| apt. |
abbreviation of "apartment," a room or set of rooms used as living space by a single household and usu. located in a building containing a number of such rooms or sets of rooms. |
| Arbor Day |
in the United States, a spring day set aside for the planting of trees in the community. |
| arm2 |
to set (a bomb) to explode. [1/7 definitions] |
| Articles of Confederation |
a document created in 1781 that served as a set of guidelines for governing the newly formed United States of America. The Articles of Confederation created a "firm league of friendship" among the thirteen original states and maintained the majority of power in states' hands. It was replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789. |
| assembly line |
a set-up in a factory whereby a product being put together passes, in moving along a track, conveyor belt, or the like, a succession of stations with workers, each of whom adds, adjusts, or secures apart to the whole. |
| assess |
to establish or set the amount of (a tax, fine, or the like). [1/3 definitions] |
| assign |
to set apart for a particular use or for use by a particular person. [2/6 definitions] |
| assume |
to agree together or posit that something is true; set down as a fact. [1/4 definitions] |
| attack |
to set upon with vigor. [1/9 definitions] |
| automatic pilot |
(informal) a condition of functioning as if set on automatic pilot. [1/2 definitions] |
| average |
to find the arithmetic mean of (a set of quantities). [1/9 definitions] |
| 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. [1/4 definitions] |
| baluster |
any of a set of closely spaced posts that support a rail, as of a staircase or balcony. |
| balustrade |
a rail and the set of balusters, or posts, that support it. |
| bar code |
a set of vertical bars of varying widths containing coded information that can be read by an optical scanner, usu. printed on the labels of consumer goods, on mail, and the like. (Cf. Universal Product Code.) |
| battery |
a set of large military guns, esp. artillery, used in combined firing. [2/5 definitions] |
| bay2 |
a part of a room that juts out from the rest of the building, usually containing a set of windows. [1/2 definitions] |
| bedspring |
any of a number of springs closely confined in a frame and set in a bedstead to support a mattress. |
| begin |
to be set in process; start. [1/6 definitions] |
| beset |
to set upon or assail from all sides; besiege. [1/2 definitions] |
| bivouac |
to set up or stay in a bivouac. [1/2 definitions] |