Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

B1

Pronunciation: /biː/

(also b)
Translate B | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of B

noun (plural Bs or B's)

  • 1the second letter of the alphabet.
  • denoting the second in a set of items, categories, sizes, etc..
  • the second highest class of academic mark: my grade on that first paper was a B
  • (in the UK) denoting a secondary road:the B4248 B-roads
  • denoting the second-highest-earning socio-economic category for marketing purposes, including intermediate management and professional personnel.
  • (b) Chess denoting the second file from the left, as viewed from White’s side of the board.
  • (usually b) the second fixed constant to appear in an algebraic equation.
  • Geology denoting a soil horizon of intermediate depth, typically the subsoil.
  • the human blood type (in the ABO system) containing the B antigen and lacking the A.
  • (with numeral) denoting a series of international standard paper sizes each twice the area of the next, as B0, B1, B2, B3, B4, etc., B4 being 250 × 353 mm.
  • 2 (usually B) Music the seventh note of the diatonic scale of C major.
  • a key based on a scale with B as its keynote.

Phrases

plan B

an alternative strategy: it’s time I put plan B into action

B in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of B in the US English dictionary
  |  Cite

Word of the day

synodic

/ sɪˈnɒdɪk /
adjective
relating to or involving the conjunction of celestial objects …