(obsolete,poetry) A type ofpoem in which thelines start with the letters of the alphabet in order.[Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid-17th century.][1]
(obsolete) Aprimer for teaching theLatin alphabet and first elements of reading.[Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid-17th century.][1]
Thefundamentals of any subject.[First attested in the mid-16th century.][1]
1866, D. P. Conyngham,The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns: With Some Account of the Corcoran Legion, and Sketches of the Principal Officers, Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson, page28:
This was theAlma Mater of the Brigade, where it learned itsA B C of military tactics.
2020 April 21, Marina Harss, “Twist, Bend, Reach, Step: A Merce Cunningham Solo Anyone Can Try”, inThe New York Times[1]:
With her expert guidance, even a novice like me can have a taste of the focused, structured world of a Cunningham dance. The solo is possibly his plainest, almost anABC of his meticulous approach to subdividing the body in motion — twist, bend, reach, step.
For this reason his heart sank when, emerging from his study into the great hall at quarter to eleven, he met Beaver already dressed and prepared to be entertained; it was only a momentary vexation, however, for while he wished him good morning he noticed that his guest had anA.B.C. in his hands and was clearly looking out a train.
2011, Richard A. McGowan, “State-Controlled Liquor Stores I: Pennsylvania”, inPrivatize This? Assessing the Opportunities and Costs of Privatization, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO,→ISBN, page89:
Pennsylvania is one of 18 alcoholic beverage control states, commonly known as “ABC states.” In anABC state, the state government controls the sale and distribution of various alcoholic beverages, depending on state law.
1993, Susan Kulkin,Speaking Out: Teenagers Take on Race, Sex, and Identity, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons,→ISBN, page59:
Everyone was Chinese. Some of the students wereABCs. That means "American-born Chinese." Others were FOBs. FOB means "fresh off the boat" and it is a bad insult. I didn't feel prejudiced about the FOBs because I was one of them.
2004, Wenche Ommundsen, “Cultural Citizenship in Diaspora: A Study of Chinese Australia”, in Robbie B.H. Goh, Shawn Wong, editors,Asian Diasporas: Cultures, Indentity, Representations, Hong Kong University Press,→ISBN, page79:
Many argue, with justice, that the differences between the various groups of Chinese-Australians are such that it is impossible to speak in terms of a "cultural identity" common to them all (Ang 2001). On the other hand, the mainstream culture is rarely capable of making such distinctions: in the eyes of most Australians, there is little difference between anABC (Australian-born Chinese), an ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, or a mainlander.
2008, Gary Dessler, Jean Phillips, “Planning and Controlling Now: Controlling”, inManaging Now, Houghton Mifflin Company,→ISBN, page222:
Activity-based costing is a powerful control tool. WithABC, the manager can access all departments and monitor the costs associated with any activity he or she wants to control.
1999, Harish Kapadia, “Accident and Rescue in the Nanda Devi Sanctuary”, inAcross Peaks & Passes in Kumaun Himalaya, New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company,→ISBN, page69:
Boga and Subhash with Sherpa Nim Dorje and Kedar Singh left early to open a route to advance base camp.[…] They proceeded south along the left bank of the glacier. They could avoid the moraines by climbing the slopes near the bank. It was a long march and they establishedABC at 4877 m on a small open rocky ground.
2008, Gerd Schmitz, “Sterol Transporters”, in Stefan Offermanns, Walter Rosenthal, editors,Encyclopedia of Molecular Pharmacology, 2nd edition, volume 1, Springer,→ISBN, page1157:
ABC-transporters are multispan membrane proteins that mediate the active uptake or efflux of specific substrates across various biological membrane systems. A functionalABC-transporter protein usually consists of two transmembrane domains and twoABCs.
2011 August 4, Yi Hao, Patrick O'Neill, Martin S. Naradikian, Jean L. Scholz, Michael P. Cancro, “A B-cell subset uniquely responsive to innate stimuli accumulates in aged mice”, inBlood, volume118, number 5,→DOI, page1296:
Together, these findings indicate that CD21/35−CD23− B cells do not correspond to any previously defined B-cell subset, but share some characteristics with exhausted B cells. Because they emerge and may eventually predominate with age, we have termed them age-associated B cells (ABCs).
2013, Georges Y. El-Khoury, “Tumors/Miscellaneous: Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC)”, in D. Lee Bennett, Georges Y. El-Khoury, editors,Pearls and Pitfalls in Musculoskeletal Imaging: Variants and Other Difficult Diagnoses, Cambridge University Press,→ISBN, page219:
In the long bones, spine, and flat bones, the majority of aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) are eccentrically located whereas in the short tubular bones they are usually central in location.[…] About 15% of all giant cell tumors have cystic areas that resembleABC, and in about one third of allABCs a pre-existing lesion can be identified.
2010, Pepper Hamilton, “Alternatives to bankruptcy”, in John Wm. Butler, Jr, editor,Navigating Today's Environment: The Directors' and Officers' Guide to Restructuring, Globe White Page Ltd,→ISBN, page205:
Like foreclosure, an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) is a creature of state law.ABCs have long been popular in a few states, most notably California and Illinois, but they are beginning to gain traction in other states as a less expensive alternative to bankruptcy.
2008, Nikolaos V. Kantartzis, Theodoros D. Tsiboukis,Modern EMC Analysis Techniques I: Time-Domain Computational Schemes, Morgan & Claypool,→ISBN, page180:
As a matter of fact, when numerically handling a model originally established on an unbounded domain, it is compulsory to impose the pertinentABC to terminate the endless mesh while retaining a well-posed and stable simulation.
2010, James Coplien, Gertrud Bjørnvig, “What the SystemIs, Part 2: Coding It Up”, inLean Architecture for Agile Software Development, John Wiley & Sons,→ISBN, page133:
Abstract base classes (ABCs) represent an interesting paradox.[…] It is instructive to think ofABCs as tools rather than as part of the product.
MostABCs in thecollections.abc module exist to formalize interfaces that are implemented by built-in objects and are implicitly supported by the interpreter—both of which predate theABCs themselves.
2012, Shannon Hodges, “Emerging Fields and Profession in Counseling”, in101 Careers in Counseling, New York: Springer Publishing Company,→ISBN, page229:
Creatively integrating counseling theory, research, and best practices has afforder me the opportunity to constructively engage clients in adventure-based counseling (ABC) activities that foster social, mental, and emotional development. UtilizingABC as an innovative counseling approach for individuals, families, and groups has increased my enthusiasm as a counselor.
2025 December 14, “Police raid home of Pakistani Muslim man suspected of Bondi Beach terror attack - report”, inThe Jerusalem Post[3]:
One of the terrorists who carried out the shooting attack at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah party was likely a Muslim man of Pakistani origin, a senior law enforcement official toldABC News. The man's name is Naveed Akram, from Bonnyrigg, and his house had been raided.
It was not worth while to go back to Barnes for the interval between the closing of the Museum and his meal in anABC shop, and the time hung heavily on his hands.
2013 August 10, Gilas Pilipinas, “Looking back: When PH ruled Asian basketball”, inRappler:
The first was the Asian Games, held every 4 years, and the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), held every 2 years.
2017 January 15, Ray Roquero, “Hero of '67 ABC”, inBusiness Mirror:
The most memorable championship of his life, the 1967ABC (now Fiba Asia), was also the most dramatic for the Philippines in the entire 1960s.
2017 August 16, “Australia, NZ slug it out for FIBA Asia Cup crown”, inAsia Pacific Report:
The now FIBA Asia Cup was previously called as the FIBA Asia Championships and the older Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championships.
2018 April 5, Gerry Ramos,Sports Interactive Network Philippines:
Former PBA players pay final respects to Danny Florencio in his final journey home But Florencio would cement his place in local basketball history as the hero in the Philippines’ dramatic 83-80 win over South Korea for the 1967 Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship (now known as the FIBA-Asia).
Initialism ofAmerican Book Center, an English-language bookstore inAmsterdam founded in 1972.
2009 June 8, Derbhile Dromey, “10 best bookshops in the world”, inIrish Independent:
The American Book Center in Amsterdam is home to one of the largest collections of English literature in continental Europe. Its rickety shelves, spread over four floors, are crammed with American masterpieces from the likes of Hemmingway and Flannery O’Connor. If non-fiction is more your buzz, there are dozens of lavishly illustrated books on subjects such as art and design.ABC also runs The Treehouse, a series of events designed to nourish literary souls from the roots upwards.
2011 March 7, Caitlin Rung, “Marblehead storyteller Judith Black goes international”, inBoston Globe:
In addition to sharing American-style storytelling with audiences throughout Finland and France, including a featured presentation at the ELSA conference in Paris this month, Marblehead storyteller Judith Black will be helping to organize and host a story slam atABC Treehouse, an institution that promotes and supports intercultural exploration in Amsterdam.
2014 January 26, Ana McGinley, “From tea to e-readers: English bookshops in the Netherlands”, inDutch News:
The American Book Center – a part of Amsterdam's book scene for 41 years – has embraced the latest in book technology. Lynn Kaplanian Buller has been involved with theABC almost since its launch in 1972, adding a second store in The Hague in 1976.
2010, Leverda Watkins,Pinnacle of Faith, Xlibris,→ISBN, page165:
She'd chew the gum until she was finished with it for the day and store it in a tiny box in the refrigerator until she wanted another chew. If I accidentally threw out her gum, she was able to find someone else'sABC gum (already been chewed).
1997 March, Ron Loutherback, “Beyond the Label: The ABCs of white wine”, inOrange Coast, volume23, number 3, page168:
He thought he was up-to-date on all the latest wine lingo until a longtime wine writer returned his sample request card with a bold, hand-written note on it that stated, “Send me all samples—ABC!” ¶ “ABC” threw my friend for a loop. When he called me, I translated the cryptic phrase—ABC is winespeak for “Anything But Chardonnay.”
2014, Daniel Jordan Smith, “Introduction”, inAIDS Doesn't Show Its Face: Inequality, Morality, and Social Change in Nigeria, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press,→ISBN, page15:
A final example of the iatrogenic effects of international public interventions is the impact on condom use that resulted from the “ABC” (Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use Condoms) approach to AIDS prevention, which has dominated programmatic efforts in Nigeria since about 2000. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), created under US President George W. Bush's administration, promoted a conservative approach to AIDS prevention through itsABC messages, which were (1) abstinence is the only true prevention; (2) if one is in a sexual relationship, stay faithful to one partner; and (3) if one can't do either, use condoms.
2009, Christian Bernhardt, “Noch einmal ganz von vorne anfangen”, in Leah Wizelman, editor,Wenn der Krieg nicht endet. Schicksale von traumatisierten Soldaten und ihren Angehörigen,→ISBN,page142:
Es gab dann immer einen Sirenenalarm im Camp und wir mussten unterABC-Vollschutz (ABC: atomar, biologisch, chemisch) versuchen, in irgendeinen Bunker zu laufen.
Then there was always a siren alarm in camp and we had to run into a bunker wearingNBC protection (NBC: nuclear, biological, chemical).
2013,Grundlagen des ABC-Einsatzes (Fachwissen Feuerwehr), 3rd edition,→ISBN,page11:
In Abhängigkeit von der Art, den Eigenschaften und der Menge des freigewordenenABC-Gefahrstoffes sind unterschiedliche taktische Einheiten zur Gefahrenabwehr erforderlich.
Various tactical units are required for security depending on the type, characteristics and quantity of the hazardousNBC substance that has been released.
2022, Rainer Uhlmann,Ukraine-Krieg. Tagebuch eines Fragenden,→ISBN,page203:
FromA +B +C, the first letters of the Latin alphabet (and thus the Portuguese alphabet). Some of the alternate spellings are derived from the writing-out of each letter's name:a orá,bê,cê.
2023 November 5, Tina Bini, “O fenômeno chamado We Coffee e suas novas e tecnológicas lojas em São Paulo”, inCNN Brasil[4]:
Cafeteria que virou febre na capital paulista atende 100 mil clientes por mês e abre nova loja ultra moderna, no Morumbi, e outra, noABC, onde o cliente terá a impressão de que está de cabeça para baixo[.]
ABC keyboard on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
