| apricot |
a soft round fruit with fuzzy orange-pink or yellow skin. [1/3 definitions] |
| aqua |
a light greenish blue or blue-green color. [1/2 definitions] |
| Arabian camel |
the single-humped camel native to the area from North Africa to India; dromedary. (Cf. Bactrian camel.) |
| araucaria |
a cone-bearing evergreen native to the Southern Hemisphere and grown as an ornamental elsewhere. |
| arbalest |
a medieval missile-launching weapon whose design is similar to that of a crossbow. |
| arctic fox |
a fox of arctic regions, whose fur is blue-gray or brownish gray in summer and white or light gray in winter. |
| area code |
in the United States and Canada, any of the three-digit codes that identify the regional telephone districts into which the countries are divided. [1/2 definitions] |
| aromatic |
of or being benzene or a benzene-related compound. [1/3 definitions] |
| arrowhead |
the wedge-shaped barb on the striking end of an arrow. [1/3 definitions] |
| artillery |
mounted large-caliber weapons, such as cannons or rocket launchers, used in land warfare and manned by a crew. [1/3 definitions] |
| arum |
any of a family of plants, such as jack-in-the-pulpit, with arrow-shaped leaves and bearing a flower, at the tip of a long spike, that is enclosed by a hoodlike leaf. [1/2 definitions] |
| at-large election |
an election in which every voter can vote for candidates to fill any and all vacant positions in a representative body. Unlike a single-member election, in which people can vote only for candidates who represent their particular legislative district, at-large elections allow every person to vote on each vacant position within a governing body. |
| attached |
designating an additional document or documents enclosed with a letter or e-mail. [2/4 definitions] |
| auto-rickshaw |
a small, three-wheeled, motorized vehicle used as a taxi. |
| azobenzene |
an orange-red, nonsoluble crystalline compound obtained from nitrobenzene, used in organic synthesis, as an insecticide, and in the making of dyes. |
| azurite |
a bright azure-blue mineral that serves as a copper ore. [1/2 definitions] |
| Babbitt |
the title character and protagonist of Sinclair Lewis's early twentieth-century novel, who is smug, conventional, and resolutely middle-class. [1/2 definitions] |
| babushka |
a woman's scarf, usu. triangle-shaped, that is worn on the head and tied under the chin. |
| baby doll |
(often pl.) a pajama set consisting of a short, loose-fitting nightgown, often decorated with ribbons, lace, or ruffles, and a matching panty. [2/4 definitions] |
| bacteria |
pl. of bacterium. Bacteria are one-celled microscopic organisms of various shapes that are often agents of fermentation and putrefaction and that, in some cases, cause disease. |
| bacterium |
any of a large group of one-celled microscopic organisms of various shapes that are often agents of fermentation and putrefaction and that may cause disease. |