4-letter words starting with a
- agal — (among Arabs) a cord wound around a kaffiyeh to hold it in place.
- agar — a complex gelatinous carbohydrate obtained from seaweeds, esp those of the genus Gelidium, used as a culture medium for bacteria, a laxative, in food such as ice cream as a thickening agent (E406), etc
- agas — Plural form of aga.
- agba — a tropical tree, Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum, of the legume family.
- agcy — agency
- aged — You use aged followed by a number to say how old someone is.
- agee — awry, crooked, or ajar
- agen — a market town in SW France, on the Garonne river. Pop: 30 170 (1999)
- ager — anything that produces the effects of age on another thing
- ages — the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to: trees of unknown age; His age is 20 years.
- agha — aga
- agin — against
- agio — the difference between the nominal and actual values of a currency
- agit — shake or stir
- aglu — a breathing hole made in ice by a seal
- agly — off the right line; awry; wrong.
- agma — the symbol (ŋ), used to represent a velar nasal consonant, as in long (lɒŋ ) or tank (tæŋk )
- agni — the god of fire, one of the three chief deities of the Vedas
- agog — If you are agog, you are excited about something, and eager to know more about it.
- agon — (in ancient Greece) a festival at which competitors contended for prizes. Among the best known were the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games
- agra — a city in N India, in W Uttar Pradesh on the Jumna River: a capital of the Mogul empire until 1658; famous for its Mogul architecture, esp the Taj Mahal. Pop: 1 259 979 (2001)
- ague — a fever with successive stages of fever and chills esp when caused by malaria
- ahab — the king of Israel from approximately 869 to 850 bc and husband of Jezebel: rebuked by Elijah (I Kings 16:29–22:40)
- ahaz — a king of Judah, 735?–715? b.c. II Kings 16; II Chron. 28:9.
- ahdl — Analog Hardware Design Language
- ahem — In writing, ahem is used to show that someone is being ironic. Ahem is also used to show that someone wants to get another person's attention.
- ahha — after hours home avoider: a young person who prefers to spend the time after work socializing, rather than return to an empty home
- ahir — a member of the caste of cowherds and milkmen in India.
- ahis — Plural form of ahi.
- ahom — an extinct Thai language of Assam.
- ahoy — Ahoy is something that people in boats shout in order to attract attention.
- ahpl — A Hardware Programming Language
- aicc — All India Congress Committee: the national assembly of the Indian National Congress
- aida — a cotton fabric with a natural mesh
- aide — An aide is an assistant to someone who has an important job, especially in government or in the armed forces.
- aids — AIDS is a disease which destroys the natural system of protection that the body has against other diseases. AIDS is an abbreviation for 'acquired immune deficiency syndrome'.
- aidx — (abuse, operating system) /aydkz/ A derogatory term for IBM's perverted version of Unix, AIX, especially for the AIX 3.? used in the IBM RS/6000 series (some hackers think it is funnier just to pronounce "AIX" as "aches"). A victim of the dreaded "hybridism" disease, this attempt to combine the two main currents of the Unix stream (BSD and USG Unix) became a monstrosity to haunt system administrators' dreams. For example, if new accounts are created while many users are logged on, the load average jumps quickly over 20 due to silly implementation of the user databases. For a quite similar disease, compare HP-SUX. Also, compare Macintrash Nominal Semidestructor, Open DeathTrap, ScumOS, sun-stools.
- aiea — a town on S Oahu, in Hawaii.
- aieu — Australian Insurance Employees Union
- aiff — Audio IFF
- ails — to cause pain, uneasiness, or trouble to.
- aims — Plural form of aim.
- aîné — the eldest or most senior
- aint — Misspelling of ain't.
- ainu — a member of the aboriginal people of Japan, now mostly intermixed with Mongoloid immigrants whose skin colour is more yellowish
- aire — a river in N England rising in the Pennines and flowing southeast to the Ouse. Length: 112 km (70 miles)
- airs — affected manners intended to impress others (esp in the phrases give oneself airs, put on airs)
- airt — a direction or point of the compass, esp the direction of the wind; quarter; region
- airy — If a building or room is airy, it has a lot of fresh air inside, usually because it is large.
- aisy — Archaic spelling of easy.