- ace
- [[t]e͟ɪs[/t]]
aces1) N-COUNT: oft N of n An ace is a playing card with a single symbol on it. In most card games, the ace of a particular suit has either the highest or the lowest value of the cards in that suit.
...the ace of hearts.
2) N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft n N If you describe someone such as a sports player as an ace, you mean that they are very good at what they do. [JOURNALISM]...former motor-racing ace Stirling Moss.
ADJ: ADJ nAce is also an adjective....ace horror-film producer Lawrence Woolsey.
3) ADJ (approval) If you say that something is ace, you think that it is good and you like it a lot. [INFORMAL]It's been a while since a really ace film came out of Germany.
4) N-COUNT In tennis, an ace is a serve which is so fast that the other player cannot reach the ball.The American served three aces in the opening game of the set.
5) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone holds all the aces, you mean that they have all the advantages in a contest or situation.`When I was an adolescent,' says a thirty-one-year-old man, `I thought girls held all the aces.'
6) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v Something that is an ace in the hole is an advantage which you have over an opponent or rival, and which you can use if necessary.Our superior technology is our ace in the hole.
7) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR -ing/n If you come within an ace of doing something, or you are within an ace of doing something, you very nearly do or experience it.He was intent on murder and he came within an ace of succeeding.
English dictionary. 2008.
