y ['wī] -n

  1. the 25th letter of the English alphabet
  2. a graphic representation of this letter
  3. a speech counterpart of orthographic y
  4. a graphic device for reproducing the letter y
  5. one designated yesp. as the 25th in order or class or the second in order or class when x is made the first
  6. something shaped like the letter Y
  7. yard
  8. year

Y ['wī] -n

  1. ymca
  2. ywca
  3. yttrium

YA -abbr

  1. young adult

yab·ber ['ya-bər] -n, vi

  1. talk, jabber
    • all yabber and chatter ceased around the campfires -- Francis Birtles

yab·by ['ya-bē] -n

  1. any of various burrowing Australian crayfishes (genus Cherax,esp. C. destructor) that are used for food

yacht ['yät] -n

  1. : any of various recreational watercraft: as
  2. a sailboat used for racing
  3. a large usu. motor-driven craft used for pleasure cruising
  4. to race or cruise in a yacht

yacht club -n

  1. a club organized to promote and regulate yachting and boating

yacht·ing ['yä-tiŋ] -n

  1. the action, fact, or pastime of racing or cruising in a yacht

yachts·man ['yäts-mən] -n

  1. a person who owns or sails a yacht

ya·da ya·da ['yä-də-'yä-də] -n

  1. boring or empty talk
    • listening to a lot of yada yada about the economy
    often used interjectionally esp. in recounting words regarded as too dull or predictable to be worth repeating

YAG ['yag] -n

  1. a synthetic yttrium aluminum garnet of marked hardness and high refractive index that is used esp. as a gemstone and in laser technology

ya·gi ['yä-gē, 'ya-] -n

  1. a highly directional and selective shortwave antenna consisting of a horizontal conductor of one or two dipoles connected with the receiver or transmitter and of a set of nearly equal insulated dipoles parallel to and on a level with the horizontal conductor

ya·hoo ['yā-(,)hü, 'yä-] -n

  1. a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travelswho have the form and all the vices of humans
  2. a boorish, crass, or stupid person
  3. yippee

Yah·weh ['yä-(,)wā, -(,)vā] -n

  1. god used esp. by the ancient Hebrews

Yah·wism [-,wi-zəm, -,vi-] -n

  1. the worship of Yahweh among the ancient Hebrews

Yah·wis·tic [yä-'wis-tik, -'vis-] -adj

  1. characterized by the use of Yahwehas the name of God
  2. of or relating to Yahwism

yak ['yak] -n

  1. a large long-haired wild or domesticated ox ( Bos grunnienssyn. B. mutus) of Tibet and adjacent elevated parts of central Asia

yak ['yək] -n

(variant of yuk)

  1. laugh
    • did it just for yuk s
  2. joke, gag
  3. laugh, joke usu. used in the phrase yuk it up

Yak·a·ma ['ya-kə-,mȯ] -n

  1. a member of a group of Sahaptin peoples of the lower Yakima River valley, south central Washington
  2. the language of the Yakama people

ya·ki·to·ri [,yä-ki-'tȯr-ē] -n

  1. bite-size marinated pieces of beef, seafood, or chicken on skewers

ya·ku·za ['yä-ku̇-,zä] -n

  1. a Japanese gangster
  2. an organized crime syndicate in Japan

yam ['yam] -n

  1. the edible starchy tuberous root of various plants (genus Dioscoreaof the family Dioscoreaceae) used as a staple food in tropical areas
  2. a plant producing yams
  3. a moist usu. orange-fleshed sweet potato

ya·men ['yä-mən] -n

  1. the headquarters or residence of a Chinese government official or department

yam·mer ['ya-mər] -vi, n

  1. to utter repeated cries of distress or sorrow
  2. whimper
  3. to utter persistent complaints : whine
  4. to talk persistently or volubly and often loudly
    • caused the purists to yammer for censorship -- D. W. Maurer

yang ['yäŋ, 'yaŋ] -n

  1. the masculine active principle in nature that in Chinese cosmology is exhibited in light, heat, or dryness and that combines with yin to produce all that comes to be

yank ['yaŋk] -vi

  1. to pull on something with a quick vigorous movement
  2. to pull or extract with a quick vigorous movement
  3. to remove in or as if in an abrupt manner
    • yank ed the story from the evening edition
  4. a strong sudden pull : jerk

Yank ['yaŋk] -n

  1. yankee

Yan·kee ['yaŋ-kē] -n

  1. a native or inhabitant of New England
  2. a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.
  3. a native or inhabitant of the U.S.

Yankee

  1. a communications code word for the letter y

Yan·keeDoo·dle [,yaŋ-kē-'dü-dᵊl] -n

  1. yankee

Ya·no·ma·mi [,yä-nō-'mä-mē] -n

  1. an indigenous people inhabiting the rain forests of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil
  2. a member of the Yanomami people
  3. the family of four closely related languages spoken by the Yanomami

yan·qui ['yäŋ-kē] -n

  1. a citizen of the U.S. as distinguished from a Latin American

yan·tra ['yən-trə, 'yan-, 'yän-] -n

  1. a geometrical diagram used like an icon usu. in meditation

yap ['yap] -vi, n

  1. to talk in a shrill insistent way : chatter
  2. to bark snappishly : yelp
  3. a quick sharp bark : yelp
  4. shrill insistent talk : chatter
  5. an unsophisticated, ignorant, or uncouth person : bumpkin
  6. mouth

Ya·qui ['yä-kē] -n

  1. a member of an American Indian people of Sonora, Mexico
  2. the Uto-Aztecan language of the Yaqui people

Yar·bor·ough ['yär-,bər-ə, -,bə-rə, -b(ə-)rə] -n

  1. a hand in bridge or whist containing no ace and no card higher than a nine

yard ['yärd] -n

  1. a small usu. walled and often paved area open to the sky and adjacent to a building : court
  2. the grounds of a building or group of buildings
  3. the grounds immediately surrounding a house that are usu. covered with grass
  4. an enclosure for livestock (as poultry)
  5. an area with its buildings and facilities set aside for a particular business or activity
  6. an assembly or storage area (as for dry-docked boats)
  7. a system of tracks for storage and maintenance of cars and making up trains
  8. a locality in a forest where deer herd in winter
  9. of, relating to, or employed in the yard surrounding a building
    • yard light
  10. of, relating to, or employed in a railroad yard
    • a yard engine
  11. to drive into or confine in a restricted area : herd, pen
  12. to deliver to or store in a yard
  13. to congregate in or as if in a yard
  14. : any of various units of measure: as
  15. a unit of length equal in the U.S. to 0.9144 meter
  16. a unit of volume equal to a cubic yard
  17. a great length or quantity
    • remembered yard s of facts and figures
  18. one hundred dollars
  19. a long spar tapered toward the ends to support and spread the head of a square sail, lateen, or lugsail
  20. a slender glass about three feet tall having a flared opening and a bulbous bottom
  21. the amount it contains
    • a yard of ale

yard·age ['yär-dij] -n

  1. the use of a livestock enclosure for animals in transit provided by a railroad at a station
  2. a charge made by a railroad for the use of a livestock enclosure

yardage -n

  1. an aggregate number of yards
  2. the length, extent, or volume of something as measured in yards
  3. yard goods

yard·arm ['yärd-,ärm] -n

  1. either end of the yard of a square-rigged ship

yard·bird [-,bərd] -n

  1. a soldier assigned to a menial task or restricted to a limited area as a disciplinary measure
  2. an untrained or inept enlisted man

yard·er ['yär-dər] -n

  1. one that is a specified number of yards in length used in combination
    • kicked a 42- yarder

yard goods -n pl

  1. fabrics sold by the yard : piece goods

yard grass -n

  1. a tall annual Old World grass ( Eleusine indica) widely distributed as a weed called also goosegrass

yard line -n

  1. any of a series of marked or imaginary lines one yard apart on a football field that are parallel to the goal lines and that indicate the distance to the nearest goal line

yardlong bean ['yärd-'lȯŋ-] -n

  1. the edible 1- to 3-foot (0.3- to 0.9-meter) long thin stringless pod of a south Asian plant of a subspecies ( Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis) of the cowpea
  2. the plant

yard·man ['yärd-mən, -,man] -n

  1. a person employed to do outdoor work (as mowing lawns)
  2. a person who works in the yard of a commercial establishment
  3. one who supervises the handling of building materials in a lumberyard
  4. a railroad hand employed in yard service

yard·mas·ter [-,mas-tər] -n

  1. the person in charge of operations in a railroad yard

yard sale -n

  1. garage sale

yard·stick ['yärd-,stik] -n

  1. a graduated measuring stick three feet (0.9144 meter) long
  2. a standard basis of calculation
    • a yardstick for measuring astronomical distances
  3. a standard for making a critical judgment : criterion
    • measured by the yardstick of her first book
    • was a great success by any yardstick

yare ['yer, 'yär] -adj, adv

  1. set for action : ready
  2. characterized by speed and agility : nimble, lively
  3. handy , maneuverable

yar·mul·ke ['yä-mə-kə, 'yär-mə(l)-kə] -n

  1. a skullcap worn esp. by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish males in the synagogue and the home

yarn ['yärn] -n

  1. a continuous often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers or filaments and used in weaving and knitting to form cloth
  2. a similar strand of another material (as metal, glass, or plastic)
  3. a narrative of adventures
  4. a tall tale
    • a roaring good yarn
  5. to tell a yarn

yarndye ['yärn-,dī] -vt

  1. to dye before weaving or knitting

yar·row ['ya-(,)rō] -n

  1. a widely naturalized strong-scented Eurasian composite herb ( Achillea millefolium) with finely dissected leaves and small usu. white corymbose flowers
  2. any of several congeneric plants

yash·mak ['yash-,mak, 'yas-] -n

  1. a veil worn by Muslim women that is wrapped around the upper and lower parts of the face so that only the eyes remain exposed to public view

yat·a·ghan ['ya-tə-,gan, 'ya-ti-gən] -n

  1. a long knife or short saber that lacks a guard for the hand at the juncture of blade and hilt and that usu. has a double curve to the edge and a nearly straight back

yauld ['yȯl(d)] -adj

  1. vigorous

yau·pon ['yü-,pän also 'yō-, 'yȯ-] -n

  1. a holly ( Ilex vomitoria) of the southeastern U.S. that has smooth elliptical leaves with emetic and purgative properties

yau·tia ['yau̇-tē-ə] -n

  1. any of several aroid plants (genus Xanthosoma,esp. X. sagittifolium) chiefly of tropical America with starchy edible shaggy brown tubers that are cooked and eaten like yams or potatoes
  2. one of these tubers

yaw ['yȯ] -n

  1. the action of yawing
  2. a side to side movement
  3. the extent of the movement in yawing
  4. to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea)
  5. to move from side to side
  6. to turn by angular motion about the vertical axis
  7. alternate
    • restlessly yaw ing between apparent extremes -- Martin Kasindorf

yawl ['yȯl] -n

  1. a ship's small boat : jolly boat
  2. a fore-and-aft rigged sailboat carrying a mainsail and one or more jibs with a mizzenmast far aft

yawn ['yȯn, 'yän] -vb

  1. to open wide : gape
  2. to open the mouth wide and take a deep breath usu. as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom
  3. to utter with a yawn
  4. to accomplish with or impel by yawns
    • his grandchildren yawn ed him to bed -- L. L. King
  5. gap, cavity
  6. an opening of the mouth wide while taking a deep breath often as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom
  7. a reaction resembling a yawn
    • a...success at the box office but drew only yawn s from critics -- Current Biog.
  8. bore
    • this book is kind of a yawn -- Ilene L. Cooper

yawn·er ['yȯ-nər] -n

  1. one that yawns
  2. something that causes boredom
    • the show was a real yawner

yawn·ing ['yȯ-niŋ] -adj, adv

  1. wide open : cavernous
    • a yawning hole
    • yawning gaps in the plot
  2. showing fatigue or boredom by yawns
    • a yawning audience

yawp ['yȯp] -vi, n

  1. to make a raucous noise : squawk
  2. clamor, complain
  3. a raucous noise : squawk
  4. something suggestive of a raucous noise
  5. rough vigorous language

yawp·ing ['yȯ-piŋ] -n

  1. a strident utterance

yaws ['yȯz] -n pl but sing or pl in constr

  1. a contagious tropical disease caused by a spirochete ( Treponema pertenue) closely resembling the causative agent of syphilis and marked by infectious ulcerative skin lesions with later bone involvement called also frambesia

yax·is ['wī-,ak-səs] -n

  1. the axis of a plane Cartesian coordinate system parallel to which ordinates are measured
  2. one of the three axes in a three-dimensional rectangular coordinate system