ace
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis, unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage. Compare as
Noun
ace (plural aces)
- A single point or spot on a playing card or die.
- A card or die face so marked.
- I have the ace of diamonds.
- A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
- I'll not wag an ace further.
- c. 1658 Dr. Henry More, Government of the Tongue :
- He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
- (tennis) A serve won without the opponent hitting the ball.
- (baseball) The best pitcher on the team.
- (baseball, dated, 19th century) A run.
- (golf) A hole in one.
- An expert at something.
- 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, BBC Sport:
- Mexican ace Dos Santos smashed home the third five minutes later after good work from Defoe.
- 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, BBC Sport:
- A military aircraft pilot who is credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.
- A perfect score on a school exam.
Usage notes
Synonyms
- (single point or spot): pip
Coordinate terms
- (playing cards) playing card; ace, deuce, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, joker
Derived terms
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Translations
single point or spot on a card or die
card with a single spot
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die face with a single spot
very small quantity or degree
tennis: point scored without the opponent hitting the ball
baseball: best pitcher on the team
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golf: hole in one — see hole in one
expert
excellent military aircraft pilot
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
ace (third-person singular simple present aces, present participle acing, simple past and past participle aced)
- To pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly.
- (tennis) To win a point by an ace.
- (golf) To make an ace (hole in one).
Synonyms
- (to pass a test): pass with flying colours
Derived terms
- ace it
- ace out
Adjective
ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)
Usage notes
Synonyms
Translations
Etymology 2
From asexual by shortening.
Adjective
ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)
- (slang) Asexual.
- 2009, Anneli Rufus, "Asexuals at the Pride Parade", Psychology Today, 22 June 2009:
- "Some people who identify as ace fall under the GLBT umbrella while many others do not. Members of the queer movement have reached out to asexuals to include them in their community. The acronym for this has now become GLBTQA (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and asexual)."
- 2010, Amy Ebersole, "Asexuality, not to be confused with celibacy", The Daily Aztec (San Diego State University), 25 January 2010:
- “I was 14 when I first realized I had no interest in sex,” Jed Strohm, a happily satisfied, romantic asexual from upstate New York, said. “I identified as ace (asexual) and the group leader said I was too attractive.”
- 2013, Andrea Garcia-Vargas, "Ourselves, our sex, our choices", The Eye, 28 March 2013:
- “If you identify as ace [asexual] and you just don’t feel like having sex, then for me, sex-positive means, ‘That’s great! It’s fantastic you don’t want to have sex!’” says McGown.
- For more examples of usage of this term, see the citations page.
- 2009, Anneli Rufus, "Asexuals at the Pride Parade", Psychology Today, 22 June 2009:
Synonyms
- asexy (slang)