may receive blood from type A or type O but cannot receive blood from AB or B.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Mass number.
topics: human-sciences
logic
mathematics
philosophy
sciences
glosses: A universal affirmative suggestion.
examples: text: Hester Prynne, the historical character in The Scarlet Letter, was exposed and convicted by neighborhood gossip. [...] Gossip continues to brand some young ladies in small towns with this symbolic letter, but in our larger cities one rarely sees young ladies branded with an "A".
ref: 1966 July 30, Ralph McGill, “Today's students aim for humanistic values”, in Latrobe Bulletin, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, page 6:
glosses: Abbreviation of adulterer or adulteress, used as a human brand.
glosses: Allele dominant.
glosses: Alternative spelling of A.M. (“ante meridiem”) or AM
Derived terms: sense: Rank or size
word: A1
sense: Rank or size
word: AA
sense: Rank or size
word: AAA
sense: Rank or size
word: A cup
sense: Rank or size
word: A game
sense: Rank or size
word: A-game
sense: Rank or size
word: A level
sense: Rank or size
word: A-list
sense: Rank or size
word: A team
sense: Rank or size
word: double A
sense: Rank or size
word: grade A
sense: Rank or size
word: triple A
sense: Letter grade
word: A minus
sense: Letter grade
word: A plus
sense: Letter grade
word: straight A's
sense: (music) tone three fifths above C
word: A-flat
sense: (music) tone three fifths above C
word: A major
sense: (music) tone three fifths above C
word: A-minor
sense: (music) tone three fifths above C
word: A-sharp
sense: (music) tone three fifths above C
word: concert A
sense: Blood type
word: AB
sense: Blood type
word: A negative
sense: Blood type
word: A positive