Collins Primary Illustrated Dictionary. Collins Dictionaries

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