<B>astrophotograph, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a photograph of a heavenly body. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a large astrophotograph of the spiral nebula of Andromeda (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="astrophotographic">
<B>astrophotographic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with astrophotography. </DL>
<A NAME="astrophotography">
<B>astrophotography, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the photography of heavenly bodies, especially for astronomical purposes. </DL>
<A NAME="astrophotometer">
<B>astrophotometer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a photometer for measuring the intensity of the light of heavenly bodies. </DL>
<A NAME="astrophotometrical">
<B>astrophotometrical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with the astrophotometer or its use. <DD><B> 2. </B>obtained or made by means of the astrophotometer. </DL>
<A NAME="astrophotometry">
<B>astrophotometry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> measurement of the intensity of the light of heavenly bodies. </DL>
<A NAME="astrophysical">
<B>astrophysical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with astrophysics. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the physical and chemical characteristics of heavenly bodies. adv. <B>astrophysically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="astrophysicist">
<B>astrophysicist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who studies astrophysics. <BR> <I>Ex. The astrophysicists tell us that there is practically no lithium, beryllium, or boron in the universe (E. P. George).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="astrophysics">
<B>astrophysics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of astronomy that deals with the physical characteristics of heavenly bodies, suchas luminosity, temperature, size, mass, and density, and also their chemical composition. <BR> <I>Ex. With the advent of the spectrograph and other modern appliances, astrophysics was developed and it is now the most rapidly expanding branch of astronomy (John C. Duncan).</I> </DL>
<B>AstroTurf, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a material made with nylon and vinyl that resembles a grassy surface, used for artificial playing fields and lawns. </DL>
<A NAME="astucious">
<B>astucious</B> or <B>astutious, </B>adjective. <B>=astute.</B></DL>
<A NAME="astucity">
<B>astucity, </B>noun. <B>=astuteness.</B></DL>
<A NAME="asturian">
<B>Asturian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of Asturias (a region of Spain) or its people. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a native or inhabitant of Asturias. <DD><B> 2. </B>the dialect of Spanish spoken by Asturians. </DL>
<A NAME="astute">
<B>astute, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> shrewd, especially with regard to one's own interests; clever; crafty; sagacious. <BR> <I>Ex. He was an astute businessman who turned a profit easily.</I> adv. <B>astutely.</B> noun <B>astuteness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="astyanax">
<B>Astyanax, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Legend.) the young son of Hector and Andromache, hurled from the walls of Troy by the victorious Greeks because of the prediction that he would restore the Trojan kingdom. </DL>
<A NAME="astylar">
<B>astylar, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having no columns or pilasters. </DL>
<A NAME="asub">
<B>A-sub, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) an atomic submarine. </DL>
<B>asunder, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> in pieces; into separate parts. <BR> <I>Ex. Lightning split the tree asunder.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> apart or separate from each other. <BR> <I>Ex. The two armies were miles asunder.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="asur">
<B>Asur, </B>noun. <B>=Ashur.</B></DL>
<A NAME="aswarm">
<B>aswarm, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> swarming. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the streets are aswarm with humanity (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<B>aswim, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> swimming; overflowing. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) the Terrace Room, which was aswim with Grandmothers (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="aswirl">
<B>aswirl, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a swirl; swirling. <BR> <I>Ex. with skirts aswirl.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="aswoon">
<B>aswoon, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a swoon; swooning. </DL>
<A NAME="asyllabic">
<B>asyllabic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not constituting a syllable; not syllabic. </DL>
<A NAME="asylum">
<B>asylum, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an institution for the support and care of the mentally ill, the blind, orphans, or other people who are unable to care for themselves. <DD><B> 2. </B>refuge; shelter. In olden times a church might be an asylum for a debtor or a criminal, since no one was allowed to drag a person from the altar. Now asylum is sometimes given by one nation to persons of another nation who are accused of political or other crimes. (SYN) sanctuary, protection. </DL>
<A NAME="asymmetric">
<B>asymmetric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>not symmetrical; lacking symmetry. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Logic.) denoting a relationship between terms which cannot be reversed. In "John is the father of Bill," <I>is the father of</I> is asymmetric. adv. <B>asymmetrically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="asymmetrical">
<B>asymmetrical, </B>adjective. <B>=asymmetric.</B> <I>Ex. Any object which cannot be divided into corresponding halves by any plane is said to be asymmetrical (A. Franklin Shull).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="asymmetriccarbonatom">
<B>asymmetric carbon atom,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) a carbon atom combined directly with four unlike atoms or groups. </DL>
<A NAME="asymmetry">
<B>asymmetry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> lack of symmetry. </DL>
<A NAME="asymptomatic">
<B>asymptomatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without symptoms. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a patient who is asymptomatic or has only vague or slight symptoms (Francis Lederer).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="asymptopia">
<B>asymptopia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nuclear Physics.) a hypothetical region in which the interactions of high-energy particles approach constant values. <BR> <I>Ex. Such fantastic power could finally bring experimenters to ... "asymptopia": the far-out region on the energy scale where all the complex events inside the atom--and hence the very nature of matter--comes within reach of man's understanding (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="asymptote">
<B>asymptote, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a straight line that continually approaches a curve but does not meet it within a finite distance. </DL>
<A NAME="asymptotic">
<B>asymptotic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with an asymptote. adv. <B>asymptotically.</B> </DL>
<B>asynchronism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> asynchronous quality or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="asynchronous">
<B>asynchronous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not coinciding in time. <BR> <I>Ex. Since they all work on a basic system of asynchronous gears ... their motion is inherently unstable and nonrepetitive (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<B>asyndetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>not joined by a conjunction. (Examples:) the book I read; the time he was here. <DD><B> 2. </B>without cross references. <BR> <I>Ex. an asyndetic catalog.</I> adv. <B>asyndetically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="asyndeton">
<B>asyndeton, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the omission of conjunctions for emphasis or brevity, as in "Come take it," "Go get him." </DL>
<A NAME="asynergy">
<B>asynergy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-gies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> lack of coordination of parts or organs normally acting in harmony. </DL>
<A NAME="asyntactic">
<B>asyntactic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> loosely put together; irregular; ungrammatical. <BR> <I>Ex. If they [compounds] conform to the grammatical pattern, they are syntactic compounds (e.g., radioactive). If they fail to conform, they may be termed asyntactic (e.g., baby-sitting) (Simeon Potter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="at">
<B>at, </B>preposition.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in; on; by; near. <BR> <I>Ex. There is someone at the front door. She is at school.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>in the direction of; to; toward. <BR> <I>Ex. to aim at the mark. Look at me. The dog ran at the cat.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>on or near the time of. <BR> <I>Ex. at midnight. He goes to bed at nine o'clock.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>in a place or condition of. <BR> <I>Ex. at right angles. England and France were at war.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>through; by way of. <BR> <I>Ex. Smoke came out at the chimney.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>doing; trying to do; engaged in. <BR> <I>Ex. He is at work on a new project.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>for. <BR> <I>Ex. We bought two books at a dollar each.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>because of; by reason of; with. <BR> <I>Ex. The shipwrecked sailors were happy at the arrival of the rescuers. She is angry at you.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>according to. <BR> <I>Ex. She can wiggle her ears at will.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>from. <BR> <I>Ex. The prisoner got good treatment at the hands of his captors.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>at one. </B>See under <B>one.</B></I> </DL>
<A NAME="at">
<B>at-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (prefix.) the form of <B>ad-</B> before <I>t,</I> as in <I>attain.</I> </DL>
<B>atabal, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of kettledrum or tabor used by the Moors. Also, <B>attabal.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="atabrine">
<B>Atabrine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a yellow, crystalline, synthetic compound, quinacrine hydrochloride, used, especially during World War II, in treating malaria; atebrin; mepacrine. </DL>
<A NAME="atacamite">
<B>atacamite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline or massive form of copper chloride occurring in various shades of green. </DL>
