an|cil|lary /æns I ləri, [AM ] æ nsəleri/ (ancillaries )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] The ancillary workers in an institution are the people such as cleaners and cooks whose work supports the main work of the institution. □ …ancillary staff. □ …ancillary services like cleaning. ● N‑COUNT Ancillary is also a noun. □ …ancillaries who look after the children in the playground.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Ancillary means additional to something else. [FORMAL ]
and ◆◆◆ /ənd, STRONG ænd/
1 CONJ You use and to link two or more words, groups, or clauses. □ When he returned, she and Simon had already gone. □ I'm going to write good jokes and become a good comedian. □ I'm 53 and I'm very happy.
2 CONJ You use and to link two words or phrases that are the same in order to emphasize the degree of something, or to suggest that something continues or increases over a period of time. [EMPHASIS ] □ We talked for hours and hours. □ He lay down on the floor and cried and cried.
3 CONJ You use and to link two statements about events when one of the events follows the other. □ I waved goodbye and went down the stone harbour steps.
4 CONJ You use and to link two statements when the second statement continues the point that has been made in the first statement. □ You could only tell the effects of the disease in the long term, and five years wasn't long enough.
5 CONJ You use and to link two clauses when the second clause is a result of the first clause. □ All through yesterday crowds have been arriving and by midnight thousands of people packed the square.
6 CONJ You use and to interrupt yourself in order to make a comment on what you are saying. □ As Downing claims, and as we noted above, reading is best established when the child has an intimate knowledge of the language.
7 CONJ You use and at the beginning of a sentence to introduce something else that you want to add to what you have just said. Some people think that starting a sentence with and is ungrammatical, but it is now quite common in both spoken and written English. □ Commuter airlines fly to out-of-the-way places. And business travelers are the ones who go to those locations.
8 CONJ You use and to introduce a question which follows logically from what someone has just said. □ 'He used to be so handsome.'—'And now?'.
9 CONJ And is used by broadcasters and people making announcements to change a topic or to start talking about a topic they have just mentioned. □ And now the headlines.
10 CONJ You use and to indicate that two numbers are to be added together. □ What does two and two make?
11 CONJ And is used before a fraction that comes after a whole number. □ …spent five and a half years. □ …fourteen and a quarter per cent.
12 CONJ You use and in numbers larger than one hundred, after the words 'hundred' or 'thousand' and before other numbers. □ …three thousand and twenty-six pounds.
an|dan|te /ændæ nti/ (andantes )
1 ADV [ADV after v] Andante written above a piece of music means that it should be played fairly slowly.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] An andante is a piece of music that is played fairly slowly.
an|drogy|nous /ændrɒ dʒ I nəs/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] In biology, an androgynous person, animal, or plant has both male and female sexual characteristics. [TECHNICAL ]
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe someone as androgynous , you mean that they are not distinctly masculine or feminine in appearance or in behaviour.
an|drogy|ny /ændrɒ dʒ I ni/ N‑UNCOUNT Androgyny is the state of being neither distinctly masculine nor distinctly feminine.
an|droid /æ ndrɔ I d/ (androids )
1 N‑COUNT In science fiction books and films, an android is a robot that looks like a human being.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Android is an operating system for mobile phones and tablets. [COMPUTING , TRADEMARK ]
3 N‑COUNT An Android is a mobile phone or tablet that uses this software. [TRADEMARK , COMPUTING ]
an|ec|do|tal /æ n I kdoʊ t ə l/ ADJ Anecdotal evidence is based on individual accounts, rather than on reliable research or statistics, and so may not be valid. □ Anecdotal evidence suggests that sales in Europe have slipped.
an|ec|dote /æ n I kdoʊt/ (anecdotes ) N‑VAR An anecdote is a short, amusing account of something that has happened.
anemia /əniː miə/ → see anaemia
anemic /əniː m I k/ → see anaemic
anemo|ne /əne məni/ (anemones ) N‑COUNT An anemone is a garden plant with red, purple, or white flowers.
an|es|the|sia /æ n I sθiː ziə, -ʒə/ → see anaesthesia
an|es|thesi|olo|gist /æ n I sθiːziɒ lədʒ I st/ (anesthesiologists ) N‑COUNT An anesthesiologist is a doctor who specializes in giving anaesthetics to patients. [AM ] in BRIT, use anaesthetist
an|es|thet|ic /æ n I sθe t I k/ → see anaesthetic
anes|the|tist /əniː sθət I st/ (anesthetists ) N‑COUNT An anesthetist is a nurse or other person who gives an anaesthetic to a patient. [AM ]
anes|the|tize /əniː sθəta I z/ → see anaesthetize
anew /ənjuː , [AM ] ənuː / ADV [ADV after v] If you do something anew , you do it again, often in a different way from before. [WRITTEN ] □ She's ready to start anew.
an|gel /e I ndʒ ə l/ (angels )
1 N‑COUNT Angels are spiritual beings that some people believe are God's servants in heaven.
2 N‑COUNT You can call someone you like very much an angel in order to show affection, especially when they have been kind to you or done you a favour. [FEELINGS ]