abs
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Plumbing Pipes composed of this plastic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aybeeehsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈeɪˈbiˈɛs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
informal
The abdominal muscles. plural of ab
Plumbing Pipes composed of this plastic.
rugby
All Blacks, the New Zealand national rugby team.
Thermodynamic temperature; temperature measured on an absolute scale such as the Kelvin scale.
philippinescolloquial
Ellipsis of ABS-CBN.
adjective
Derived; extracted.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The abdominal muscles. plural of ab
'Abs' is the common, informal shorthand for 'abdominal muscles,' almost exclusively used in fitness and health contexts. Saying 'abs' instead of the full term feels more casual and focused on strength/aesthetics.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where you'll really hear it
Gym workouts
“I did fifty crunches to really work my abs today.”
Fitness magazines
“Try these exercises for stronger, more defined abs.”
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use abs
- “Many people do exercises to strengthen their abdominal muscles, or abs.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.