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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

abc

/ˈeɪˌbiˌsi/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does abc mean?

noun

  1. The English alphabet.
  2. The fundamentals of any subject.
  3. A straightforward, uniform playing style, often focusing on betting for value, folding weak hands, and avoiding bluffing.
More meanings (52)

noun

  1. A British alphabetized guidebook listing trains and their stations.
  2. Ellipsis of ABC store.
  3. Initialism of airway, breathing and circulation, the essential steps in the immediate assessment and treatment of critically ill or injured patients.
  4. Initialism of alcoholic beverage control.
  5. Initialism of Australian-born Chinese.
  6. Initialism of activity-based costing.
  7. Initialism of advance base camp.
  8. Initialism of ATP-binding cassette.
  9. Initialism of antigen-binding capacity.
  10. Initialism of age-associated B cell.
  11. Initialism of aneurysmal bone cyst.
  12. Initialism of adenoid basal cell carcinoma.
  13. Abbreviation of abacavir.
  14. Initialism of accelerated blood clearance.
  15. Initialism of Atanasoff-Berry computer.
  16. Initialism of artificial bee colony.
  17. Initialism of assignment for the benefit of creditors.
  18. Initialism of absorbing boundary condition.
  19. Initialism of abstract base class.
  20. Initialism of adventure-based counseling.
  21. Initialism of affect, behavior, and cognition.
  22. Initialism of alien big cat.
  23. Initialism of active body control.
  24. (informal) Initialism of Archbishop of Canterbury.
  25. A keyboard layout in which all keys are arranged in alphabetical order in English.
  26. (obsolete) A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order.
  27. (obsolete) A primer for teaching the Latin alphabet and first elements of reading.
  28. (derogatory) Initialism of American-born Chinese.

adjective

  1. Initialism of atomic, biological and chemical, the three main categories of weapon of mass destruction.
  2. (slang) Initialism of already been chewed.
  3. Initialism of activated B-cell-like.

phrase

  1. Initialism of anything but Chardonnay, a backlash against Chardonnay wine, seen as ubiquitous.
  2. Initialism of abstinence, be faithful, use a condom, a sex education policy developed in response to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
  3. Initialism of always be charging, a recommendation to remember to charge or be left without use by a low battery at an inopportune time.
  4. Initialism of anything but Conservative.

proper noun

  1. Initialism of American Broadcasting Company, an American commercial broadcast television network founded in 1943.
  2. Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. Initialism of Asahi Broadcasting Corporation.
  4. Initialism of Agricultural Bank of China.
  5. Initialism of Audit Bureau of Circulations.
  6. Initialism of Advance Booking Charter.
  7. Initialism of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, the three most powerful and wealthiest countries in South America.
  8. Initialism of Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo and São Caetano do Sul, satellite cities around the city of São Paulo that form the most important industrial area in Brazil.
  9. Initialism of Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad.
  10. Initialism of American Book Center, an English-language bookstore in Amsterdam founded in 1972.
  11. An imperative general-purpose programming language, intended for teaching or prototyping.
  12. Initialism of Anglican Book Centre, the publishing house and bookshop of the Anglican Church of Canada until 2013.
  13. (historical) Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Company.
  14. (historical) Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Commission.
  15. (historical) Initialism of Aerated Bread Company, which ran a network of shops and cafeterias.
  16. (historical) Initialism of Asian Basketball Confederation.
  17. (historical) Initialism of American Bowling Congress.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈeɪˌbiˌsi/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

I am afraid you will tell me to learn my ABC to know quartz from feldspar before I indulge in such speculations.
Charles DarwinMore Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 A Record of His Work in a Series of Hitherto Unpublished LettersProject Gutenberg ebook #2739
“Greek from morning to night. If ever Miss Rachel marries, Chailey, pray that she may marry a man who doesn’t know his ABC.”
Virginia WoolfThe Voyage OutProject Gutenberg ebook #144
More book examples (3)
A very curious development of child-linguistics is seen in the so-called ABC Rhymes.
Alexander Francis ChamberlainThe Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-DayProject Gutenberg ebook #7966
Besides, in our day, the very ABC has become a science greatly too abstruse to be any longer taught by pointing a pin from letter to letter.
Nathaniel HawthorneThe House of the Seven GablesProject Gutenberg ebook #77
He turned round, and there, on the bench in the back of the room, the old blacksmith sat with a big ABC book open on his knees.
Sara Cone BryantHow to Tell Stories to Children, and Some Stories to TellProject Gutenberg ebook #474