letter

letter
[[t]le̱tə(r)[/t]]
♦
1) N-COUNT: also by N If you write a letter to someone, you write a message on paper and send it to them, usually by post.

I had received a letter from a very close friend.

...a letter of resignation...

Our long courtship had been conducted mostly by letter.

2) N-COUNT Letters are written symbols which represent one of the sounds in a language.

...the letters of the alphabet.

...the letter E.

3) N-COUNT If a university or college student earns a letter in sports or athletics, they are entitled to wear on their jacket the initial letter of the name of their university or college. [AM]

Valerie earned letters in three sports: volleyball, basketball, and field hockey.

4) VERB If a university or college student letters in sports or athletics, they are entitled to wear on their jacket the initial letter of the name of their university or college. [AM]

[V prep] Burkoth lettered in soccer.

6) PHRASE: prep PHR, PHR after v If you say that someone keeps to the letter of the law , you mean that they act according to what is actually written in the law, rather than according to the general principles of it, especially when you disapprove of this.

They had stuck to the letter of the law and in my view they should be ashamed.

Ant:
spirit of the law
7) PHRASE: PHR after v If you say that someone carries out instructions to the letter, you mean that they do exactly what they are told to do, paying great attention to every detail.

She obeyed his instructions to the letter.


English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • letter — let‧ter [ˈletə ǁ ər] noun [countable] 1. a written or printed message that is usually put in an envelope and sent by mail: • Please sign the letter and mail it back within two weeks. alloˈcation ˌletter also alˈlotment ˌletter FINANCE a letter… …   Financial and business terms

  • letter — let·ter n 1: a direct written statement addressed to an individual or organization; broadly: an official communication see also counterletter determination letter: a letter from an administrative agency (as the Internal Revenue Service) usu. in… …   Law dictionary

  • Letter — Let ter, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L. littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr. linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over; because one of the earliest modes of writing was by graving the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Letter — and similar can mean: *Letter (alphabet), a grapheme, part of an alphabet, abjad, abugida, or syllabary *Letter (message), correspondence, a written message *Letter (paper size), the letter size paper * Letters can also mean literature, as in… …   Wikipedia

  • letter — letter, epistle, missive, note, message, dispatch, report, memorandum are comparable when they mean a communication sent or transmitted as distinct from one conveyed directly from source to recipient (as by oral utterance). Letter is the ordinary …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • letter — letter1 [let′ər] n. [ME lettre < OFr < L littera, letter of the alphabet, (in pl.) a letter, epistle] 1. a written or printed symbol employed to represent a speech sound or sounds; character in an alphabet: in some languages, as English,… …   English World dictionary

  • letter — ► NOUN 1) a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. 2) a written, typed, or printed communication, sent by post or messenger. 3) the precise terms of a statement or requirement. 4)… …   English terms dictionary

  • Letter — Sf erw. fach. (17. Jh.) Entlehnung. In Anlehnung an frz. lettre umgebildet aus älterem Litter, das in mittelhochdeutscher Zeit aus l. littera Buchstabe entlehnt ist (frz. lettre ist dessen lautgerechter Nachfolger). Die Herkunft des lateinischen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • letter — [n1] symbol of an alphabet ABCs*, alphabet, cap, capital, character, majuscule, minuscule, rune, sign, small letter, type, uncial; concept 284 Ant. number letter [n2] written communication acknowledgment, answer, billet, dispatch, epistle, junk… …   New thesaurus

  • letter — According to the Private Express Statutes, a message directed to a specific person or an address and recorded in or on a tangible object. Also a shortened way to refer to letter size mail …   Glossary of postal terms

  • Letter — Let ter, n. [From {Let} to hinder.] One who retards or hinders. [Archaic.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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