us

Multiple Entries:
  us    US    U  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
us/əs/

▶pronoun [first person pl.]

• 1 used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself and one or more others as the object of a verb or preposition.

  ■ used after the verb ‘to be’ and after ‘than’ or ‘as’.

  ■ N. Amer. informal to or for ourselves.

• 2 informal me.

– origin OE ūs, accusative and dative of we, of Gmc origin.

usage: Is it correct to say they are richer than us, or is it better to say they are richer than we (are)? See usage at than.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
US/juːˈes/

▶abbreviation

• 1 Brit. undersecretary.

• 2 United States.

• 3 Brit. informal unserviceable.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
U1 /juː/ (also u)

▶noun (pl. Us or U's)

• 1 the twenty-first letter of the alphabet.

• 2 denoting the next after T in a set of items, categories, etc.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
U2 /juː/

▶abbreviation

• 1 (in names of sports clubs) United.

• 2 Brit. universal (denoting films classified as suitable without restriction).

• 3 Uruguay (international vehicle registration).

▶symbol the chemical element uranium.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
U3 /juː/

▶adjective Brit. informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes.

– origin 1954: abbrev. of upper class; coined by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
U4 /uː/

▶noun a Burmese title of respect before a man's name, equivalent to Mr.