Alphabet - A

A

ABC - The first three letters of alphabet of English (figurative), elementary language of any subject or object, as easy simple as ABC, the ABC of something.

My father taught me the ABC of computer.

A-I or A-One--First rate or first quality, very good, top ranking.

The shoes made by ‘Nike’ are A-One.

Aback, to be taken aback—to be surprised or astonished.

The news of the theft in our shop took ever body aback.

Abandon—give up completely, forsake.

If you abandon your study it would be difficult for you to pass the examination.

To hold in abeyance—to keep a problem in suspense

Ram’s conviction was held in abeyance for the marriage purpose of his son.

To abide by—to fulfill, to act upon, to carryout.

We should abide by the rules.

Abortive—unsuccessful, born untimely.

His efforts proved abortive as he did not have the necessary knowledge required for the work.

Abound, abound with—plentiful, to be full of.

The pond is abound with fish.

About, to be about—to strive to do.

You should be serious about the health of your wife much before her pregnancy.

Out and about—to do normal work.

Back from hospital, he is again out and about his business.

To hang about—to hover about, to rest for support or to lean to hover about

He hangs about the rich people in the hope of some of some favour .

To come about—to happen.

He strongly feels that the expected will come about.

To bring about—to effect, to cause.

Hard work and honest efforts will bring about the desired result.

To go about—to try to do, to set about.

To go about honestly through the whole process is the key to success.

Beat about the bush—indirect means to reach an object; to convey one’s meaning in a roundabout fashion.

Do not beat about the bush but face the problem.

Fall about/around one’s ears—in a state of complete chaos or destruction.

Lack of urgency and discipline is the reason why the whole scheme has fallen about his ears.

About time—used to express the idea that something should have already happened.

Its about time Ravi mend his ways. See how poor he is now.

Put about—Disturbed.

The relatives of passengers were very much put about by the news of the accident of the train.

Abhor—To have abhorrence for—to detest, to have extreme hatred for.

I have an abhorrence for drinking.

Ability, beyond ability—anything beyond power, strength, skill or understanding.

This financial problem is beyond his ability.

Ablaze, to set ablaze, to set on fire, to burn.

In a fit of anger he set ablaze important papers and they got burnt down in no time.

Above, above board—fair, lawful.

I have always found him to be honest and above board.

Above criticism—faultless, one who cannot be criticized.

Manmohan Singh will always be above criticism.

Above means—beyond limit or capacity or income.

We should not go above our means.

Above understanding—beyond capacity to learn or understand anything.

The concept is above my understanding.

Over and above—besides or in addition to.

Over and above my office duties I have to attend to my personal work also.

Above all—above everything else.

He is a very straightforward person.

Absent, absent minded—inattentive.

If anyone is absentminded in the class, he will not understand the lessons taught by the teacher.

Absolve, absolve of—to acquit; pardon; to discharge.

The Judge absolved the accused of all charges against him made by the police.

Abstain, abstain from—to draw out by force, to separate.

The admission of guilt was abstracted from the culprit by the police officer.

Abundance, in abundance-in great quantity, in plenty, more than needed

The apple is available in abundance this year, but banana is yet in short support.

Access, access to—liberty to see or approach, without bar.

He has access to all the officers of the company.

Accent, to put accent on—to stress, to emphasize.

While addressing the nation the President put great accent on maintaining unity.

Accept, accepted by—agreed to.

His proposal was accepted by his father.

Acceptable to—agreeable to; pleasing to.

The scheme put up by Rohit to solve the problem was quite acceptable to the department.

Accept hand of friendship—to accept friendship, to become friends.

As a consequence of acceptance of hand of friendship from the U.S.A. by India at Delhi the tension between the two countries abated considerably.

Receive acceptance—get accepted, agreement to.

After a good deal of effort Ajay received acceptance of his
proposal from his father.

Accession—To addition, to increase.

The idea to open a new branch in the city resulted in accession to our profit
beyond our expectation.

Accident, by accident— an unforeseen event, by chance.

I met him by accident but later he became my fast friend.

Accommodate—to give accommodation—to provide adjustment,
to help

During our school tour to Agra , we got accommodation at a very nice hotel.

Accommodation to— to adjust to the circumstances, to harmonize.

Though the place was new to me but I tried my best to accommodate
myself.

Accompany, accompany with—to support, to keep company with.

My wife accompanies me to the morning walk daily.

Accord, accord to—agree with/to.

In accordance with— in agreement with.

Of one’s own accord—of one’s own free will.

Our work was accorded to by the supervisor of the company.
We granted him promotion on our own accord.
Your work is not in accord with your post.

Accede to—to assent, to agree.

My father acceded to my proposal only after convincing himself.

Accent, accepted by — agreed to.

My plan was accepted by the officer-in-charge.

According—in proportion to.

According to— as agreed, or accepted to.

Everything was going according to the plan.

In accordance with—as agreed to/as promised to.

The work was being done exactly in accordance with the promise made by him.

Accounting, accounting for taste(s).

Rahul has painted all the rooms in his house bright yellow—it just
proves that there’s no accounting for taste.

To settle an account — to finalize statement of account between two
persons or parties

Finally the court settled the account between the two parties.

To bring to account—to fix responsibility on—to hold responsible for.

Current account—business dealings between two persons or a person and a bank.

Our current account is in the State Bank of India.

To square accounts—to finalize accounts by paying or receiving the outstanding amount.

For squaring accounts with that firm Rohan had to pay Rs. 100/- extra.

On account or to account—Interim or part payment in the account of a firm or person.

Addie has received Rs. 100/- from Vicky on account and a credit letter has been sent to him.

On account of or for account of— On behalf of.

As advised, we are sending to M/s. Ramesh & Co., a draft for Rs. 1000/- on account of Sohan Traders.

To turn to account—to make better use of.

As the market prices rose abruptly, we could turn to account even a little below standard goods.

To take into account—to take into consideration.

While deciding the case, the officer took into account all the arguments advocated by each worker.

To take no account of— to ignore, to overlook.

The director of the firm took no account of the pleas of his assistant and dismissed him.

To no account—useless, worthless.

Ravi had to return the books received long after the examination because those were of no account to him then.