asses

Multiple Entries:
  asses    as  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
asses/ˈasɪz/

plural form of as2, ass1, ass2.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
as1 /az, əz/

▶adverb used in comparisons to refer to the extent or degree of something.

■ used to emphasize an amount.

▶conjunction

• 1 used to indicate simultaneous occurrence.

• 2 used to indicate by comparison the way that something happens.

• 3 because.

• 4 even though.

▶preposition

• 1 used to refer to the function or character of someone or something.

• 2 during the time of being.

– phrases
as for (or to) with regard to.
as from (or of) chiefly Brit. from a particular time or date.
as if (or though) as would be the case if.
as (it) is in the existing circumstances.
as yet until now or that time.

– origin ME: reduced form of OE alswā ‘similarly’ (see also).

usage: Traditionalists hold that it is correct to say he's not as shy as I rather than he's not as shy as me, but the former construction can sound stilted and is now rarely used in normal speech. For more information on this issue, see usage at than.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
as2 /as/

▶noun (pl. asses) an ancient Roman copper coin.

– origin L., ‘a unit’.