| 释义 |
▪ I. U|juː|
the 21st letter of the modern English, and the 20th of the ancient Roman alphabet, was in the latter identical in form and origin with V (q.v.), the same symbol being employed both as a vowel and a consonant. In Latin MSS. written in capitals the form V is retained; but in uncial MSS., of which the earliest specimens belong to the third or fourth century, the modified form {uncU} appears, and is continued in the later half-uncial (from c 500) and minuscule MSS. (from the eighth century) as {huncU}. In Anglo-Saxon MSS. the latter form ({huncU}) was regularly employed as a minuscule to denote the vowel u, the corresponding form in capitals being either V or {huncU}. In early MSS. u and uu are also employed with the value of w, and very rarely u in place of b (later f) to denote intervocalic v; in late MSS. the substitution of u for f (= v) becomes fairly common, usually between vowels but sometimes also initially. In ME., after continental usage, the two symbols u and v were employed, but without clear distinction in value, each of them being used to denote either the vowel u or the consonant v. The practice with regard to the employment of the two forms varied considerably, but the general tendency was to write v initially and u in other positions, regardless of phonetic considerations, e.g. vnder, vpon, vse but cure, full, huge, and vain, vice, vile but saue, euer, giuen. For the sake of clearness, however, v was frequently preferred to u, especially in conjunction with n and m, as in tvne, rovnd, mvse. (In Scottish MSS. intervocalic u with the value of v is much rarer than in English, its place being largely taken by f, ff, v or w.) The early printers followed the common usage with regard to u and v in small letters; in capitals they employed only one symbol, viz. {blU} in black letter, and V in Roman. During the sixteenth century, however, continental printers began to distinguish between u and v, using the former as a vowel and the latter as a consonant. The distinction is found in Italian printing as early as 1524, but its general introduction dates from 1559–60, when it was employed in the Grammatica of Ramus; apparently the innovation was due to the printer rather than to the author. In English there were several attempts to introduce the distinction before 1600; after 1600 it rapidly became more common, and had come to be general by 1630. In capitals, however, V for some time continued to serve in the old double function, although {huncU} had been introduced in the work of Ramus. This was subsequently adopted and remained the usual form for the capital vowel until the close of the 17th century, after which it rapidly gave way to U, a form which is employed, though at first sparingly, from at least 1625. (In italic type the vowel was {italU}, the consonant V.) From about 1700 the regular forms have been U u for the vowel, and V v for the consonant.
One result of the long-continued confusion of u and v was that in dictionaries, indexes, etc., words beginning with the vowel and with the consonant were combined in one list, va- being followed by vb- (i.e. ub-), ve- by vf-, etc. This practice was very commonly continued even after the two letters had been distinguished, and in English dictionaries remained as late as Todd's edition of Johnson (1818) and Richardson's dictionary (1837). When the two letters were separated, v- was sometimes placed before u-; a late example of this occurs in Jodrell's dictionary (1820). The modern arrangement, by which u- precedes v-, is found from at least the early part of the 18th cent., and has been usual in English dictionaries from that of Webster (1828) onwards.
In OE. the vowel-sounds denoted by u were those of Latin u, short and long, in the former case corresponding to that of mod.E. pull, bush, in the latter to that of rude, brute. In ME. the short u in native words partly retained its own sound, and was partly altered by lengthening or other phonetic changes; in some words the sound remained while the spelling was altered, as in wolf (OE. wulf), woll (OE. wull). The long u also retained its sound (unless when shortened before certain consonants), but was denoted by the new symbol ou derived from French spelling. Short and long u also freely occurred in words of French and Latin origin, but differed in quality from those of the native words, having the value of ü, ǖ; in the case of ū the difference continued to be marked, and the resultant sounds are now quite distinct. Under the influence of these forms southern ME. scribes substituted u for OE. y, ý (which had expressed the sounds ü, ǖ), writing cun, cuðen, etc., for OE. cyn, cýðan, which in midland and northern dialects became kin, kithe.
In mod.E. the short u of OE. (apart from changes due to lengthening, etc.) has normally become |ʌ| (written u or o), as dumb, sun, thus = OE. dumb, sunne, þus, or some, love = OE. sum, lufu. This change apparently had not proceeded far enough to be clearly noticeable until the middle of the 17th century, and was probably not generally completed until the beginning of the 18th. Over all the north of England, however, and a large part of the midlands, the original sound of u remains in words of this class, and even in standard English it is preserved in a few instances after labial consonants, as in bull, full, pull, bush, put. Short u also has this sound in some common words not of native origin (mostly with labial initials), as bushel, butcher, pudding, pulpit, push, sugar. The OE. ū (ME. ou) has normally become the diphthong |aʊ|, written ou or ow, as in thou, town = OE. þú, tún, but in a few instances has been shortened, as in plum, thumb. The ME. ū from French or Latin, on the other hand, has become the diphthong |juː, jʊə|, written u, ue, or u-e, as in huge, mute, future, cure, with reduction to |uː, ʊə| after s (= ʃ, ʒ), j, and r, as in sure, jury, brute, rule, optionally after l, as in lute, lure, and more widely in American usage. This mode of spelling has also been extended to some native words which originally had a diphthong, and would normally be written with ew, as hue, rue, true, truth (compared with new, grew, strew). The same sounds |juː, uː| are also represented by ui in a few words, as nuisance, bruise, fruit.
In combination with other vowels u is employed in the groups au |ɔː|, eu |juː|, ou (with varying value, as in foul, soul, four, young, route), ue and ui (see above). It is silent after g in many words, as guard, guide, plague, and in final -que, as masque, grotesque. It has the value of w after q in other positions, and in various words after g and s, as queen, quick, inquest; guano, iguana, anguish; suave, persuade, etc.
The name of the letter down to the 16th century was u, pronounced like the long u of French or Latin origin, and consequently undergoing the same change to |juː| which took place in ordinary words. The completion of the change is indicated by the use of the letter (u or v) to represent the personal pronoun you in such passages as Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 60 and Dekker and Webster Westward Hoe ii. i. (Cf. IOU.) In Scotland the name |u| was locally in use as late as the 19th century.
I.
1. a. Illustrations of the use of the letter or of its name.
αc1000ælfric Gram. ii. (Z.) 6, h and k ᵹeendiað on a æfter rihte, q ᵹeendað on u. Ibid. xxxi. (Z.) 197 Mortuus sum on twam uum, swaswa nan oðer. 1530Palsgr. 7 U, in the frenche tong, where so ever he is a vowel by hym⁓selfe, shall be sownded like as we sownde ew. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 60 Peda. I will repeat them: a e i. Pag. The Sheepe, the other two concludes it o u. 1668O. Price Eng. Orthogr. 29 The u is two fold. 1. Short, as in but, must, burst. 2. Long, as in lute, muse, refuse, as if it were the compound of iw. 1727Swift Misc. in Verse Wks. 1841 I. 783/1 And Q maintain'd 'twas but his due Still to keep company with U. 1768Boswell Corsica Pref. p. xviii, Leaving out..u in the last syllable of words which used to end in our. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 484/1 U is at one extremity of the series of vowel sounds, lying next to the vowel o. 1867A. J. Ellis E.E. Pronunc. i. iii. 136 Many words now spelled with u were written with ew in the xvith century. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab., U is the nineteenth signature of the printer's alphabet.
β1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 291 He reciteth an example of one Masseus a frere,..the whiche in suche ioye or iubile coude speke nothyng but .v.v.v. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 899 Ye shal pronounce..v after the Skottes, as in this worde gud. 1611Cotgr. Brief Direct. 1 V, is sounded as if you would whistle it out, as in the word, a Lute. 1616Bullokar, Orthographie, the art of writing words truely; as sonne of man, with an O: sunne that shineth, with the vowell v. 1710Shaftesbury Charac. I. iii. iii. i. 288 The vowel O was form'd by an orbicular Disposition of the Mouth;..The Vowel V by a parallel Protrusion of the Lips.
b. = you pron., esp. in U.S. commercial and Black use. U-Haul (U.S. proprietary name for) a small rented truck or a trailer. See also IOU.
1840Sir N. C. Tindal in Manning & Granger Reports I. 48 There was no one but the plaintiff to whom the ‘U’ in the document [an IOU] could be applied. 1862Hardy Let. 3 Nov. (1978) I. 2, I wish you wd tell me how u.r. when u. write. 1923Dialect Notes V. 231 Call Tel-U-Where for our nearest distributor... Fits-U Eyeglasses. U All Kno After Dinner Mints. Uneeda Biscuit. 1924, etc. [see put-you-up]. 1929Amer. Speech V. 24 U-Bet-U It's Good Candy. Ibid., U Drive It (cars for hire),..Shine While U Wait, Hats Cleaned While U Wait,..Motor Boats to Rent—U Drive,..Did U Eat? (card in window of restaurant). 1951Washington Yellow Pages Classified Telephone Directory (Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co.) Nov. 846/3 Rent a ‘U-Haul Co.’ trailer. You can rent here and leave in other major cities. 1963Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 26 Feb. tm 154/2 Arcoa Inc., Portland, Oreg... U-Haul. For Rental of Trucks and Automobile Freight Trailers. First use Oct. 15, 1945. 1970S. Sanchez in S. Henderson Understanding New Black Poetry (1973) 275 U blew away our passsst. 1971Black World June 48 That scag Reefers Wine That send u spinnen into witeness. 1972Guardian 11 July 10/6 The..catalogue essay..is a masterpiece of myth-making, art history while-u-wait. 1974R. M. Pirsig Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance i. iv. 48 It would probably be normal about this time to wonder what sort of U-Haul trailer all this is in. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 2-d/6 Roberts lost his gas station and is residing in a U-Haul propped on cinder blocks. 1980‘D. Shannon’ Felony File viii. 193, I had the hell of a time getting hold of a U-Haul truck. 1981M. C. Smith Gorky Park iii. iv. 356 Painted everywhere were signs: NO TRESPASSING THIS MEANS U and BEWARE OF DOGS.
c. attrib., as u-sound, U-vowel.
1852Proc. Philol. Soc. V. 198 The long vowel expressed by the diphthong ou is weakened, but not to the extinction of the u sound. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 272/1 Original root-syllables contained no simple i- and u-vowels, except as the second element of..diphthongs. 1888Ibid. XXIII. 715/2 At the same time begins the corruption of u to the (so-called) ŭ sound in ‘but,’ ‘shut’, &c.; this is not a u sound at all.
2. a. Used with reference to the shape of the (capital) letter, esp. attrib. or Comb., as U-like adj., U-shape. U-shaped adj.: spec. designating or pertaining to a valley having such a cross-section, esp. as a result of glacial erosion.
1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) I. 493 A minute semi-lunar bone, which, from its resemblance to the Greek letter υ or u-psilon, is called the hyoid or u-like bone. 1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 457 The water in the bottle is withdrawn, air entering through the U-shaped tube at the same time. 1857W. K. Loftus Trav. & Res. Chaldæa & Susiana xxi. 270 Three mud bricks were laid down in the form of the capital letter U. 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 234 Below, the spots fewer, brown, U-shaped. 1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs's Bot. 88 The mother-cells are so developed that from the young..epidermis-cell, a small piece is cut out on one side by a wall bent in a U-shape. 1894Jrnl. Geol. II. 350 Glacial cañons are..U shaped rather than V shaped in cross-profile. 1909Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XX. 409 (heading) Striations and U-shaped valleys produced by other than glacial action. 1970R. J. Small Study of Landforms xi. 367 Virtually all U-shaped valleys in glaciated areas have been produced by the glacial modification of pre-existing river valleys.
b. attrib., in the sense ‘shaped like the letter U’, as U-bend, U bolt, U cross profile, U-frame, U-magnet, U piece, U plate, U-rail, U-section (hence U-sectioned adj.), U-tube, U-turn (also fig. and as v. intr. and trans.), U-valley (see prec. sense).
1797J. Curr Coal Viewer 63 The strength of the U plates must be the same as the spear plates. 1819M. Edgeworth Let. 4 Mar. (1971) 177 Excellent lecture room well lighted with gas spouting from U tubes at the bottom of the gallery. 1850Athenæum 31 Aug. 922/2 By Arrangements of Coloured Liquids in a U Tube. 1868Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 273 Iron rolled in the fashion of the ordinary U-rail for railroads. 1878Abney Photogr. 289 A mirror..is suspended on two axes, xx, working a U-piece, ss. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 911/1 U bolt, a clevis for the attachment of axles, rods, etc., in machinery and vehicles. 1884W. J. McGee in Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. XXXII. 238 The effect of temporary occupancy of a typical water-cut cañon by glacier ice will be to..change the original V to a U cross profile. 1888Scribner's Mag. Aug. 177/2 Immediately below the bend of the U-magnet are the commutator segments. 1909Webster, U section, or U-section. 1928Blunden Undertones of War viii. 80 A support line was being made, and very nice and proper it looked..with its clean U-frames..and symmetrical wire anchorages. 1937Sun (Baltimore) 27 July 6/3 He will enforce new ordinances barring U turns in the public square and regulating parking. 1947Auden Age of Anxiety (1948) iii. 62 Let down From U-valleys like yarn, Waterfalls..Quietly encourage me on. 1950‘S. Ransome’ Deadly Miss Ashley xi. 145 The driver U-turned into the wake of the police car. 1954‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom xvi. 232 The armoured car..made a sudden sweeping u-turn. 1958R. Stout Champagne for One vii. 82, I do the driving, and I wanted one [sc. a car] I could U-turn when the occasion arose. 1959Sunday Express 17 May 6/1 His wife offered him a cup of tea... He U-turned again. 1959Times 30 Sept. 13/6 (Advt.), We don't care what you call us so long as you do call us when you are in need of cold drawn precision tubes... Not to mention..‘U’ bends. 1961Webster, U-turn.., something held to resemble a U-turn (as a reversal of policy) . 1963A. Ross Australia 63 ii. 49 At weekends motor boats churn up the water and skiers make U-turns past the koala farm. 1969E. H. Pinto Treen 26 Early folding umbrellas were heavy and clumsy... The most important patents were that of Henry Holland..and that of Samuel Fox & Co. of Stockbridge, Sheffield, for the lighter U-section steel rib in 1852. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 578/1 The Conjack is a U-frame container lifter and transporter. 1972A. Roth Heath & Heathmen i. 16 One of the things which surprised even close observers was the ease with which Heath made a complete U-turn between his first rightwing, or Mark I phase of 1970–1, and his second, leftwing or Mark II phase of 1971–2. 1974‘A. Garve’ File on Lester xx. 93 His wife had once lost a ring down a wash basin waste pipe and it had stuck in a U-bend. 1974H. MacInnes Climb to Lost World ix. 132 Don was carrying up more climbing gear, pitons and bongs—large U-sectioned pieces of alloy or steel..which, when hammered into cracks as climbing aids, emit a resounding ‘bong-bong’. 1975J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles iii. 69 We cannot see..the U-valleys of Lakeland with their sheer rock walls..without feeling the drama and immediacy of the Pleistocene ice. 1977Western Morning News 30 Aug. 2/3 Reg. Cann, F.S.V.A., will sell by Auction,..steel U-sections. 1981R. Lewis Seek for Justice iii. 81 The car ahead slowed, then turned in a wide U-turn.
c. Something shaped like the letter U.
1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxv. 521 Four miles from Wingate the valley makes a great U to the north⁓ward. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 814 The apex of the V or the bend of the U may become adherent to the mesentery.
d. = U-turn, sense 2 b above.
1971‘G. Black’ Time for Pirates iv. 80, I was gambling on the lane doing a U and coming down again beyond the building. 1973J. Gores Final Notice xv. 95 Ballard went by, U-ed, came back into the parking area.
3. Used to denote serial order.
Also employed as a symbol for purposes of calculation in quaternions, hydrodynamics, the theory of heat, etc.
1900Dundee Advertiser 14 Mar. 5 U Battery, which occupied a position to the north of the Boer centre, shelled the ridge thoroughly.
4. Symbolic uses: U is a coefficient representing the rate at which heat is lost through a structure, in B.Th.U. per hour per square foot per degree difference in temperature between the two sides (or the metric equivalent). Also U factor, U value.
1928Jrnl. Amer. Soc. Heating & Ventilating Engineers XXXIV. 63 Let U = coefficient of heat transmission. 1958Times Rev. Industry Sept. 24/1 To specify the standard the Ministry [of Power] has approved the U value of thermal transmittance coefficient. 1975R. H. Waring All about Home Heating v. 40 For the same actual thickness of brick, an 11 inch cavity wall has a U factor of about 0·33, compared with a value of 0·43 for a solid brick wall. 1982New Scientist 10 June 692/3 All the external walls are insulated... This should cut the ‘U’ value from 1·7 to 0·5.
II.
5. a. Abbreviations. (All abbreviations given here with a full stop are frequently used without it; those without can also be used with.) u (Physics) [f. G. ungerade odd], used to designate functions, esp. wave functions, which change sign on inversion through the origin (cf. odd a. 5), and atomic states, etc., represented by such functions; U, universal, designating (a certificate given to) films suitable for exhibition to audiences of all age-groups; also ellipt. and fig.; u (Physics), up, a quark flavour; U, uranium; also with following or preceding numeral indicating the mass number of the isotope symbolized; U.A.B., Unemployment Assistance Board; U.A.E., United Arab Emirates; U.A.P., United Australia Party; U.A.R., United Arab Republic; U.A.W.(A.) (U.S.), United Automobile Workers (of America); UB40 [UB = unemployment benefit; the name was changed from UI40 (= unemployment insurance) in the early 1970s], (the index number of) a card issued to a claimant for unemployment benefit in the UK; also transf., an unemployed person; U.C., upcast shaft; UCCA |ˈʌkə|, Universities Central Council on Admissions; U.C.D., University College, Dublin; U.C.L., University College London; U.C.L.A., University of California at Los Angeles., U.D.A., Ulster Defence Association; U.D.C., universal decimal classification; U.D.C., Urban District Council; U.D.I., unilateral declaration of independence (orig. of Rhodesia from the U.K.); UDM, Union of Democratic Mineworkers; UDN (Vet. Sci.), ulcerative dermal necrosis, a disease of fish; U.D.R. , Ulster Defence Regiment; U.D.S.R. [F. Union Démocratique et Socialiste de la Résistance], Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance, a left-wing French party under the Fourth Republic; UEFA |juːˈeɪfə|, Union of European Football Associations; U.F., United Free (Church, of Scotland); also, a member of this; U.F.F., Ulster Freedom Fighters; U.G.C., University Grants Committee; UHF, uhf, ultra-high frequency; UHT, ultra heat treated; ultra-high temperature; U.I.L., United Irish League; UJ, universal joint; U.K., United Kingdom; U.K.A.E.A., United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority; ULCC, ultra-large crude carrier; ULMS, underwater long-range missile system; UMNO, Umno |ˈʌmnəʊ|, United Malay(s) (later Malaysia) National Organization; U.N., United Nations; UNCTAD, Unctad |ˈʌŋktæd|, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; UNDP, United Nations Development Programme; U.N.E.F., United Nations Emergency Force; UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme; UNESCO, Unesco |juːˈnɛskəʊ|, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; U.N.I.A. (U.S.), Universal Negro Improvement Association; UNICEF, Unicef |ˈjuːnɪsɛf|, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (now officially the United Nations Children's Fund); UNIDO, United Nations Industrial Development Organization; UNIDROIT, Unidroit [F. Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé], International Institute for the Unification of Private Law; UNIP, Unip |ˈjuːnɪp|, United National Independence Party (of Zambia); UNITA, Unita |juːˈniːtə| [Pg. União Nacional por Independência Total de Angola], National Union for the Total Independence of Angola; UNO, Uno |ˈjuːnəʊ|, United Nations Organization; U.N.P., United National Party (of Sri Lanka (Ceylon)); UNREF, Unref |ˈʌnrɛf|, United Nations Refugee Emergency Fund; UNRRA, Unrra |ˈʌnrə|, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; UNRWA(PRNE), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (orig. for Palestine Refugees in the Near East); U.P., United Party (spec. of South Africa); U.P., United Presbyterian; U.P., United Press; U.P., United Provinces (of Agra and Oudh, India), now, Uttar Pradesh; U.P.C., Uganda People's Congress; UPC, universal product code; U.P.I., United Press International; U.P.N.I., Unionist Party of Northern Ireland; U.S., U.S.A., United States (of America); u/s, U/S, U.S., u.s., unserviceable; U.S.A.A.F., United States Army Air Forces; U.S.A.F., United States Air Force; U.S.C., Ulster Special Constabulary; U.S.I.A., United States Information Agency; USM, unlisted securities market; U.S.N., United States Navy; U.S.O. (U.S.), United Service Organization; U.S. of A. (colloq.), United States of America; U.S.P., United States Pharmacopœia; U.S.S., United States Ship; U.S.S.R., Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russ. Soyuz sovetskikh sotsialisticheskikh respublik); U.T., Universal Time; U.U.U.C., United Ulster Unionist Council; U.V., ultraviolet; U.V.F., Ulster Volunteer Force; U.W.C. Ulster Workers' Council; UXB, unexploded bomb. See also UFO.
1930,1962*u (= ungerade) [see g s.v. G III. f]. 1965J. N. Murrell et al. Valence Theory x. 143 Only if there is an odd number of electrons in u orbitals can a state of u symmetry (e.g. He2+) exist.
1922Times 11 Mar. 8/2 An attempt may be made to secure a rather broader interpretation of the division of films into ‘*U’ and ‘A’ classes. The former are passed for universal exhibition... The ‘U’ certificate is very difficult to obtain. 1929M. Allingham Mystery Mile xxiv. 224 They collected the evidence: Datchett collected the blackmail. Not a certificate ‘U’ production. 1935[see A, adult s.v. A III]. 1958Spectator 15 Aug. 221/3 A Cry from the Streets (..‘U’ certificate) is about children. 1968Guardian 26 Sept. 15/2 About the only British medium-budget U showing in London's West End is ‘Yellow Submarine’. 1972D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xviii. 182 This particular prophecy was to whom it may concern. U-certificate. Kitay, Americans, British, it didn't matter. 1977Punch 21 Jan. 80 ‘Hell!’ cried the priest. ‘What kind of penitent are you? Did you at least make love to your wife, see a U film, buy Reader's Digest?’ ‘No,’ said the confessant, ‘none of those.’
1964, etc. *u (Particle Physics) [see S 15]. 1975Sci. Amer. Oct. 43/1 Just two of the quarks, the u and the d, suffice to explain the structure of all the hadrons encountered in ordinary matter. 1982McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 386/1 Neutron decay corresponds to a transition d→u and λ° decay to a transition s→u.
1844Fownes Man. Chem. 290 The equivalent of uranium is 60·. Its symbol is *U. 1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) xxiii. 221 Uranium is a mixture of three isotopes, uranium I (238U), uranium II (234U), and 235U. 1940Manch. Guardian Weekly 10 May 367 The discovery of a natural substance whose chief characteristic is the release of great energy is announced... It is known as U-235. 1968Listener 22 Aug. 230/3 But an analysis of the radioactive fallout associated with the bombs showed that they were made from U235 and not plutonium as had generally been expected. 1979A. G. Maddock in Harbottle & Maddock Chem. Effects Nucl. Transformations in Inorg. Systems xxi. 388 In uranyl sulphate solution most of the 239U appears as uranyl ion.
1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier v. 77 When a man's stamps are exhausted..he receives twenty-six weeks' ‘transitional benefit’ from the *U.A.B. (Unemployment Assistance Board).
1972Whitaker's Almanack 1973 958/1 The United Arab Emirates (formerly the Trucial States) is composed of seven Emirates... The approximate area of the *U.A.E. is 32,000 square miles. 1979Financial Times 12 Jan. 3/4 The Iranian community based on the UAE, which, in the northern Emirate of Dubai, runs into thousands.
1936Age (Melbourne) 4 May 8/5 The attitude likely to be adopted by the full-blooded protectionist members of the *U.A.P. towards the Government's proposal for abolition of duty on cement from Great Britain. 1964J. Jupp Austral. Party Politics vi. 130 The U.A.P. leader, R. G. Menzies, called a conference at Canberra in October 1944.
1958Spectator 20 June 793/1 There is no more reason to think that they [sc. the Lebanese] want to join the *UAR in the immediate future than there is that the UAR wants them to join it. 1966M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xxv. 190 The U.A.R. were supposed to be developing a delta-wing of their own. 1981Economist 24 Jan. 43/1 In 1963, when a second attempt was made at a UAR, this time a tripartite one, the Syrians and Iraqis spent weeks in Cairo arguing against Nasser's federal ideas.
1946W. Weinstone Case against David Dubinsky iv. 35 They now have in Walter P. Reuther and the presidency of the *U.A.W. a strong base from which to operate more effectively. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 35/1 There is some possibility that the UAW strike at General Motors will reduce the number of UAW delegates.
1936Business Week 5 Dec. 16/2 The *U.A.W.A. has a remarkable story to tell of its growth.
1983Time Out 8 Sept. 75/4 Half price tickets to *UB40s and OAPs on Wednesdays. 1983Responsibilities of Claimants while Unemployed (Dept. Employment Leaflet UBL18) 3 When you start work or a training course complete and return your attendance card (UB40) and your P45 will be sent to you. 1986Capital Gay 8 Aug. 9/3 Eight introductions will cost {pstlg}95, although there is a reduction for students and holders of UB40s.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-M. 266 *U.C., upcast shaft.
1963F. D. Fawcett Cycl. Initials & Abbrev. 149/1 *UCCA, Universities Central Council for Admissions. 1971Where Dec. 357/3 The particular sections on the UCCA form which need careful filling in. 1976Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 6 Aug. 8/2 A Nigerian universities joint matriculation scheme, which includes a combined school leaving and university entrance examination, and a form of UCCA selection.
1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 179/2 *UCD, University College, Dublin. 1962B. Inglis West Briton vii. 123 The ‘National’, as U.C.D. was known in Trinity. 1979U.C.D. [see T.C.D. s.v. T 6 a].
a1912W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 192/2 *U.C.L.,..University College, London. 1979W. H. Canaway Solid Gold Buddha xiv. 101 Das had a first class degree in law..and had studied full-time for it at UCL.
1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? viii. 185 We drove past Westwood Village, the home of *UCLA..Hollywood's version of campus life. 1977H. Fast Immigrants iv. 290 He asked how far it was to the U.C.L.A. campus at Melrose and Vermont.
1972Times 15 May 2/6 One *UDA man said today [etc.]. 1978D. Murphy Place Apart vii. 134 The main loyalist para⁓military force, the UDA, is not illegal.
1935ASLIB Information Dec. 4/2 (heading) English edition of the *U.D.C. 1965Rev. Internat. Documentation XXXII. 19/1 For many years the problems of indexing and retrieving information have involved the use of tree-structured classification schemes such as the UDC system.
1905F. H. Collins Author & Printer 383/1 *U.D.C., Urban District Council. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1977) III. 576 There were the C.C.A., the A.M.C., the London boroughs, the G.L.C., the U.D.C.s and R.D.C.s.
1965Economist 8 May 634/1 They shrug off..the threat of Britain imposing sanctions if Mr Ian Smith's government made a unilateral declaration of independence (‘*UDI’). 1966Listener 17 Feb. 251/3 The British often ‘lean over backwards’ in their determination to do justice to George Washington and the other U.D.I. heroes. 1972A. Price Col. Butler's Wolf ix. 99 He lived in Rhodesia{ddd}left shortly after UDI. 1980Times 30 July 13/2 Both he and his wife Avis are from Yorkshire—not quite the kind that think Yorkshire should declare UDI.
1985Times 3 Aug. 34/6 The leaders of the Fledgling *UDM are confident that the coal board..will extend recognition to other coalfields. 1986Financial Times 12 Dec. i. 14 The offer, which would apply to pits where the UDM is the majority union, would increase basic grade rates.
1968Carbery & Strickland in Irish Veterinary Jrnl. XXII. 171/2 This paper describes the symptoms, gross and microscopic lesions, epizootiology and bacteriology of *UDN. 1972Trout & Salmon Feb. 9/1 The effects on spawning stocks of UDN..are dangers just as significant.
1969Times 20 Nov. 5/5 The Bill provided the necessary legal framework for the establishment of the *U.D.R. 1978D. Murphy Place Apart iii. 53 No UDR, no British army patrols, nothing to flaw the impression of a traditional rural community.
1945Times 25 Oct. 3/3 Joint Socialist and *U.D.S.R. (Union Democratique et Socialiste de la Résistance) lists, 961, 704. 1965F. R. Willis France, Germany, & New Europe vi. 138 The Pleven cabinet, a coalition of the four most ‘European’ parties in the Assembly (Socialists, MRP, Radicals and UDSR), hoped in this way to avoid a national German army and advance European integration at the same time.
1963I. Wilkes British Initials & Abbrev. 102/2 *UEFA, Union of European Football Associations, P.O. Box 16, Berne, 15, Switzerland. 1972Rothman's Football Yearbk. 1972–73 808 Last season, the U.E.F.A. took over the running of this colourful competition, re-named it the U.E.F.A. Cup and clearly stated that only clubs which finished high in their respective domestic leagues will be accepted. 1982Daily Tel. 23 Dec. 16/1 UEFA have joined FIFA in their condemnation of the referee clampdown.
1913Northern Whig 3 Dec. 8/5 The Rev. John C. Ingles, minister of the North *U.F. Church, Crieff. 1922‘R. West’ Judge i. i. 17 The snatching of the Church funds from the U.F.'s by the Wee Frees.
1973Times 13 Nov. 2/6 The *U.F.F...have claimed responsibility for at least 10 murders.
1947Universities Q. Aug. 326 There is..another field of major importance which the *UGC is not touching; the whole issue of the aims and methods of university teaching. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Oct. 707/2 In 1964..the U.G.C. lost its distinctive rôle of a body advising the Treasury directly.
1937RCA Rev. II. 30 For low-power *u-h-f transmitters and receivers, special tubes having low internal capacities..are available. 1939Amat. Radio Handbk. 161/1 The devices of Fig. 16 are satisfactory for matching U.H.F. aerials to open wire lines. 1955Times 27 July 9/6 Its task is confused by the haphazard growth of early v.h.f. (very high frequency) stations and the consequent need to resort to the u.h.f. (ultra-high frequency) band for many of the new licences. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 437/1 Chief Officer Rowe..remained with the lifeboats and maintained communication with the rescue vessels using portable UHF radio.
1968Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 27 Oct. 32/3 Local sale of *UHT milk. 1981Economist 24 Jan. 49/3 The UHT process—sterilisation by heating to 132 degrees centigrade—produces milk that keeps for months without refrigeration, but tastes peculiar. 1983Times 7 Feb. 10/2 A repellent whitish fluid..known as ultra heat treated (UHT) milk.
[1963J. F. Hogerton Atomic Energy Handbk. 569/1 (heading) Ultra high-temperature reactor experiment (UHTREX).] 1968E. Pugh Dict. Acronyms & Abbrev. 174 *UHT, ultra high temperature.
1901Notes from Ireland 1 Dec. Suppl., A *U.I.L. meeting in Longhrea. 1976J. V. O'Brien William O'Brien viii. 194 UIL circles in America.
1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook 165/2 *UJ Universal joint. A coupling between shafts which permits angular movement.
1892Daily News 27 Oct. 7/4 The supplies at sea for *U.K. have decreased 32,000 quarters on the week... Supplies at sea for U.K. have further slightly decreased.
1959Times Rev. Industry Aug. 17/1 *U.K.A.E.A. research section. 1983Listener 24 Nov. 5/2 In 1955 a new quango, the UKAEA, was created from various research and production units of the Ministry of Supply.
1973Sunday Post-Herald (Hong Kong) 20 May (Business sect.) 5/3 The European yards..worry that their..share of new orders for VLCCs and *ULCCs will remain small. 1981E. Corlett Revolution Merchant Shipping 26/1 The world was about to be presented with new initials, VLCC and ULCC—the very large and the ultra large crude carriers were at hand.
1970B. Wedertz Dict. Naval Abbrev. 234/1 *ULMS, Underwater Long-range Missile System. 1973New Scientist 30 Aug. 483 The ULMS will have a greater range than either Polaris or Poseidon.
1946Malay Mail 14 May 4/5 Delegates from the newly formed United Malays National Organization will..attend. A two-day conference..has just ended at which delegates from all over Malaya and Singapore passed and ratified a charter incorporating the *U.M.N.O., as the new organization will in future be known. 1979Straits Times 27 Nov. i. 12/8 Umno Youth leader Haji Suhaimi bin Datuk Haji Kamaruddin.
1946N.Y. Times 11 Apr. 1/6 If the *U.N. remained at Hunter or went to Lake Success, it would have to erect an auditorium. 1946J. S. Huxley Unesco i. iii. 14 Other U.N. agencies such as the F.A.O. and the World Health Organisation. 1978L. Heren Growing up on The Times iii. 84 The assassination of the UN mediator had frightened most Israelis. The UN had been the indispensable midwife at the birth of their country.
1964Newsweek 6 Apr. 31 *UNCTAD..might very well lead to a major realignment of global power, with the world's poor nations in solid opposition to the rich. 1967Economist 19 Aug. 670/1 Unctad, the United Nations body which tries to help the less developed countries. 1977Arab Times 14 Dec. 6/6 A five-day session of an UNCTAD committee.
1966U.N. Monthly Chron. Feb. 21/1 (heading) New Projects Approved by *UNDP Governing Council.
1956N.Y. Times 29 Nov. 12/6 The United Nations Emergency Force has been in Egypt..two weeks... It may be..the *UNEF, in terms of potential effectiveness.., must be rated as equivalent to a substantially larger military body. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 141 Owing to the continued failure of a number of Member States to pay their assessed contributions to the costs of the U.N. Emergency Force in the Middle East (U.N.E.F.)..the financial situation remained serious. 1974P. Gore-Booth With Great Truth & Respect 364 The Israelis had not helped their case by refusing to allow the UNEF to operate on their side of the frontier.
1973U.N. Monthly Chron. Aug.–Sept. 84/1 The Council adopted..a resolution noting the report of the Governing Council of *UNEP on its first session. 1980Africa Jan. 43/2 UNEP's plans for the Red Sea.
1946J. S. Huxley (title) *UNESCO: its purpose and its philosophy. 1946A. Huxley Let. 27 Oct. (1969) 551, I was delighted..to learn that all goes well with you and the infant Unesco. 1948Hansard Commons 11 Mar. 1504 Someone was being brought from U.N.E.S.C.O. in order to help formulate an education policy. 1955Times 17 June 5/2 The Universal Copyright Convention, which has been promoted by Unesco, will at last come into force on September 16. 1983Whitaker's Almanack 1984 964 (heading) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ibid., In most Member States National Commissions serve as a link with Unesco.
1953U.N. Yearbk. 1952 492/2 The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (*UNHCR)..dealt with the activities of the High Commissioner's Office. 1984Listener 8 Mar. 12/2 The UNHCR includes Laotian and Kampuchean exiles in its total of 891,967 resettled up to the end of 1983.
1921Nation (N.Y.) 28 Dec. 750/1 Any phenomenon among the colored population, like the *U.N.I.A., white persons at first..regard as a huge joke. 1977Western Political Q. XXX. 171 Thus we arrive at an understanding of the enhanced emotionality/reduced intellectuality characteristic of groups like the UNIA.
1948U.N. Bull. 1 Mar. 184/2 The word *UNICEF, pronounced ‘Uni-sef’, is now known far and wide in Europe. 1958Listener 5 June 952/3 Danny Kaye's touching film..about the part played by Unicef in conquering disease among children all over the world. 1982Whitaker's Almanack 1983 962/1 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
1967Ann. Rep. Sec. Gen. [U.N.] 16 June 1966–15 June 1967 xi. 145/1 The General Assembly decided that the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (*UNIDO) should function as an autonomous organization. 1980Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts June 440/2 At this moment, UNIDO III—the third conference of the UN International Development Organization—is in its final hours in Delhi.
1959Uniform Law Cases (*UNIDROIT) p. iii, One of the activities collateral to the unification of law, which the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) has taken over, has been the study of the most appropriate measures to ensure uniformity in the interpretation of texts of uniform law. 1974A. Watson Legal Transplants xv. 91 The work of the legal committees of the Council of Europe and of Unidroit is regarded as important as an indication of European trends.
1959Central African Post 26 Oct. 1 (heading) Chona's Congress merges with *U.N.I.P. 1961Times 2 Nov. 9/2 Youth branches of Unip in the Western Province. 1977Times of Zambia 7 Sept. 6/5, I see UNIP everywhere and I see it as one of the best organised parties in the world.
1967N.Y. Times 17 Sept. i. 17/3 Two Angolan nationalist organizations, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the *Unita, have been sending small guerrilla bands into eastern Angola from Zambia. 1972J. Biggs-Davison Africa—Hope Deferred i. 9 U.N.I.T.A. of Angola and C.O.R.E.M.O. of Mozambique. 1978Guardian Weekly 2 July 6 Secretary of State Cyrus Vance..defeated a move by President Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, proposing the covert sending of arms to UNITA guerrillas fighting in Angola against the Marxist Government of President Agostinho Neto.
1945Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News 15 Nov. 4/4 The ideas range like this..let the United Nations Organization (*UNO) handle it [etc.]. 1946H. H. Henson Let. 14 May (1950) 181 The degraded haggling of the international market to which the cosmic idealism of U.N.O. has now degenerated. 1953P. Scott Alien Sky i. iii. 32 An official observer from Uno or one of those dreary organisations. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 353 The arrival of the U.N.O. troops who are there to police the peace settlement between the Greeks and Turks.
1946Ceylon Daily News 9 Sept. 4/2 The speech of Mr. D. S. Senanayaka, the leader of the State Council, at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the United National Party..is..remarkable for its fairness and vigour... The leader delivered his speech under the auspices of the *U.N.P. 1979Round Table Jan. 49 No defeat in the annals of Sri Lanka's volatile parliamentary history is quite as comprehensive as that suffered by the rivals of the United National Party (UNP) in July 1977.
1954U.N. Yearbk. 1953 845/2 *UNREF, United Nations Refugee Emergency Fund. 1959Economist 17 Jan. 229/2 In Austria, where the UN has a much freer hand than in Germany, the Unref building schemes are progressing much faster than government projects.
1943Times (Weekly ed.) 24 Nov. 4 *U.N.R.R.A. has already reached an agreement to share the cost by a levy of one per cent. on the national incomes of the contributing countries. 1943Times 15 Dec. 5/6 The great success achieved by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (Unrra) conference. 1944J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution xiii. 139 UNRRA, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency,..is preparing the vast stores we shall need to rush into Europe as soon as the ‘cease fire’ sounds—food and medical supplies, feeding-stuffs for the surviving livestock, seed and new breeding-stock. 1975J. Cleary Safe House i. 23 The UNRRA parcels had began arriving from overseas.
1951U.N. Yearbk. 1950 1014/3 *UNRWAPRNE, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. 1955Times 24 May 8/3 Some U.N.R.W.A. experts admit that the completion of the High Dam is necessary for the full realization of their scheme.
1943Cape Times 29 July 4/7 The first election result to arrive at this office last evening was Major Piet van der Byl's at Bredasdorp—a smashing *U.P. victory. 1959Ann. Reg. 1958 101 On 10 November, the detention of 43 members of the U.P. was ordered after government allegations of a plot to assassinate Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister. 1971Progress (Cape Town) May 1/2 Cutting the U.P. majority in North Rand by 1688 votes..Progressive candidate John Wilding has shown a considerable swing to the Progressive Party.
1865Slang Dict. 265 *U.P., United Presbyterian. Scotch clerical Slang. 1878Chambers's Encycl. IX. 647/1 Protracted negotiations for union between the U.P. and Free Churches have been without result.
1915Oregon Daily Jrnl. 13 Apr. 1/2 London, April 13.—(*U.P.)—French aviators dropped bombs upon Hamburg..yesterday. 1943C. Hollingworth German just behind Me v. 84 The Ministry of Propaganda issued a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which denied the U.P. story entirely. 1960R. St. John Foreign Correspondent x. 222 We were forty-eight hours ahead of UP.
1908Resolution on Administration Famine Relief in United Provinces of Agra & Oudh 1907 & 1908 ii. 18 (table) Statement showing percentage outturn of the autumn harvest in terms of normal yield on normal area... Total, *U.P. of Agra and Oudh. 39 31. 1919Indian Ann. Reg. iv. 148 U.P. Provincial Conference. Special Session—11 Aug. 1918. 1947G. Cunningham Diary in N. Mitchell Sir George Cunningham (1968) vii. 146 He has been in Kashmir (Uri front) for three-and-a-half-months with 200 of his ‘fanatics’ (mostly U.P. Muslims). 1963Listener 21 Mar. 520/2 One would pass them [sc. Gurkhas] in the U.P. foothills. 1975Ibid. 30 Oct. 558/3 Mrs Naidu, the famous poetess..was..Governor of the UP.
1961Times 22 Mar. 10/6 The *U.P.C. has committed itself more emphatically to an East African Federation. 1980Economist 9 Aug. 31/2 There are old grievances against the UPC.
1974McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 357/2 The Universal Product Code (*UPC) is coming to the general merchandise store, too. 1982Sci. Amer. Sept. 119/1 UPC bars are the set of thick and thin lines now printed on essentially all prepared-food items.
1958N.Y. Times 25 May 1/4 The United Press Associations and the International News Service announced yesterday they had merged into a new agency called United Press International... The new *U.P.I. agency announced that it would take over key I.N.S. employees. 1972J. Belfrage in G. W. Turner Good Austral. Eng. vi. 103 You will find very likely that..the UPI stories, and various others taken from agency sources are written with less colour..than local stories written by Australians for Australians.
1975Times 22 Apr. 2/8 The leaders of the three power-sharing parties, Alliance, SDLP and *UPNI. 1975Irish Times 9 May 1/1 The standing orders committee—seven Loyalists, three S.D.L.P members, and one member from each from the Alliance and U.P.N.I.
1834McCulloch Dict. Commerce (ed. 2) 843 American Tonnage. Entered into the *U.S... Departed from U.S. 1867Chambers's Encycl. IX. 649/2 The U.S. are rich in mineral productions. 1901Daily Chron. 12 Aug. 5/2 On Saturday we asked what language is U.S., which is announced as ‘spoken’ in the window of a City office.
1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 84 If your helmet is *u/s, then your wireless mechanics have wasted their time. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway xii. 305 ‘What was the Machmeter showing?’ ‘I never look at that,’ he said. ‘It's no bloody good, that thing. Half the time it's U/S.’ 1966D. Francis Flying Finish v. 65 The de-icers were U.S. last week... It's O.K., I've checked them..since they were repaired. 1971O. Norton Corpse-Bird Cries ii. 35 His brakes were u.s., I daresay. The usual story. 1978M. Duffy Housespy v. 110 The device seems to have gone U.S. They're dodgy things because they're so small.
1943Times 22 Dec. 4/5 The bombers, all of which returned safely, were escorted by *U.S.A.A.F., R.A.F. and Dominion fighters. 1973M. Calvert Slim 55/1 (caption) Brigadier-General Old (USAAF).
1947Air Force Times 23 Sept. 1/2 The *USAF is a reality! This first issue of Air Force Times..coincides with the birth of the independent Air Force. 1955Times 24 Aug. 6/4 It makes the project the exclusive property of the United States Air Force. Regular progress reports are being made to the U.S.A.F.'s air research and development command headquarters at Baltimore. 1977R.A.F. News 11–24 May 3/5 The Deputy Chief of Staff Personnel USAF, paid an official visit.
1963I. Wilkes Brit. Initials & Abbrev. 106/2 *USC, Ulster Special Constabulary. 1973J. Callaghan House Divided vii. 91 They said that the USC had been the victim of a propaganda campaign. 1982M. Wallace Brit. Govt. Northern Ireland ii. 28 The disbanding of the U.S.C.
1953U.S. Congr. House Hearings Comm. Govt. Operations Reorganization Plans 7 & 8 43 *USIA, which is United States Information Agency, will go through here [indicating the box marked ‘State’]. 1975New Yorker 26 May 27/3 The Stanton panel, after working on the problem for over ten months and taking testimony from over a hundred witnesses, recommended that the cultural activities of the U.S.I.A...be combined with the cultural activities of the State Department.
1979, etc. *USM [see unlisted ppl. a. 2 a].
1863Rebellion Rec. V. ii. 177 All our fleet,..under Commodore Davis, *U.S.N.,..was under way. a1968R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. i. 635 Rear Admiral Charles Davis, USN. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story xviii. 189 We changed into U.S.N. khakis.
1941Christian Century 30 Apr. 597/1 When on June 3 solicitation begins for $10,765,000 for the *U.S.O. the public will..know that another organization is in the field. The letters stand for ‘United Service Organization’. 1966Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 4 Dec. 73/4 GI Jargon USO, United Services Organisation, nearest equivalent of ENSA.
1973Black World Apr. 90 A Moslem man..marries an Afro-American Catholic woman while on an extended visit to the *u.s. of a. 1982A. Melville-Ross Trigger xxiv. 284 You'll be told..that won't be until you're back in the US of A under tight security wraps.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1408/3, *U.S.P. 1946F. Schneider Qualitative Organic Microanalysis vi. 171 This technique is based upon the original U.S.P. directions in that the concentrations of the solutions are the same. 1961R. D. Baker Essent. Path. viii. 129 The absorption of some of the substances by the ventral area [of a rat] denuded of skin is sufficient to cause death; specifically, alcohol (95 per cent) causes acute alcoholism and solution of hydrogen peroxide (U.S.P. half strength) causes gaseous cardiac embolism.
a1912W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 194/2 *U.S.S.,..United States ship. 1957‘N. Shute’ On Beach i. 9 I'm posting you as liaison officer in the U.S.S. Scorpion. 1981G. Markstein Ultimate Issue 17 The USS Sharkfin wasn't due to surface for another nine weeks.
192719th Cent. Nov. 653 The..execution of two Italian anarchists in America stirred up the human soul far more than the mass executions, mass tortures, mass deportations, that have been taking place almost daily in the *U.S.S.R. for ten painful years. 1959E. H. Carr Socialism in One Country II. xx. 231 The year 1924 saw the constitution of the USSR in full operation on lines which were to remain substantially unchanged till 1936. 1982Whitaker's Almanack 1983 961/2 There are five permanent members (China, France, U.K., U.S.A., U.S.S.R.).
1929Trans. Internat. Astron. Union III. 224 The terms Greenwich Civil Time (G.C.T.), Weltzeit (W.Z.) and Universal Time (*U.T.) denote time measured from Greenwich Mean Midnight, and are not ambiguous. 1974Nature 1 Nov. 25/1 The balloon was launched at 0830 UT and it reached a ceiling height of 3.8 mbar.
1974Times 22 June 1/3 Members of the Democratic Unionist Party, one of the three Protestant groups in the *UUUC. 1982M. Wallace Brit. Govt. in Northern Ireland vi. 125 The overall UUUC vote rose from 366,703 to 407,778.
[1925E. H. & W. K. Russell Ultra-Violet Radiation & Actinotherapy 261/2 (Index), Veterinary uses of U.V.R.] 1928Moderna Språk XXII. 188 Popularly one also hears *U.V.-treatment, light treatment, light bath. 1940A. L. M. Sowerby Wall's Dict. Photogr. (ed. 15) 431 Ultra-violet light is only present in sufficient amounts to be harmful on very clear days at sea-level, or at high altitudes... In such circumstances it should be excluded by a U.V. filter if it is desired to obtain photographs not showing the characteristics associated with the use of the ordinary yellow filter. 1979Nature 29 Mar. 484/1 The ultraviolet region of the solar spectrum, which has somewhat arbitrarily been divided into three sections—UV-C (wavelength 200–290 nm), UV-B (290–320 nm) and UV-A (320–400 nm).
1913Northern Whig 27 Nov. 8/5 They knew that the letters ‘*U.V.F.’ stood for Ulster Volunteer Force. 1983Listener 11 Aug. 3/1 The two supergrasses have helped to convict over 50 people they once worked with: Black in the IRA, Bennett in the UVF.
1974Times 9 Sept. 2/2 Mr Murray resigned from the *UWC but was later reappointed. 1975Irish Times 30 May 4/6 The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (made up of the para-military groups, the U.W.C., and political representatives).
1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 184/3 *UXB, unexploded bomb. 1979P. Way Sunrise vii. 72 Once a UXB was in position—then, until this Unexploded Bomb had been dealt with, it was necessary to cordon off an entire block.
b. U, upper class, esp. with reference to linguistic usage; as n., U persons or characteristics collectively, U language. Hence U-ness. Cf. non-U a. and n.
1954, etc. [see non-U a. and n.]. 1956Times 1 Mar. 11/5 He is what, in old-fashioned ‘U’ was called a ‘rattle’ and, in ‘Non-U’, a ‘scream’. 1956Auden Making, Knowing & Judging 15 Poets and scholars have one thing in common. They are not gentlemen. The U is that which both, being non-U, with passion worship. 1956A. S. C. Ross in N. Mitford Noblesse Oblige 26 Fault, also, Balkans,..are pronounced by the U as if spelt fawlt, awlso, bawlkans. 1957E. Hyams Speaking Garden vi. 68 Spinacia oleracea of Linnaeus... I must say, at the risk of being accused of gastronomic U-ness..is the only one I care to eat. 1958Oxf. Mag. 15 May 432/2 He..dropped the final ‘g's’ of his present participles in a manner then ‘U’. 1959New Statesman 17 Oct. 499/1 My own personal participation..was to go and speak for Fenner Brockway at Eton and Slough. For me, he is a nostalgic figure of the old Labour Party into which I was born, and therefore more sympathetic than the later U intake. 1962A. Lurie Love & Friendship ix. 166 ‘I don't think he's really U, though, do you?’ ‘Oh no. Shabby genteel, maybe.’ 1968New Society 22 Aug. 266/1 In London, Mayfair, once so very U, is still so in some sort, but few U people live there as it is so expensive. 1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 27 Nov. 12 The point is not so much that U-speech and U-behaviour are, by some absolute standard, superior but that they are indicators. If you want to be unobtrusive, or effective, in a U context, you must adopt U manners. 1977D. Bennett Jigsaw Man xii. 225 He had spoken with a distinct English accent. Very U, indeed.
6. slang or colloq. U.P., the spelling pronunciation of up adv., = over, finished, beyond remedy.
1838Dickens O. Twist xxiv, It's all U.P. there,..if she lasts a couple of hours, I shall be surprised. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. 370 ‘It's all U.P. with him’; i.e. all up either with his health, or circumstances. 1861G. J. Whyte-Melville Good for Nothing xxvii. II. 18 It's a long lane that has no turning, but I did think for five minutes afore I saw your fire that it was about U.P.
Add:[II.] [5.] [a.] UBR, uniform business rate, a tax levied at a flat rate on business property throughout England and Wales, and which replaced the old rating system in April 1990.
1985Times 20 Nov. 29/5 Mr Tony Weller of Weller Engineering considered *UBR would be a dangerous tool in the hands of a government unsympathetic to business. 1990Business Apr. 45/4 In the south, where rental values have risen dramatically since the last rates revaluation in 1973, most shops, offices, and industrial premises face a higher UBR bill.
USDAW |ˈʌzdɔː|, Union of Shop, Distributive, and Allied Workers, formed in 1947.
1946New Dawn 2 Nov. 405/2 The two Unions connected with the enormous distributive trades will very soon now form one new Union... The Government and the Trade Union Movement will look to *U.S.D.A.W. to speak..authoritatively. 1976Birmingham Post 16 Dec. 1/1 Mr. John Toogood, the midlands divisional organiser of the shopworkers' union, USDAW, said last night that his members had been asked not to volunteer for duty on January 1. 1987Financial Times 5 Jan. 6/7 The company..does not intend to offset the mid-year increase against any industry-wide deal between Usdaw and the multiple food retailers collectively.
▸ N. Amer. With the. University.
1910F. L. Chance Bride & Pennant i. 10 That's all the college feeling these faculty guys have... The U. is going to the dogs! 1925Woman's World Apr. 12/2 The brown pigskin whirled through the air straight for the University goal line. The U halfback, a tall, slimly built fellow, leaped upward, [and] caught the ball. 1994Prairie Fire Summer 76 I'm taking classes at the U., you know. Supposed to read Plato. 2007Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City, Utah) (Nexis) 5 Oct. The class will be held at the Book Arts Studio at the Marriott Library at the U.
▸ UCAS n. Brit. |juːˈkas|, U.S. |ˌjuˈkæs| (also Ucas) Brit. Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, the organization responsible for processing applications for entry to higher education since 1993; cf. UCCA n. at Initialisms 1a
1993Independent 9 Feb. 6/1 *Ucas takes over from the separate university and polytechnic systems (Ucca and Pcas) in August this year. 2003Radio Times (Midlands ed.) 7 June 42/1 But when you look at it in plain terms, higher education really does seem to be quite attractive. Add Todd's barmy mother Eileen to the mix, and I'd be reaching for the nearest Ucas form.
▸ USB n. Telecomm. upper sideband, the sideband above the carrier frequency of a signal.
1971IEEE Trans. Computing Technol. 19 9/1 The received signal is filtered into its *USB, carrier, and LSB components. 1976R. L. Perkowski & L. P. Stral Joy of CB vii. 70 It is..possible for two SSB transmissions to occur simultaneously on a single CB channel. One can take place on the upper sideband (USB) above the carrier frequency. 1999IEEE Microwave & Guided Wave Lett. 9 317/1 Optical up-conversion loss of 2.7 and 1.4 dB is measured for the LSB and USB.
▸ USB n. Electronics = Universal Serial Bus n. at universal adj. and n. and adv. Special uses.
1995InfoWorld 20 Mar. 1/2 One of those technologies to be launched at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference this week is the Universal Serial Bus (*USB), a faster, more robust version of the existing serial port... USB supports a 1.5MBps data transfer rate. 2001Times 2 Apr. (Interface section) 6/3 Most PCs now ship with two USBs side by side, and laptops with at least one. 2004T. N. Decker & T. D. Carrell Instrumentation (ed. 3) iv. 67 Audio is handled through commercial sound cards. Digital I/O is handled through the serial, parallel, and USB ports.
▸ USP n. Marketing unique selling point (or proposition).
1958R. Reeves in M. Mayer Madison Avenue iii. 49 There are three rules for a *USP. First, you need a definite proposition... Then, second, it must be a unique proposition... Third, the proposition must sell. 1976Business Week (Nexis) 19 July (Advertising section) 56 The idea was to offer consumers a specific benefit, unique to the product advertised and presented in strong, dramatic terms. Once the angle was found, ads that put over the USP effectively could run almost forever. 2006Place in Sun May 134 In an increasingly competitive overseas buy-to-let marketplace it pays to find a property with a USP (Unique Selling Point)—that little something extra that will make it stand out from the rest.
▸ UWB n. Electronics and Telecomm. = ultra wideband n. at ultra- prefix Additions.
1989Aviation Week & Space Technol. 4 Dec. 38/1 Adding even more complexity and confusion..is a history of false starts and technical roadblocks that have plagued the field of ultra-wideband (*UWB) technology for years. 2005Appliance (Nexis) 62 16 The USB Implementers Forum..and the WiMedia Alliance say they have made strides toward securing Ultra-Wideband (UWB) as a preferred technology for personal area networks.
▪ II. U2|uː, juː|
[Burmese.]
A Burmese honorific, used as the Burmese equivalent of Mr.
1930Outlook 17 Dec. 607/2 Noting that the Burmese delegates were becoming restive, U Ba Pe, their chief, forced the issue. 1953Stevenson & Eveleth Judson's Burmese-English Dict. p. vii, In 1893 Mr. Robert C. Stevenson, aided by U Si, U Thiri of Danubyu, U Pho U, and U San Ngyeing of Monywa, prepared an enlarged edition. 1971Whitaker's Almanack 1972 813/2 Secretary-General (1966–71), U Thant (Burma). |