Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A single spot or pip on a playing card, die, or domino.
  • noun A playing card, die, or domino having one spot or pip.
  • noun In racket games.
  • noun A serve that one's opponent fails to hit.
  • noun A point scored by such a serve.
  • noun The act of hitting a golf ball in the hole with one's first shot.
  • noun A military aircraft pilot who has destroyed five or more enemy aircraft.
  • noun An expert in a given field.
  • adjective Top-notch; first-rate.
  • transitive verb To serve an ace against in racket games.
  • transitive verb To hit an ace on (a hole) in golf.
  • transitive verb Slang To get the better of (someone).
  • transitive verb To receive a grade of A on.
  • transitive verb To perform with distinction on.
  • idiom (ace in the hole/up one's sleeve) A hidden advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed.
  • idiom (within an ace of) On the verge of; very near to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A noun-suffix occurring in populace, pinnace, etc. (which see). It is not used as an English formative. In menace, grimace, and other words, the suffix is of different origin.
  • noun A unit; specifically, a single pip on a card or die, or a card or die marked with a single pip.
  • noun A very small quantity; a particle; an atom; a trifle: as, the creditor will not abate an ace of his demand.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective of the highest quality.
  • verb colloq. to get a grade of "A".
  • noun A unit; a single point or spot on a card or die; the card or die so marked.
  • noun Hence: A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.
  • noun (Sport) A single point won by a stroke, as in handball, rackets, etc.; in tennis, frequently, a point won by a service stroke.
  • noun to make the least abatement. [Obs.]
  • noun very near; on the point of.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A single point or spot on a playing card or die.
  • noun A card or die face so marked.
  • noun A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.
  • noun tennis A serve won without the opponent hitting the ball.
  • noun baseball The best pitcher on the team.
  • noun baseball, dated, 19th century A run.
  • noun golf A hole in one.
  • noun An expert at something.
  • noun A military aircraft pilot who is credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.
  • noun A perfect score on a school exam.
  • verb To pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly.
  • verb tennis To win a point by an ace.
  • verb golf To make an ace (hole in one).
  • adjective UK, slang Excellent.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of the highest quality
  • verb succeed at easily
  • verb score an ace against
  • verb play (a hole) in one stroke
  • verb serve an ace against (someone)
  • noun the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • noun one of four playing cards in a deck having a single pip on its face
  • noun a major strategic headquarters of NATO; safeguards an area extending from Norway to Turkey

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English as, from Old French, from Latin, unit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis, unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage. Compare as

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Examples

Comments

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  • great-grandson of Babe

    August 1, 2008

  • http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/02/06/24851726/savage-love-letter-of-the-day-maybe-sex-just-isnt-his-thing

    It just so happens, NOHUMP, that plenty of asexuals (aka "aces"), identified as L, G, or B before realizing they were more of an A. Julia Sondra Decker, asexuality activist and author of The Invisible Orientation, gives some context:

    February 7, 2017

  • http://www.whatisasexuality.com/am-i-ace/teen/

    You can be asexual even if you've had sex. I know, it sounds strange, but having sex doesn't mean you can't be asexual. Some aces are curious. Some aces think it's what they're supposed to do. And some aces even like it.

    February 7, 2017

  • We wondered how being ace and nonbinary were related, if they even were.&sub2;

    . . .

    2. "Ace" is slang for asexual.

    Cal Sparrow, "Lowercase Q," in Micah Rajunov & Scott Duane, eds., Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019), p. 145

    May 31, 2020

  • I AM LOVE LOVE IS I

    October 6, 2022