U

character

1. 1

   The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

2. 2

   Something shaped like the letter U: A U-turn ('turned a U in the road')

3. 3

   Something shaped like the letter U: A double upright cordon espalier (also double U, triple U).

noun

1. 1

   A U-turn.

   Do a U across the divider and get on back here to the office.

2. 2

   A film with the film classification U (“universal”).

3. 3

   Variant of universityAbbreviation of university.

4. 4

   Variant of SundayAbbreviation of Sunday.

adjective

1. 1

   Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.

2. 2

   Variant of upper classdatedAbbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).

   To TAKE a bath is non-U against U to HAVE one’s bath.

   In a treatise that still causes ripples in English society, Mitford defined various terms as either U (upper class) or non-U.

   Pudding when used to mean all sweet dishes at the end of a meal is non-U; the U expression is sweet.

   A wedding is a great occasion for u/non-u indicators. The u mother will be quietly dressed; the non-u one will be more ostentatious and have a corsage. The u father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation. The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.

3. 3

   Variant of unitedAbbreviation of united.

4. 4

   Variant of upperAbbreviation of upper.

5. 5

   Variant of universalAbbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”), in a film certificate.

preposition

1. 1

   Variant of underAbbreviation of under.

   In 1992 Susan Lockhart was Captain of the England U16 Hockey Squad.

2. 2

   Variant of upAbbreviation of up.

proper noun

1. 1

   An Austroasiatic language spoken in China.

proper noun

1. 1

   Variant of ÜAlternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”).

   Among the settled communities of Central Tibet, the Tsang dialect as spoken in Shigatse and the U dialect as spoken in Lhasa hold the field.

noun

1. 1

   An honorific to a Burmese man

   U Thant; U Nu

Forms

plural

Us, U's

comparative

Uer

superlative

Uest