in total – used of amounts • I have two cats and two dogs. That’s four pets altogether.
aluminium
NOUN a silvery-white, lightweight metal
always
ADVERB 1 all the time • He’s always late.
2 forever • I’ll always remember this day.
a.m.
a.m. is used to show times in the morning
[an abbreviation of the Latin ante meridiem meaning before noon]
am
VERB a present tense of be
amateur amateurs
NOUN someone who does something without being paid for it • He began playing football as an amateur, but now he is a professional.
amaze amazes, amazing, amazed
VERB If something amazes you, it surprises you very much.
SYNONYMS: astonish, astound
amazement NOUN
amazing
ADJECTIVE If something is amazing, it is very surprising.
amazingly ADVERB
ambassador ambassadors
NOUN a person sent to a foreign country as the representative of their own government
amber
NOUN 1 a hard, yellowish-brown substance from trees, used in making jewellery
NOUN OR ADJECTIVE 2 an orange-brown colour
ambiguous
ADJECTIVE If something is ambiguous, it can have more than one meaning.
ambiguously ADVERB ambiguity NOUN
ambition ambitions
NOUN If you have an ambition to do something, you want very much to do it.
amble ambles, ambling, ambled
VERB If you amble, you walk along in a slow, relaxed way.
ambulance ambulances
NOUN a vehicle for taking sick and injured people to hospital
ambush ambushes, ambushing, ambushed
NOUN 1 a surprise attack
VERB 2 If one group of people ambushes another, they hide and lie in wait, and then make a surprise attack.
ammonia
NOUN a strong-smelling, colourless liquid or gas, often used in cleaning substances
ammunition
NOUN anything that can be fired from a gun or other weapon, for example bullets and shells
amoeba amoebas or amoebae
NOUN a tiny living organism that has only one cell. An amoeba reproduces by dividing into two.
among or amongst
PREPOSITION 1 surrounded by
2 in the company of • He was among friends.
3 between more than two • The money will be divided among seven charities.
amount amounts
NOUN how much there is of something • You need a large amount of flour for this recipe.
amphibian amphibians
NOUN a creature that lives partly on land and partly in water, for example a frog or a newt
amphibious ADJECTIVE
amplify amplifies, amplifying, amplified
VERB If you amplify a sound, you make it louder.
amplifier NOUN
amputate amputates, amputating, amputated
VERB If a surgeon amputates part of the body, such as an arm or a leg, they cut it off.
amputation NOUN
amuse amuses, amusing, amused
VERB 1 If something amuses you, you think it is funny.
2 If you amuse yourself, you find things to do that stop you from being bored.
amused ADJECTIVE amusing ADJECTIVE
amusement amusements
NOUN 1 the feeling you have when you think that something is funny or you have pleasure
2 a mechanical device used for entertainment, at a fair for example
3 Amusements are ways of passing the time pleasantly.
an
ADJECTIVE An is used instead of a in front of words that begin with the vowels a, e, i, o, or u. • an apple • an egg
anaemia
NOUN a medical condition in which there are too few red cells in the blood. It makes you feel tired and look pale.
anaemic ADJECTIVE
anaesthetic anaesthetics; also spelt anesthetic
NOUN a substance that stops you feeling pain. A general anaesthetic stops you from feeling pain in the whole of your body by putting you to sleep. A local anaesthetic makes just one part of your body go numb.
anagram anagrams
NOUN a word or phrase formed by changing the order of the letters of another word or phrase. For example, draw is an anagram of ward and dear is an anagram of read.
analogue
ADJECTIVE An analogue watch or clock shows the time with pointers that move round a dial.
ANTONYM: digital
analogy analogies
NOUN a comparison between two things that are similar in some ways
analyse analyses, analysing, analysed
VERB If you analyse something, you investigate it carefully to understand it or to find out what it consists of.
anatomy anatomies
NOUN the study of the structure of bodies, both animal and human, to find out how they work
anatomical ADJECTIVE
ancestor ancestors
NOUN a member of your family who lived many years ago • He could trace his ancestors back 700 years.
[from Latin antecessor meaning one who goes before]
anchor anchors, anchoring, anchored
NOUN 1 a heavy, hooked object at the end of a chain. It is dropped from a boat into the water to keep the boat from floating away.
VERB 2 If you anchor something, you hold it down firmly.
ancient
ADJECTIVE Things that are ancient existed or happened a very long time ago.
ANTONYM: modern
and
CONJUNCTION You use and to link two or more parts of a sentence together. • Let’s go to the cinema and then have pizza.
anecdote anecdotes
NOUN a short, sometimes entertaining story about a person or an event
angel angels
NOUN a being who, some people believe, lives in heaven and acts as a messenger for God
[from Greek angelos meaning messenger]
anger
NOUN the strong feeling you get