la

Noun (1)

la (plural las)

1. A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
   • And now Mrs Waters (for we must confess she was in the same bed), being, I suppose, awakened from her sleep, and seeing two men fighting in her bedchamber, began to scream in the most violent manner, crying out murder! robbery! and more frequently rape! which last, some, perhaps, may wonder she...1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
   1. Sometimes syllable for both the third and the sixth.

Interjection (1)

1. Represents the sound of music or singing.
   • "La la la la, I can't hear you!" Jimmy said, sticking his fingers in his ears.
   • The only part Lucy had to sing was the interlude, which was a bunch of la la la's, and the last verse of the song, which was only four lines, and the chorus, which was just as short.2019, Keira Brown, Between the Lines: Never in Plain Sight

Interjection (2)

1. (obsolete) Used to introduce a statement with emphatic or intensive effect.
2. (archaic) Expressing surprise, anger. etc.
   • La, ma'am, what doth your la'ship think? the girl that your la'ship saw at church on Sunday, whom you thought so handsome; though you would not have thought her so handsome neither, if you had seen her nearer, but to be sure she hath been carried before the justice for being big with child.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
   • “Oh, la! here come the Richardsons. I had a vast deal more to say to you, but I must not stay away from them any longer.”1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 2, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC

Adjective

la (not comparable)

1. (ironic, often) Prefixed to the name of a woman, with ironic effect (as though an opera prima donna).
   • Following lukewarm on the heels of an article a few weeks ago, where (I paraphrase due to having filed the relevant copy in the recycling bin) Victoria Beckham made a "well-meaning" remark that the other Spice Girls might want to lose a few pounds, we now have a new incidence of La Beckham's...2007 November 22, Kate Carter, “Graziawatch”, in The Guardian
   • By judicious leaking, he also managed to make la Kirkpatrick and her associates look rather unsavory.2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 232

Noun (2)

la (plural las)

1. (Liverpool) lad, kid

Particle

la

1. (Hong-Kong, colloquial) Placed at the end of a sentence in imperatives making it sound more like a request than an order.
   • Sleep la!
   • Eat shit la you!
2. (Hong-Kong, colloquial) Used to tone down comments.
   • ok la

Noun (3) capitalized: LA

IPA/ˌɛl ˈeɪ/

LA (plural LAs)

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of left atrium.
2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of lead arsenate.
3. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of local anesthetic.
4. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of lateral area.
5. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of local authority.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: LA

IPA/ˌɛl ˈeɪ/

LA

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Los Angeles: a city in California, United States.
   • LA is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities; New York gets god-awful cold in the winter but there’s a feeling of wacky comradeship somewhere in some streets. LA is a jungle.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 13, in On the Road, London: Penguin Books, published 1976, →ISBN, part 1, page 86
   • Speaking as an LA native, this is the longest earthquake I’ve ever felt!2005 May 1, Robert Lamoreaux, Michelle Lamoreaux, Nicole Demerse, Jef Biederman, Richard Clark, “Evil Promotion Much?”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 3, episode 24, spoken by Clover (Andrea...
2. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of Louisiana: a state of the United States.
3. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of Ladakh: a union territory of India.
4. (abbreviation, humorous) Abbreviation of Lower Arkansas, also in reference to the state of Louisiana.
5. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of Lampung: a province of Indonesia.
6. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Las Anod: a city in Somalia.
7. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Linear A.

Noun (4) capitalized: La

La (countable and uncountable, plural Las)

1. (alternative) Alternative form of LA.

Noun (5) capitalized: La

La

1. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of lane (in street addresses).

Proper noun (2) capitalized: La

La

1. A surname