Word.ws English Dictionary

short a

short a noun: the vowel sound in the English words cat and rack, usually represented by /æ/ or /a/. (The presence of a short vowel is sometimes signaled in spelling by the doubling of a consonant after it, such as in batting as contrasted with bating.).

Noun

short a (plural short a's)

  1. (phonics) The vowel sound in the English words cat and rack, usually represented by /æ/ or /a/. (The presence of a short vowel is sometimes signaled in spelling by the doubling of a consonant after it, such as in batting as contrasted with bating.)
    Antonyms:
    long a
  2. (UK, especially) The vowel sound in the English words grass and castle when pronounced with a near-open front unrounded vowel (/æ/); associated with northern England accents.
    Synonyms:
    flat a
    Antonyms:
    broad a, long a

Synonyms of short a

  • flat a

Antonyms

Forms of short a

pluralshort a's

Questions about short a

What does short a mean?
Short a means the vowel sound in the English words cat and rack, usually represented by /æ/ or /a/. (The presence of a short vowel is sometimes signaled in spelling by the doubling of a consonant after it, such as in batting as contrasted with bating.).
What part of speech is short a?
Short a is a noun.
What is the plural of short a?
The plural of short a is short a's.

Words near short a in the dictionary

  1. shors
  2. Shorses
  3. short
  4. short 20th centuries
  5. short 20th century
  6. short a
  7. short a's
  8. short accounts make long friends
  9. short and
  10. short and curlies
  11. short and sweet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: short a (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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