a la carte.also.à la carte.adverb.and.adjective
with a separate price for each item on the menu

a la.also.à la.preposition
in the style or manner of (a poem a la Ogden Nash)

aspersion.noun,.plural.aspersions
if you cast aspersions on someone or something, you suggest that they are not very good in some way; a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation (cast aspersions on her integrity; the act of making such a charge; an unfavorable or damaging remark; slander; the act of defaming or slandering; a sprinkling with water especially in religious ceremonies

ambassador.noun,.plural.ambassadors
one who acts in service to others, generally bringing tidings of joy; a diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time; a diplomatic official heading his or her country's permanent mission to certain international organizations, such as the United Nations; an authorized messenger or representative; an unofficial representative (ambassadors of good will)
ambassadorial.adjective
ambassadorship.noun,.plural.ambassadorships

aware.adjective
having knowledge or cognizance (aware of the risk of riding without a helmet); having awareness; vigilant; watchful; mindful or heedful of something; aware implies knowledge gained through one's own perceptions, as of the attitudes of others or by means of information
awareness.noun,.plural.awarenesses

astride.adverb
with a leg on each side (riding astride a donkey); with the legs wide apart
astride.preposition
on or over and with a leg on each side of (he say astride the bicycle); situated on both sides of; lying across or over; spanning

appear, appeared, appearing, appears.intransitive verbs
to seem likely (they will be late, as it appears); to show up (he appeared early at the party); to come into existence (many new species appear each year); to seem or look to be (appeared happier than the last time we saw her); to become visible (a plane appearing in the sky); to come before the public (has appeared in two plays; appears on the nightly news)

appearance.noun,.plural.appearances
the act or an instance of coming into sight; the act or an instance of coming into public view (the author made a rare personal appearance); outward aspect (had a somewhat untidy appearance); something that appears; a phenomenon; outward indications; circumstances (a cheerful person, to all appearances)

acrobatics.noun
the gymnastic moves of an acrobat; the art, skill or performance of an acrobat; display of bizarre.skill and twisted.agility (semantic acrobatics as in legalese)
acrobat.noun
one who is skilled in feats of balance and agility in gymnastics
acrobatically.adverb
acrobatic.adjective

adjoining.adjective
neighboring; contiguous
adjoin, adjoined, adjoining, adjoins.verbs
transitive verb use.to be next to; be contiguous to (in the property that adjoins ours are friendly neighbors); to attach (she adjoined a copy of the previous letter)
intransitive verb use.to be contiguous

area.noun,.plural.areas
a roughly bounded part of the space on a surface; a region (a farming area; the New York area); a surface, especially an open, unoccupied piece of ground (a landing area; a playing area); a distinct part or section, as of a building, set aside for a specific.function (a storage area in the basement); experience, activity or knowledge; a field (studies in the area of computers; a job in the health-care area); a district; a locality (a recreation area)

about.adverb
approximately; nearly (the interview lasted about an hour); almost (the job is about done); to a reversed.position or direction (turned about and walked away slowly); in no particular direction (wandering about with no place to go); all around; on every side (let's look about for help); in the area or vicinity; near (spoke to a few spectators standing about); about is used in front of a number to show that the number is not exact (quickly.checking the tire pressure, I'd say they were all about the same; in the local health centre there's about forty parking spaces); if someone or something moves about, they keep moving in different directions (everyone was running about, eager to get to work on time; she was really talking about how to apply wisdom in daily life)
about.preposition
you use about to introduce who or what something.relates to or concerns (she came in for a coffee and told me about her friend Shona; she knew a lot about food; he never complains about his life); when you mention the things that an activity or institution is about, you are saying what it involves or what its aims are (leadership is about the ability to implement.change); you use about after some adjectives to indicate the person or thing that a feeling or state of mind relates to (she was sorry about upsetting Patrick with her inane.comments); if you do something about a problem, you take action.in order to.solve it (he was going to do something about the screen door that banged.close when it was windy); when you say that there is a particular.quality about something or someone, you mean that they have this quality
(I think we need to know more about invisible energies if we are going to progress away from pollution.caused by burning fossil fuels); in the vicinity of; around (explored the rivers and streams about the estate); concerned with (a book about quantum physics); in the act or process of (while you're about it, please clean your room); in the possession of (keep your wits about you); ready or prepared to do something (the choir is about to sing)
about.adjective
moving here and there; astir (she was up and about early in the morning)
about-turn.noun,.plural.about-turns
a complete.change of opinion, plan or behavior

abscise, abscised, abscising, abscises.verbs (pronounced 'ab size')
transitive verb use.to cut off; remove
intransitive verb use.to shed by abscission
abscission.noun
the act of cutting off

accessory.noun,.plural.accessories
a subordinate or supplementary.item; an adjunct; something.nonessential but desirable that contributes to an effect or result; appendage; in law, one who incites, aids or abets a lawbreaker in the commission of a crime but is not present at the time of the crime, also called accessory before the fact; one who aids a criminal after the commission of a crime, but was not present at the time of the crime, also called accessory after the fact
accessory.adjective
having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function; in law, serving to aid or abet a lawbreaker, either before or after the commission of the crime, without being present at the time the crime was committed
accessorial.adjective
accessorily.adverb
accessoriness.noun

astir.adjective
moving about; being in motion

acolyte.noun,.plural.acolytes
one who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical.rites; a devoted follower or attendant

aftermath.noun
a consequence (famine as an aftermath of drought); the aftermath of an important event, especially a harmful one, is the situation that results from it

aim, aimed, aiming, aims.verbs
transitive verb use.to direct something such as a remark or an arrow, for example, toward an intended.goal or mark
intransitive verb use.to direct something such as a bow and arrow at a target (he threw horseshoes with precision); to determine a course (aimed for improving his design skills)
aim.noun
the act of aiming; skill at hitting a target (the shooter's aim was perfect; a purpose or intention toward which one's efforts are directed

aimless.adjective
devoid of direction or purpose
aimlessly.adverb
aimlessness.noun

amanuensis.noun,.plural.amanuenses
one who is employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript

amatory.adjective
of, relating.to.or.expressive of love, especially sexual love

amateur.noun,.plural.amateurs
a person who engages in an art, a science, a study or an athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.; in sports, an athlete who has never participated in competition for money; generally an amateur is one not having yet achieved the fuller education and accepted skills of one labeled as professional; a dabbler; dilettante
amateur.adjective
of, relating to or performed by an amateur
amateurism.noun
amateurish.adjective
characteristic of an amateur
amateurishly.adverb
amateurishness.noun

amenity.noun,.plural.amenities
the quality of being pleasant or attractive; agreeableness; something that contributes to physical or material.comfort, that increases physical ease or facilitates work, such as a sunny apartment with amenities including air conditioning, a suite with comforts such as a whirlpool bath, a kitchen with every convenience, a school with excellent facilities for students; a feature that increases attractiveness or value, especially of a piece of real estate or a geographic location

achromatic.adjective
designating color perceived to have zero saturation and therefore no hue, such as neutral grays, white or black; refracting light without spectral color separation; in music, having only the diatonic tones of the scale
achromatically.adverb
achromatism.or.achromaticity.noun
achromatisms.or.achromaticities.plural

accidental.adjective
occurring.unexpectedly, unintentionally or by caprice
accidental.noun
a non.essential.occurrence; that is not essential
accidentally.adverb
accident.noun,.plural.accidents
an unexpected, undesirable event (car accidents on icy roads); an unforeseen.incident; lack of intention (happened to meet an old friend by accident)
Logic:.a circumstance that is not essential to the nature of something