y ['wī] -n
- the 25th letter of the English alphabet
- a graphic representation of this letter
- a speech counterpart of orthographic y
- a graphic device for reproducing the letter y
- one designated yesp. as the 25th in order or class or the second in order or class when x is made the first
- something shaped like the letter Y
- yard
- year
Y ['wī] -n
- ymca
- ywca
- yttrium
YA -abbr
- young adult
yab·ber ['ya-bər] -n, vi
- talk, jabber
- all yabber and chatter ceased around the campfires -- Francis Birtles
yab·by ['ya-bē] -n
- any of various burrowing Australian crayfishes (genus Cherax,esp. C. destructor) that are used for food
yacht ['yät] -n
- : any of various recreational watercraft: as
- a sailboat used for racing
- a large usu. motor-driven craft used for pleasure cruising
- to race or cruise in a yacht
yacht club -n
- a club organized to promote and regulate yachting and boating
yacht·ing ['yä-tiŋ] -n
- the action, fact, or pastime of racing or cruising in a yacht
yachts·man ['yäts-mən] -n
- a person who owns or sails a yacht
ya·da ya·da ['yä-də-'yä-də] -n
- 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
- 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
- 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
- a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travelswho have the form and all the vices of humans
- a boorish, crass, or stupid person
- yippee
Yah·weh ['yä-(,)wā, -(,)vā] -n
- god used esp. by the ancient Hebrews
Yah·wism [-,wi-zəm, -,vi-] -n
- the worship of Yahweh among the ancient Hebrews
Yah·wis·tic [yä-'wis-tik, -'vis-] -adj
- characterized by the use of Yahwehas the name of God
- of or relating to Yahwism
yak ['yak] -n
- 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)
- laugh
- joke, gag
- laugh, joke usu. used in the phrase yuk it up
Yak·a·ma ['ya-kə-,mȯ] -n
- a member of a group of Sahaptin peoples of the lower Yakima River valley, south central Washington
- the language of the Yakama people
ya·ki·to·ri [,yä-ki-'tȯr-ē] -n
- bite-size marinated pieces of beef, seafood, or chicken on skewers
ya·ku·za ['yä-ku̇-,zä] -n
- a Japanese gangster
- an organized crime syndicate in Japan
yam ['yam] -n
- the edible starchy tuberous root of various plants (genus Dioscoreaof the family Dioscoreaceae) used as a staple food in tropical areas
- a plant producing yams
- a moist usu. orange-fleshed sweet potato
ya·men ['yä-mən] -n
- the headquarters or residence of a Chinese government official or department
yam·mer ['ya-mər] -vi, n
- to utter repeated cries of distress or sorrow
- whimper
- to utter persistent complaints : whine
- to talk persistently or volubly and often loudly
- caused the purists to yammer for censorship -- D. W. Maurer
yang ['yäŋ, 'yaŋ] -n
- 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
- to pull on something with a quick vigorous movement
- to pull or extract with a quick vigorous movement
- to remove in or as if in an abrupt manner
- yank ed the story from the evening edition
- a strong sudden pull : jerk
Yank ['yaŋk] -n
- yankee
Yan·kee ['yaŋ-kē] -n
- a native or inhabitant of New England
- a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.
- a native or inhabitant of the U.S.
Yankee
- a communications code word for the letter y
Yan·keeDoo·dle [,yaŋ-kē-'dü-dᵊl] -n
- yankee
Ya·no·ma·mi [,yä-nō-'mä-mē] -n
- an indigenous people inhabiting the rain forests of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil
- a member of the Yanomami people
- the family of four closely related languages spoken by the Yanomami
yan·qui ['yäŋ-kē] -n
- a citizen of the U.S. as distinguished from a Latin American
yan·tra ['yən-trə, 'yan-, 'yän-] -n
- a geometrical diagram used like an icon usu. in meditation
yap ['yap] -vi, n
- to talk in a shrill insistent way : chatter
- to bark snappishly : yelp
- a quick sharp bark : yelp
- shrill insistent talk : chatter
- an unsophisticated, ignorant, or uncouth person : bumpkin
- mouth
Ya·qui ['yä-kē] -n
- a member of an American Indian people of Sonora, Mexico
- the Uto-Aztecan language of the Yaqui people
Yar·bor·ough ['yär-,bər-ə, -,bə-rə, -b(ə-)rə] -n
- a hand in bridge or whist containing no ace and no card higher than a nine
yard ['yärd] -n
- a small usu. walled and often paved area open to the sky and adjacent to a building : court
- the grounds of a building or group of buildings
- the grounds immediately surrounding a house that are usu. covered with grass
- an enclosure for livestock (as poultry)
- an area with its buildings and facilities set aside for a particular business or activity
- an assembly or storage area (as for dry-docked boats)
- a system of tracks for storage and maintenance of cars and making up trains
- a locality in a forest where deer herd in winter
- of, relating to, or employed in the yard surrounding a building
- of, relating to, or employed in a railroad yard
- to drive into or confine in a restricted area : herd, pen
- to deliver to or store in a yard
- to congregate in or as if in a yard
- : any of various units of measure: as
- a unit of length equal in the U.S. to 0.9144 meter
- a unit of volume equal to a cubic yard
- a great length or quantity
- remembered yard s of facts and figures
- one hundred dollars
- a long spar tapered toward the ends to support and spread the head of a square sail, lateen, or lugsail
- a slender glass about three feet tall having a flared opening and a bulbous bottom
- the amount it contains
yard·age ['yär-dij] -n
- the use of a livestock enclosure for animals in transit provided by a railroad at a station
- a charge made by a railroad for the use of a livestock enclosure
yardage -n
- an aggregate number of yards
- the length, extent, or volume of something as measured in yards
- yard goods
yard·arm ['yärd-,ärm] -n
- either end of the yard of a square-rigged ship
yard·bird [-,bərd] -n
- a soldier assigned to a menial task or restricted to a limited area as a disciplinary measure
- an untrained or inept enlisted man
yard·er ['yär-dər] -n
- one that is a specified number of yards in length used in combination
yard goods -n pl
- fabrics sold by the yard : piece goods
yard grass -n
- a tall annual Old World grass ( Eleusine indica) widely distributed as a weed called also goosegrass
yard line -n
- 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
- 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
- the plant
yard·man ['yärd-mən, -,man] -n
- a person employed to do outdoor work (as mowing lawns)
- a person who works in the yard of a commercial establishment
- one who supervises the handling of building materials in a lumberyard
- a railroad hand employed in yard service
yard·mas·ter [-,mas-tər] -n
- the person in charge of operations in a railroad yard
yard sale -n
- garage sale
yard·stick ['yärd-,stik] -n
- a graduated measuring stick three feet (0.9144 meter) long
- a standard basis of calculation
- a yardstick for measuring astronomical distances
- 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
- set for action : ready
- characterized by speed and agility : nimble, lively
- handy , maneuverable
yar·mul·ke ['yä-mə-kə, 'yär-mə(l)-kə] -n
- a skullcap worn esp. by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish males in the synagogue and the home
yarn ['yärn] -n
- a continuous often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers or filaments and used in weaving and knitting to form cloth
- a similar strand of another material (as metal, glass, or plastic)
- a narrative of adventures
- a tall tale
- to tell a yarn
yarndye ['yärn-,dī] -vt
- to dye before weaving or knitting
yar·row ['ya-(,)rō] -n
- a widely naturalized strong-scented Eurasian composite herb ( Achillea millefolium) with finely dissected leaves and small usu. white corymbose flowers
- any of several congeneric plants
yash·mak ['yash-,mak, 'yas-] -n
- 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
- 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
- vigorous
yau·pon ['yü-,pän also 'yō-, 'yȯ-] -n
- 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
- 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
- one of these tubers
yaw ['yȯ] -n
- the action of yawing
- a side to side movement
- the extent of the movement in yawing
- to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea)
- to move from side to side
- to turn by angular motion about the vertical axis
- alternate
- restlessly yaw ing between apparent extremes -- Martin Kasindorf
yawl ['yȯl] -n
- a ship's small boat : jolly boat
- a fore-and-aft rigged sailboat carrying a mainsail and one or more jibs with a mizzenmast far aft
yawn ['yȯn, 'yän] -vb
- to open wide : gape
- to open the mouth wide and take a deep breath usu. as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom
- to utter with a yawn
- to accomplish with or impel by yawns
- his grandchildren yawn ed him to bed -- L. L. King
- gap, cavity
- an opening of the mouth wide while taking a deep breath often as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom
- a reaction resembling a yawn
- a...success at the box office but drew only yawn s from critics -- Current Biog.
- bore
- this book is kind of a yawn -- Ilene L. Cooper
yawn·er ['yȯ-nər] -n
- one that yawns
- something that causes boredom
- the show was a real yawner
yawn·ing ['yȯ-niŋ] -adj, adv
- wide open : cavernous
- showing fatigue or boredom by yawns
yawp ['yȯp] -vi, n
- to make a raucous noise : squawk
- clamor, complain
- a raucous noise : squawk
- something suggestive of a raucous noise
- rough vigorous language
yawp·ing ['yȯ-piŋ] -n
- a strident utterance
yaws ['yȯz] -n pl but sing or pl in constr
- 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
- the axis of a plane Cartesian coordinate system parallel to which ordinates are measured
- one of the three axes in a three-dimensional rectangular coordinate system