| a2 |
When you are talking about some particular thing of a group or kind but it's not important which one of that group it is, you use "a" before the word. If you say "I saw a friend of mine," you know which friend you saw, but it's not important right now which friend it is. You are just introducing the idea of this person or thing into the conversation. [1/3 definitions] |
| a-1 |
a prefix that means "on," "at," "into," or "to." |
| aboard |
on or into a ship, plane, bus, or plane; on board. [1/2 definitions] |
| absorb |
When something absorbs another thing, it takes it into itself. It soaks it up. If something absorbs water or other liquid, it takes it into itself the way a towel or sponge does. [1/2 definitions] |
| accept |
to allow into a group. [1/5 definitions] |
| accepted |
welcomed into a group or society; approved. [1/2 definitions] |
| access |
When you access something, you find a way to get to it or get into it. [1/3 definitions] |
| accessible |
If a place is accessible, you can get to it, or you can get into it. Some places are accessible only by certain means. |
| account |
If you have an account at a bank, it means that you can keep your money there. You can put more money into your account or take money out of your account when you need it. The bank sends a letter by mail each month to tell you how much money you have in your account. Some people don't get a letter but see their account on their computers. [1/5 definitions] |
| act |
Plays are divided into parts, and each part is called an act. [1/9 definitions] |
| acupuncture |
the practice of relieving pain or curing a disease by putting needles into certain parts of the body. Acupuncture is a traditional way to treat disease in China. |
| adobe |
a building material of clay mixed with straw that has been dried by the sun and made into bricks. [1/2 definitions] |
| adolescent |
An adolescent is a person who is in the process of changing from a child into an adult. When we think of an adolescent, we usually think of a teenager or someone in their early twenties. |
| adopt |
When you adopt something, you accept a new thing and make it your own. When people adopt a baby, the baby becomes part of their family. When people adopt pets, they bring them into their home and care for them for a long time. [1/2 definitions] |
| air pressure |
the force of air on things. Air pressure has to do with how much force air has when it has been compressed into a space like a tire. It is also the pressure of the earth's atmosphere. |
| all at once |
If people are doing something all at once, they are doing it all at the same time. If people jump into a swimming pool all at once, they all jump in at the same time. If you put five sticks of gum in your mouth all at once, you put all of them in your mouth at the same time. You don't put them in one at a time. [1/2 definitions] |
| allow |
When animals or people are allowed to be in a place, it is OK for them to be there. If pets are allowed at a hotel, it means that you can bring your pet into the hotel. [1/3 definitions] |
| Alps |
a high mountain range that goes from southern France through Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Austria and into the countries along the Adriatic Sea down to Albania. |
| Amazon River |
The Amazon River is one of the great rivers of the world. It is the longest river in South America, and some say it may be longer than the Nile River in Africa. The Amazon River flows down from the mountains in Peru, then across Brazil, and into the Atlantic Ocean. |
| ammunition |
Ammunition is what people put into a gun and shoot out of it. Bullets are a kind of ammunition. |
| analysis |
the process of separating something into parts in order to study it. [1/2 definitions] |