| applesauce |
a sweet sauce made by cooking apples until they are soft. |
| appliance |
a device used for a particular purpose. Stoves, refrigerators, toasters, vacuum cleaners, and room heaters are some appliances used in the home. Most applicances use electricity. |
| April Fools' Day |
the first day of April, when friendly tricks and jokes are played on people. |
| aquarium |
a tank or other container filled with water in which water animals and plants are kept. [2 definitions] |
| aquifer |
a layer of rock, sand, or gravel that contains water from which wells and springs are supplied. |
| Arctic Circle |
an imaginary line drawn around the earth parallel to the equator which marks the boundary of the Arctic. North of this line there are periods of continuous night in the winter and continuous day in the summer. |
| arena |
a stage, ring, or other enclosed area where shows or sports events are held. [1/3 definitions] |
| aren't |
shortened form of "are not" and of "am not." |
| aristocracy |
a class of people who have a high social position because of the family they are born into. Members of the aristocracy are usually richer and have more privileges than other members of society. [1/2 definitions] |
| arm2 |
(usually plural) weapons. Guns, knives, and bombs are arms. [1/3 definitions] |
| armadillo |
a mammal whose body is protected by hard, bony plates. Armadillos live in Central and South America, and the southern United States. Some kinds of armadillos are only six inches long; other kinds grow up to four feet in length. They eat mostly insects and are related to sloths and anteaters. |
| armory |
a place where weapons and other military equipment are made or stored. |
| arroyo |
a steep ditch carved in a plain or desert by the force of running water. Arroyos are usually dry except after a heavy rainfall. |
| arthropod |
a large group of animals with hard shells on the outsides of their bodies, legs with joints, and no bones inside their bodies. Insects, spiders, centipedes, and crabs are arthropods. |
| article |
the words "a," "an," and "the." These are used before nouns to express whether the noun is a specific example of something ("the chair") or whether the noun is just one of a class of things ("a chair," "an apple"). [1/4 definitions] |
| artisan |
a person skilled in making things, especially by using the hands. People such as those who make furniture, quilts, or other crafts are artisans. |
| art room |
a room in a school where art is taught and where art materials are kept. |
| asparagus |
a plant related to the lily, whose young shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The shoots are shaped like spears with scaly leaves at the tip. |
| ass |
a mammal with long legs and hooves that is closely related to the horse. A donkey is a domestic ass. Asses look like horses but are smaller and have longer ears. Wild asses live in Africa and Asia and are in danger of becoming extinct. [1/2 definitions] |
| assumption |
something that is supposed or believed without questioning. For example, if you ask someone whether she is allowed to watch TV during dinner, you have made an assumption that there is a TV in her house. Assumptions are ideas people have that are not based on proven facts. An assumption can be correct or incorrect. [1/2 definitions] |
| aster |
a plant with white, pink, blue, or purple flowers. The flowers are made up of many narrow petals around a yellow center. |