Ab
noun
Av.
Ab
1 American
[ahb, ahv]
/ ɑb, ɑv /
noun
AB
3
American
abbreviation
-
Nautical. able seaman.
-
U.S. Air Force. Airman Basic.
-
Alberta, Canada (approved for postal use).
-
antiballistic; antiballistic missile.
AB
4
American
Symbol, Physiology.
ab-
5
American
ab.
6
American
abbreviation
-
about.
-
Baseball. (times) at bat.
A.B.
7
American
abbreviation
A.B.
8
American
AB
1
British
abbreviation
-
Also: a.b.. able-bodied seaman
-
(in the US) Bachelor of Arts
-
(esp in postal addresses) Alberta (Canada)
symbol
Ab
2
British
/ æb /
noun
ab-
3
British
prefix
ab-
4
British
prefix
Etymology
Origin of ab-5
< Latin ab (preposition and prefix) from, away, cognate with Greek apó, Sanskrit ápa, German ab, English of 1, off
Origin of A.B.7
< New Latin, Medieval Latin Artium Baccalaureus
Explanation
An ab is a stomach, or abdominal, muscle. Doing sit ups and crunches will help you tone your abs. Ab is shorthand for abdominal, which comes from the Latin abdomen, "belly," and it's a common name for what's formally known as the rectus abdominus muscle. Your abs run up and down the front of your torso, on either side of your belly button. In extremely fit or muscly people with little body fat, you can actually see how the abs are separated into several sections, the so-called "six-pack."
Vocabulary lists containing ab
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Based on its properties, Epsilon Indi Ab was expected to contain large amounts of ammonia gas as well, but not ammonia clouds.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026
Some flirted only briefly with Ab Ex ideas before moving on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 28, 2026
So it felt like Ab to Abby was a very cute jump.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2025
The Taliban’s Transportation and Civil Aviation Ministry said in an online statement the plane was found in the district of Kuf Ab district, near the Aruz Koh mountain.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
He hobbles along the streets calling, Anna Lie Sweets Lie, which doesn’t sound a bit like Limerick Leader and it doesn’t matter because everyone knows this is Ab Sheehan that was dropped on his head.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
In October 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 316, barring any defendant who developed, modified or used an AI system from asserting that the AI autonomously caused the harm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I introduced AB 2440 to address strong concerns raised by arts-education advocates and school districts,” Muratsuchi said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Funding from MetaCurUm Biotech AB, a biotechnology company based in Umeå, was essential for developing and testing the treatment.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
A June 1 letter to lawmakers, signed by a group of 3-D printing companies, stagecraft and prop-making studios and industry stakeholders, argued that AB 2047 raises 1st Amendment concerns and would harm businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Any AB and NAB naturals out there who want to share their regimen?
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It is altogether too easy to allow one's sense of the ab- surdity of a good many of its episodes to cloud one's perception of the beauty underlying them.
From Time Magazine Archive
It appears as a-, ab-, ac-, ad-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-, as in achieve, abbreviate, accede, admire, affix, aggregate, allot, annex, approve, arrive, assign, attract.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
To find whether a wanted word in ab- occurs in this glossary, it was necessary to look through more than two columns containing ninety-five entries.
From The evolution of English lexicography by James Augustus Henry Murray
Falsten holds little communication with any of us, but remains ab- sorbed in his calculations, and amuses himself by tracing mechanical diagrams with ground-plan, section, elevation, all complete.
From The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne
God had been graciously preparing me during many years for the reception of this final revelation of the ab- 107:6 solute divine Principle of scientific mental healing.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
In the third edition it was reprinted at the end of the Stans puer ad Mensam by Wynkin de Worde ab. 1501-1510.
From Caxton's Book of Curtesye by Frederick James Furnivall
"Our focus is on crop improvement, pest and disease surveillance, soil management, capacity building, and technology transfer related to cardamom," says A.B.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
“We’re in our toddler, young juvenile phase, of trying to navigate things with the industry,” said Felicia A.B.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
“Dad was out in the streets when he was young, and he didn’t want that for us,” recalled Selena’s older brother, Grammy-winning producer and bassist A.B.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
Speaking in the aftermath of that horror, then-prime minister A.B.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2023
He planned to complete work for an A.B. degree and then enter law school.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
