Definitions of
sound-alike words: A (Part 2)
A (Part 1)
- allot
- give out or distribute, as in: We will allot the prizes by date of contest entry.
- alot
- Wait a minute, there is no such word as alot!
- a lot
- many, as in: A lot of people are doing business online today.
- much, as in: Some people worry a lot about their health.
- allowed
- permitted, as in: No one under 17 allowed.
- aloud
- audibly, as in: He read the book aloud.
- allusion
- indirect or casual mention, as in: No one made any allusion to the scandal while she was in the room.
- illusion
- presentation of a false or misleading idea, as in: The magician gave the illusion of sawing the woman in half.
- delusion
- mistaken belief while in a confused state of mind, as in: He was under the delusion that he could fly.
- elusion
- evasion or clever escape, as in: The embezzlers celebrated their elusion of the police a little too soon.
- alot
- Wait a minute, there is no such word as alot! It should be two words: a lot, if you mean many or much, or allot, if you mean distribute.
- altar
- worship table, as in: The priest approached the altar.
- alter
- change, as in: Nothing you can say will alter my plans.
- alternate
- occuring by turns or every other, as in: She works on alternate weekends.
- alternative
- providing or expressing a choice, as in: An alternative to designing your own Web site is hiring a professional.
- amend
- modify or revise, as in: It's time to amend our by-laws.
- emend
- alter or correct in the text of a written work, as in: The publishers hurried to emend the book before the next edition.
- among
- in the midst of three or more, as in: The four older children decided among themselves to surprise Mother and Father with breakfast in bed.
- between
- in the midst of two, as in: The two younger ones decided between themselves to clean the kitchen.
- ante-
- prefix meaning before, as in: The abbreviation A.M. stands for ante meridiem, meaning before noon.
- anti-
- prefix meaning against, as in: The anti-American protesters marched in the capital city.
- antecedence
- act of going before in time, as in: The antecedence of parents to their own children is a fact of life.
- antecedents
- individuals who have gone before, as in: His antecedents
left him a fortune, but he wasted most of it.
- any one
- whichever unit, as in: You can have any one of these prizes.
- anyone
- any person whatever, as in: Anyone having information about the whereabouts of the suspect, please come forward.
- any way
- by a choice of methods, as in: I will succeed any way I can.
- anyway
- in any case or nevertheless, as in: I didn't like her anyway.
- apportion
- divide up and distribute by shares, as in: I want to apportion the money among all the children.
- portion
- a limited amount of something, as in: He didn't eat his portion of dessert.
- proportion
- ratio of one thing to another, as in: The proportion of women to men using the Internet is increasing.
- appraise
- judge the value of, as in: A professional takes many factors into account in order to appraise your house correctly.
- apprise
- to inform or notify, as in: Please apprise me of any sudden turn of events.
- arc
- a curved line, as in: A rainbow is an arc.
- ark
- a large, flat-bottomed boat, as in: They loaded the grain on the ark and floated it down the river.
- are
- form of to be, as in: What are you doing tonight?
- hour
- sixty minutes, as in: It seemed like I waited an hour,
but it was only twenty minutes.
- our
- belonging to us, as in: Please visit our Web site and see our new book reviews.
- area
- region, as in: What area of the country are you from?
- aria
- an elaborate song for one voice, as in: When the soprano finished the aria, the audience clapped.
- arrears
- unpaid debts, as in: We cannot extend you any credit because your account is already in arrears.
- arraign
- call into court, as in: The suspect will be arraigned next week.
- arrange
- put into order, as in: It is very important how you arrange the information on your Web site.
- assay
- chemical analysis, as in: The assay office will test your ore to see how much gold it contains.
- essay
- a short composition expressing the author's opinions, as in: Students applying for a scholarship often have to write an essay.
- assistance
- help, as in: Any assistance you can give me will be welcome.
- assistants
- helpers, as in: The teacher's two assistants handed out the tests.
- assure
- declare positively, as in: I assure you that I will be finished by next Tuesday.
- ensure
- make sure, as in: Order today to ensure delivery by Monday.
- insure
- cover by insurance, as in: This company will insure the data on my hard disk as well as the computer itself.
- at present
- right now, as in: I am designing small-business Web sites at present.
- presently
- in a little while or shortly, as in: Mr. Gates will be down to see you presently.
- ate
- past tense of eat, as in: We ate in that new restaurant last week.
- eight
- the number after seven, as in: Breakfast will be at eight in the morning.
- attendance
- being present, as in: Part of your grade is based on attendance.
- attendants
- workers, as in: The flight attendants will be serving dinner now.
- autobiography
- one's own life story, as in: I am writing my autobiography.
- bibliography
- list of books about a subject, as in: Please include a bibliography with your research report.
- biography
- a person's life story, as in: She is writing a biography of Marie Sklodowska Curie, the chemist and physicist who with her husband discovered radium in 1898.
This list of definitions can't replace your dictionary. Rather
than discussing every possible meaning of the words on this list,
I try to show how one word differs from another in a group of words that sound or
look very much alike. |
