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US English words

American English: words and meanings used in the United States that sound unusual elsewhere. 1,978 words and meanings, most familiar first.

WordMeaning
me pronounMyself; as a reflexive indirect object of a verb; the ethical dative.
can verbTo fire or dismiss an employee.
with adverbAlong, together with others, in a group, etc.
right adverbVery, extremely, quite.
up adverbWithout additional ice.
one nounA one-dollar bill.
over adverbAgain; another time; once more; over again.
two nounA two-dollar bill.
wait verbTo wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
call nounA reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.
talk nounA customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it.
feel verbTo understand.
girl nounCocaine, especially in powder form.
house nounA small stand of trees in a swamp.
bad adjectiveOverly promiscuous, licentious.
car nounThe aggregate of desirable characteristics of a car.
dead verbTo kill.
mom nounMother.
boy nounHeroin.
real adverbReally, very.
already adverbAn intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
shit noun(the shit) The best of its kind.
while nounAn uncertain long period of time
gone adjectiveWeak; faint; feeling a sense of goneness.
case nounA unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
soon adjectiveEarly
sit verbTo babysit.
part nounA room in a public building, especially a courtroom.
minute nounA while or a long unspecified period of time
hit verbTo have sex with.
check nounA mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.
story nounA soap opera.
rest verbTo complete one's active advocacy in a trial or other proceeding, and thus to wait for the outcome (however, one is still generally available to answer questions, etc.)
side nounA dish that accompanies the main course; a side dish.
behind prepositionFollowing, subsequent to; as a result or consequence of.
shot nounA punch or other physical blow.
couple adjectiveTwo or (a) small number of.
hot adjectiveElectrically charged.
black adjectiveBelonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
boss adjectiveOf excellent quality, first-rate.
white nounCocaine
john nounA device or place to urinate and defecate: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also (dated) a chamber pot or outhouse.
red nounChili con carne (usually in the phrase "bowl of red").
ten nounA perfect specimen, (particularly) a physically attractive person.
pull verbTo pull out from a yard or station; to leave.
fall nounBlame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.
straight adjectiveMaking no exceptions or deviations in one's support of the organization and candidates of a political party.
road nounA railway or (UK, railroads) a single railway track.
piece nounA gun.
wonder nounA kind of donut; a cruller.
dude verbUsually followed by up: to dress up, to wear smart or special clothes.
strong adjectiveImpressive, good.
chief nounAn informal term of address for a Native American or First Nations man.
court nounA street with no outlet, a cul-de-sac.
bag nounA fellow gay man.
station nounA gas station, service station.
rock nounA crystallized lump of crack cocaine.
handle nounA half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.
situation nounAn individual movie theater.
bill nounA piece of paper money; a banknote.
letter nounA size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm, US paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm).
single nounA bill valued at $1.
short nounAn automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.
ground nounAn electrical conductor connected to the earth, or a large conductor whose electrical potential is taken as zero (such as a steel chassis).
lunch nounAny small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.
bar nounThe bar exam, the legal licensing exam.
tom nounA lesbian.
stick nounA timber board, especially a two by four (inches).
fix verbTo surgically render an animal, especially a pet, infertile.
park nounA wide, flat-bottomed valley in a mountainous region.
blow nounCocaine.
mess nounThe milk given by a cow at one milking.
cell nounA cellular phone.
card verbTo check IDs, especially against a minimum age requirement.
broken adjectiveNot having gone in the way intended; saddening.
WordMeaning
private adjectiveNot shared with another patient.
wall nounA doctor who tries to admit as few patients as possible.
lieutenant nounIn the US Army, Air Force and Marines, holding the rank above Second Lieutenant and below Captain. Both ranks may be referred to as "Lieutenant" or as the complete forms of the ranks.
green nounMoney.
professor nounA teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.
singing nounA gathering for the purpose of singing shape note songs.
truck nounA heavier motor vehicle designed to carry goods or to pull a semi-trailer designed to carry goods.
bear nounA state policeman (short for Smokey Bear).
bus verbTo clear meal remains from.
jump nounShort for jump-start.
final nounA final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.
crap adjectiveOf poor quality.
spot nounA bill of five-dollar or ten-dollar denomination in dollars.
hero nounA large sandwich made from meats and cheeses; a hero sandwich.
destroy verbTo sing a song extremely poorly.
bunch nounA considerable amount.
chicken nounA kilogram of cocaine.
jimmy nounChocolate sprinkles used as a topping for ice cream, cookies, or cupcakes.
ways nounA distance.
gas verbTo give a vehicle more fuel in order to accelerate it.
leg nounAn army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.
roll verbTo behave in a certain way; to adopt a general disposition toward a situation.
pop nounA small, immature peanut, boiled as a snack.
bomb nounA car in poor condition.
mommy nounMother.
dogs nounFeet, from rhyming slang dog's meat.
bird nounA kilogram of cocaine.
awful adverbVery, extremely.
local nounAn item of news relating to the place where the newspaper is published.
sweetheart nounA female member of a college or university fraternity.
dick nounAbsolutely nothing.
folks nounPeople in general; everybody or anybody.
fellow nounA physician undergoing a fellowship (supervised subspecialty medical training) after having completed a residency (specialty training program).
cup nounA US unit of liquid measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (1⁄16 of a US gallon; 236.5882365 mL) or 240 mL.
jake nounA juvenile male turkey.
super nounShort for superintendent, especially, a building's resident manager (sometimes clarified as “building super”).
natural nounA hairstyle for people with Afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated.
crew nounThe sport of competitive rowing.
challenge nounAn act of seeking to have a certain person be declared not legally qualified to vote, made when the person offers their ballot.
pack verbTo transport in a pack, or in the manner of a pack (on the backs of men or animals).
project nounAn urban low-income housing building.
suicide nounA beverage combining all available flavors at a soda fountain.
credit nounA person's credit rating or creditworthiness, as represented by their history of borrowing and repayment (or non payment).
condition verbTo put under conditions; to require to pass a new examination or to make up a specified study, as a condition of remaining in one's class or in college.
sheriff nounA government official, usually responsible for law enforcement in their county and for administration of the county jail, sometimes an officer of the court, usually elected.
brown adjectiveLatino
comfortable nounA stuffed or quilted coverlet for a bed; a comforter.
dry nounA prohibitionist (of alcoholic beverages).
stolen nounSomething which has been stolen.
cream nounThe liquid separated from milk, possibly with certain other milk products added, and with at least eighteen percent of it milkfat.
total verbTo demolish; to wreck completely. (from total loss)
tie nounA horizontal wooden or concrete structural member that supports and ties together rails.
property nounA script, book, screenplay, or the like that is on the market or has been bought for commercial production as a stage play, movie, or the like.
gang nounA chain gang.
lines nounThe reins with which a horse is guided by its driver.
unit nounAny piece of equipment, such as an appliance, power tool, stereo system, computer, tractor, or machinery.
pig nounThe general-purpose M60 machine gun, considered to be heavy and bulky.
finger nounA policeman or prison guard.
flat nounA railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
style verbTo act in a way which seeks to show that one possesses style.
shake nounAn adulterant added to cocaine powder.
loose adjectiveHaving oversteer.
sugar nounHeroin.
wet nounOne who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
returned adjectiveBack home having been discharged from military service.
football nounAmerican football: a game played on a field of 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide in which two teams of 11 players attempt to get an ovoid ball to the end of each other's territory.
page nounA boy or girl employed to wait upon the members of a legislative body.
hill nounA heap of earth surrounding a plant.
bread nounMoney.
legal adjective(of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) (also legal-size).
ill nounPCP, phencyclidine.
secretary nounA type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.
foreign adjectiveFrom a different one of the states of the United States, as of a state of residence or incorporation.
century nounA banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.
plant nounA young oyster suitable for transplanting.

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources