| aardvark |
An aardvark is an animal with a long nose, long ears, short fur, and powerful claws for digging. Aardvarks dig so that they can find insects to eat. Aardvarks live in Africa and make their homes in burrows. |
| abalone |
a large sea snail that has several shiny colors on the inside of its shell. Abalone are mollusks. People eat abalone meat and make decorations from the shells. |
| abate |
to make less in amount or intensity. [1/2 definitions] |
| abbreviate |
When you abbreviate something, you make it shorter. [1/2 definitions] |
| abolitionism |
a movement in the United States in the 1800s whose goal was to free the people who were slaves and make slavery against the law. |
| abolitionist |
An abolitionist is a person who supported the ending of slavery in the United States before and during the Civil War. Abolitionists fought hard in various ways to help the slaves become free and to make slavery against the law. The end of slavery finally came in 1865 near the end of the Civil War. |
| abridge |
to make shorter. |
| absolute |
If someone's power or authority is absolute, it means that it has no limits. If a king has absolute power, he can make whatever laws he wants and can break any laws he wants. [1/4 definitions] |
| accelerate |
When you accelerate something, you make it go faster. [2 definitions] |
| accessory |
an item added on to something else to make it prettier, more complete, or more useful. [1/2 definitions] |
| accommodate |
to have room for, or to make room for. [1/3 definitions] |
| accompany |
When you accompany one thing with another thing, you add the second thing to make the first thing better or more complete. You might accompany your guitar playing with the beat of a drum to make your sound more complete. You might accompany your sandwich with a glass of juice to make your lunch better. [1/3 definitions] |
| account |
Sometimes when you want to do something on your computer on the internet, the website asks you to make an account. You do this by choosing a name for yourself and a password. The name you choose is called your "user name." When you make an account, the website remembers who you are every time you go to it and put in your user name and your password. [1/5 definitions] |
| accountant |
An accountant is a person who keeps track of how a business spends its money, gives advice about spending money, and often makes sure the company is paying a correct amount of tax to the government each year. All businesses have to report to the government how much money they make and pay a correct amount of tax. Some companies only use an accountant when they are reporting their income to the government and need to figure out how much tax they have to pay. People who have regular jobs also use accountants sometimes if their money affairs are complicated. |
| accurate |
When you are accurate, you don't make any mistakes because you are very careful. [1/2 definitions] |
| achieve |
When you achieve something, you get it or make it happen by trying very hard. When you reach a goal or finish something that is important to you, it means that you have achieved it. |
| acoustic |
able to make musical sounds without using electricity. [1/2 definitions] |
| acoustics |
the aspects of a room or space that make sounds easy or difficult to hear (used with a plural verb). |
| acquaint |
to introduce or make familiar (usually followed by "with"). |
| across |
When one line is across another, it lies over a small part of it. When you make the letter X you put one line across the other. [1/5 definitions] |
| acrylic |
a kind of plastic used to make yarns, paint, and many other things. |