English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

amplificatory

adj

Serving to make something larger or stronger.

amplified

adj

Made louder, stronger, or more intense, especially through electronic means.

amplifier

noun

A device that increases the strength of an electrical signal, especially to make sound louder.

amplify

verb

To increase the strength, volume, or intensity of something, especially a sound or signal.

amplitude

noun

In physics, the greatest distance a wave or vibrating object moves from its resting position, which for sound corresponds to loudness and for light to brightness.

amply

adv

In a way that is more than sufficient; generously or thoroughly.

ampoule

noun

A small sealed glass container that holds a liquid, often a medicine ready for injection.

AMPS

noun

Plural of amp; short for amperes, the standard unit for measuring electric current.

amputate

verb

To surgically remove all or part of a limb or other body part.

amputated

adj

Describing a limb or body part that has been surgically removed.

amputation

noun

The surgical removal of a limb or other body part.

amputee

noun

A person who has lost one or more limbs.

Amrita

noun

In Hindu mythology, the divine nectar or "water of life" said to grant immortality to the gods.

Amritsar

name

A large city in Punjab, India, home to the Golden Temple.

Amsterdam

name

The capital city of the Netherlands, also the name of several smaller places in the United States named after it.

Amtrak

name

The national passenger railway of the United States.

amulet

noun

A small charm, symbol, or piece of jewellery worn or carried in the belief that it protects the wearer from harm or bad luck.

Amun

name

An ancient Egyptian deity, later worshipped as a creator god, often depicted with ram's horns.

Amundsen

name

A surname of Norwegian and Danish origin, borne by explorer Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.

amuse

verb

To entertain someone or make them laugh or smile.

amused

adj

Feeling entertained or finding something funny.

amusement

noun

A feeling of being entertained or finding something funny.

amusic

adj

Relating to, or affected by, a difficulty in recognising or making music.

amusing

adj

Funny or entertaining; causing laughter or light enjoyment.

Amy

name

A female given name of Latin origin, meaning "beloved".

amygdala

noun

An almond-shaped cluster of nerve tissue deep in the brain that plays a central role in processing emotions such as fear and pleasure.

amylase

noun

Amylase is a digestive enzyme, present in saliva and also produced by the pancreas, that breaks down starch into simpler sugars.

an

article

The form of "a" used before a word that starts with a vowel sound.

ana

noun

A gathered set of items linked to a particular person or place, often a collection of stories or table talk about them.

Anabel

name

A female given name of Latin origin, a rare variant of Annabel.

anabolic

adjective

Describing a substance, especially a synthetic hormone related to testosterone, that promotes the growth of muscle and bone.

anabolism

noun

The constructive metabolism of the body, in which simpler substances are built up into more complex ones.

anabranch

noun

A stream that branches off a river and later flows back into it further downstream.

anachronism

noun

A mistake in dating, where an event, circumstance or object is placed in the wrong period.

anachronistic

adj

Belonging to a period other than the one it is set in, or old-fashioned and out of place now.

anaconda

noun

A very large, non-venomous South American snake that kills prey by constriction.

anacronymic

adj

Relating to or involving anacronyms.

anaemia

noun

A medical condition in which the blood cannot carry enough oxygen to the body's tissues, because of too few red blood cells or too little haemoglobin, causing paleness and tiredness.

anaerobic

adjective

Happening or living without oxygen.

anagram

noun

A word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

anagrammatise

verb

To rearrange the letters of a word to make a different word.

anagrammatize

verb

A US and Oxford British English standard spelling of anagrammatise.

Anaheim

noun

A long, mild variety of green or red chilli pepper.

Anakin

name

A male given name coined for fiction, borne by the character Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars.

anal

adj

Relating to or involving the anus.

analgesia

noun

Relief from pain, or the state of not feeling pain, especially as produced by a drug or medical technique.

analgesic

noun

A medicine, such as aspirin, that eases pain without making the person lose feeling elsewhere.

analgesize

verb

To ease pain by giving a painkiller.

analog

adj

Representing information as a continuously variable signal rather than as digital data, such as the hands of a clock or an old vinyl recording.

analogous

adj

Similar to something else in some way, often used with 'to'.

analogously

adv

In a way that is similar to or comparable with something else.

analogue

noun

A thing that is similar to something else in some way.

analogy

noun

A comparison between two things to explain or clarify an idea, based on some shared feature.

analphabet

noun

Someone who does not know the alphabet, or who cannot read or write at all or very well.

analphabetic

adj

(of symbols) Not part of an alphabet.

analyse

verb

British spelling of "analyze": to examine something closely to understand its parts or meaning.

analysis

noun

A careful, detailed examination of something in order to understand it or explain its parts.

analyst

noun

A person whose job is to study data, systems, or situations closely and draw conclusions from them.

analyte

noun

A substance that is being examined in a scientific test.

analytic

adj

Relating to analysis, or to the careful examination of something.

analytical

adj

Skilled at or relating to breaking problems down logically and examining them carefully.

analytics

noun

The systematic study of data in order to find patterns and support decisions, especially data collected about how people use a website, app or business service.

analyze

verb

To examine something carefully, breaking it into parts to understand it better.

analyzed

adj

Having been examined and broken down for study.

analyzer

noun

A device or program used to examine and break down data or substances.

Anamika

name

A female given name of Sanskrit origin, used in India.

anamnesis

noun

the act or ability of recalling past events to mind.

anamnestic

adj

Helping a person to remember things.

ananas

noun

The plant Bromelia pinguin, which produces a fruit that can be eaten.

Anand

name

A male given name and surname of Sanskrit origin, meaning "joy" or "delight", also a city in Gujarat, India.

ananda

name

A unisex first name of Sanskrit origin.

anaphylactic

adj

Relating to a severe, sudden allergic reaction that can affect breathing and blood pressure.

anarch

noun

A person who causes disorder or stirs up rebellion.

anarchic

adj

Connected with anarchy, or likely to bring it about.

anarchism

noun

The political belief that all forms of government are undesirable or unnecessary and that society could work without a state.

anarchist

noun

A person who believes that government and formal authority should be abolished in favour of voluntary cooperation.

anarchy

noun

A state in which there is no government or ruling authority.

Anasazi

noun

An older term for the Ancestral Puebloans, the Indigenous people who built the cliff dwellings of the American Southwest.

anastacia

name

A female first name of Ancient Greek, variant of Anastasia origin.

Anastasia

name

A female given name of Ancient Greek origin, meaning "resurrection".

anastasis

noun

Recovery from a serious illness or damage, especially tissue that has been exposed to radiation.

anastrophe

noun

A sentence structure in which the usual word order is changed or reversed.

anastrophic

adj

Relating to anastrophe, or written with the normal word order changed.

anatase

noun

A blue or brown mineral made of titanium dioxide, used to make pigment.

anathema

noun

Something or someone intensely disliked or considered completely unacceptable.

Anatole

name

A male given name of Ancient Greek origin, meaning "sunrise".

Anatolia

name

The peninsula comprising most of modern Turkey, bounded by the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas.

anatomic

adj

Relating to anatomy, dissection, or the structures found in the body.

anatomical

adj

Relating to the structure of the body or to anatomy.

anatomically

adv

In a way that relates to the structure of the body.

anatomy

noun

The scientific study of the structure of living things, especially their bodies.

anatropous

adj

Having its inner structure turned upside down, with the tip pointing towards the base.

Anbu

name

A town in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China.

ancestor

noun

A person from whom one is descended, further back than a grandparent; a forebear.

ancestral

adj

Belonging to, inherited from, or associated with one's ancestors.

ancestry

noun

The line of ancestors a person descends from; one's family origins or heritage.

anchor

noun

A heavy metal device lowered from a boat to grip the seabed and keep the vessel in place.

anchorage

noun

A place where ships can safely anchor, such as a sheltered bay or harbor.

anchored

adj

Firmly fixed or held in place, so it cannot easily move or drift.

anchoress

noun

A woman who leaves ordinary life to live alone in prayer and quiet reflection, for religious reasons.

anchorite

noun

A person who lives alone, cut off from others, usually for religious reasons.

anchorman

noun

The main presenter of a news broadcast.

anchorperson

noun

The main presenter who reads the news on a television broadcast.

anchorwoman

noun

A woman who presents a television news broadcast.

anchovy

noun

A small, strong-tasting saltwater fish, often preserved in salt or oil and used to flavor other dishes.

ancient

adj

Belonging to a very distant, long-past time, especially before the Middle Ages.

ancientness

noun

The quality of being very old.

ancients

noun

The peoples of the distant past, especially the writers, thinkers, and civilizations of classical antiquity.

ancillary

adjective

Providing support to something more important, without being an essential part of it.

and

conj

Used to join two words, phrases, or ideas that go together.

and then

conjunction

Used to join two events or actions in the order they happen, showing that the second follows the first.

Anda

name

A surname of Basque origin, transmitted through Spanish.

Andalusia

name

An autonomous community in southern Spain, the most populous in the country, whose capital is Seville.

andalusian

adj

Coming from or connected with Andalusia, a region in Spain.

Anders

name

A male given name and surname from Scandinavian languages, equivalent to English Andrew.

Andersen

name

A Danish and Norwegian surname derived as a patronymic, borne by fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen.

Anderson

name

A Scottish surname derived as a patronymic, also used as a male given name and the name of numerous places worldwide.

Andersson

name

A Swedish surname derived as a patronymic.

Anderton

name

An English surname of habitational origin, also the name of several villages in England.

Andes

name

The long mountain range running down the western edge of South America.

Andhra

name

A former Indian state, in existence from 1953 to 1956, later merged into Andhra Pradesh.

Andi

name

A Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Russia; also used as a diminutive form of Andrea or Andrew.

Andie

name

A diminutive of the given name Andrew or Andrea, from Ancient Greek.

andiron

noun

A metal stand used to hold up logs in a fireplace, usually placed in pairs.

Ando

name

A Japanese surname, also the name of a barangay in the Philippines.

Andrade

name

A surname of Galician origin.

Andre

name

A male given name of French origin, an anglicized form of André.

Andrea

name

A female given name of Ancient Greek origin used in English, also a male given name in Italian.

Andreas

name

A male given name of Ancient Greek origin, the Latin form of Andrew, meaning "manly".

andree

name

A female first name of French, anglicized from French Andrée origin.

Andrei

name

A masculine given name, the Russian and Romanian form of Andrew, meaning "manly" or "brave".

Andres

name

A masculine given name, the Spanish form of Andrew.

Andrew

name

A masculine given name of Greek origin, meaning "manly" or "brave".

Andrews

name

An English surname derived from the given name Andrew.

Andrey

name

A masculine given name, a Russian variant of Andrew.

androgen

noun

A natural or synthetic hormone, usually a steroid, that drives the development of male physical characteristics in vertebrates.

androgyne

noun

A person who has both male and female characteristics.

androgynous

adjective

Having an appearance or style that mixes masculine and feminine features, so that a person does not read as clearly male or female.

android

noun

A robot built to look and move like a human.

Andromeda

noun

A spiral galaxy in the constellation of the same name, and the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way.

Andros

name

The largest island in the Bahamas, and also a Greek given name meaning "man".

Andy

noun

Informal term for a person of a particular type or category, often used dismissively (e.g. 'karen', 'chad').

anecdotalist

noun

Someone who tells anecdotes, or relies on them instead of proper evidence in a subject of study.

anecdote

noun

A short, often amusing story about a real event or person.

anecumene

noun

The parts of the world that have no people living in them, or no civilisation.

anelastic

adj

Not showing a clear link between a force applied to something and how much it bends or stretches.

anele

verb

To anoint someone with holy oil, especially as a religious rite given to the dying.

anemia

noun

A condition in which the blood has too few red blood cells or too little hemoglobin, leaving the body short of oxygen and often causing tiredness and paleness.

anemic

adj

Suffering from or related to anemia.

anemometer

noun

An instrument that measures and records the speed of the wind.