S

UK: 'S', 's': /ˈɛs/ US: 'S', 's': /ɛs/ ,'S', 's': (/ɛs/)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

S symbol

1. Society
2. small (size)
3. South
4. sulphur
5. entropy
6. siemens
7. strangeness
8. (the former) schilling

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

S, s /ɛs/   n. [countable] , pl. Ss or S's, ss or s's. 

1. the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

S,  an abbreviation of:

1. satisfactory.
2. Linguistics sentence.
3. small.
4. Geography Also, s south.
5. southern.
6. state (highway).

's¹ /s, z, ɪz/  

1. an ending that is added to nouns or noun phrases to indicate possession by:
   man's;
   children's;
   James's;
   witness's;
   attorney general's;
   king of England's;
   anyone's.

's² /s, z, ɪz/  

1. a contraction that appears at the end of a noun or pronoun that is the subject of a verb, and is a shortened form of
   • the verb is: She's here (= She is here).
   • the verb has: He's been there (= He has been there).
   • the verb does: What's he do for a living? (= What does he do for a living?).

's⁴ /s/  

1. Pronouns a contraction that appears at the end of the verb let and is a shortened form of us: Let's go (= Let us go).

-s² or -es,/s, z, ɪz/  

1. -s¹ or -es is attached to the root form of verbs and marks the third person singular present indicative form, agreeing with a subject that is singular:
   He walks. She runs. The wind rushes through the trees.

-s³ or -es:

1. -s² or -es is attached to count nouns and marks the plural form:
   weeks;
   bushes;
   taxes;
   ladies;
   pianos;
   potatoes.

S.,  an abbreviation of:

1. Saint.
2. Saturday.
3. Sea.
4. September.
5. Geography south.
6. southern.
7. Sunday.

s.,  an abbreviation of:

1. school.
2. section.
3. small.
4. Geography south.
5. southern.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

S, s  (es), n., pl. S's or Ss, s's or ss. 

1. the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2. any spoken sound represented by the letter S or s, as in saw, sense, or goose.
3. something having the shape of anS.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter S or s.
5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter S or s.

S, 

1. satisfactory.
2. Saxon.
3. Time sentence.
4. short.
5. Electricity siemens.
6. signature.
7. single.
8. small.
9. soft.
10. Music and Dance soprano.
11. Geography South.
12. Southern.
13. state (highway).
14. Grammar subject.

S,  Symbol.

1. the 19th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 18th.
2. (sometimes l.c.) the medieval Roman numeral for 7 or 70. Cf. Roman numerals. 
3. second.
4. [Biochem.] serine.
5. [Thermodynam.] entropy.
6. [Physics.] strangeness.
7. sulfur.

s, 

1. satisfactory.
2. signature.
3. small.
4. soft.
5. Geography south.

s, [Symbol.]

1. Time second.

's¹ ,

1. an ending used in writing to represent the possessive morpheme after most singular nouns, some plural nouns, esp. those not ending in a letter or combination of letters representing an s or z sound, noun phrases, and noun substitutes, as in man's, women's, baby's, James's, witness's, (or witness'), king of England's, or anyone's.

• Middle English -es, Old English

's² :

1. contraction of is: She's here.
2. contraction of does: What's he do for a living now?
3. contraction of has: He's just gone.

Usage

See contraction. 

's³ , [Archaic.]

1. a contraction of God's, as in 'swounds;
   'sdeath;
   'sblood.

's⁴ :

1. Pronouns a contraction of us, as in Let's go.

Usage

See contraction. 

's⁵ ,

1. a contraction of as, as in
   so's to get there on time.

-s¹ :

1. a native English suffix used in the formation of adverbs:
   always;
   needs;
   unawares.
   Cf. -ways. 

• ultimately identical with 's¹ Middle English -es, Old English

-s² :

1. an ending marking the third person sing. indicative active of verbs:
   walks.

• Middle English (north) -(e)s, Old English (north); origin, originally ending of 2nd pers. singular, as in Latin and Greek; replacing Middle English, Old English -eth -eth¹

-s³ :

1. an ending marking nouns as plural (boys;
   wolves), occurring also on nouns that have no singular (dregs;
   entrails;
   pants;
   scissors), or on nouns that have a singular with a different meaning (clothes;
   glasses;
   manners;
   thanks). The pluralizing value of -s ³ is weakened or lost in a number of nouns that now often take singular agreement, as the names of games (billiards;
   checkers;
   tiddlywinks) and of diseases (measles;
   mumps;
   pox;
   rickets);
   the latter use has been extended to create informal names for a variety of involuntary conditions, physical or mental (collywobbles;
   d.t.'s;
   giggles;
   hots;
   willies). A parallel set of formations, where -s ³ has no plural value, are adjectives denoting socially unacceptable or inconvenient states (bananas;
   bonkers;
   crackers;
   nuts;
   preggers;
   starkers);
   cf.-ers. 

Also, -es. 

• Middle English -(e)s, Old English -as, plural nominative and accusative ending of some masculine nouns

-s⁴ :

1. a suffix of hypocoristic nouns, generally proper names or forms used only in address:
   Babs;
   Suzykins;
   Sweetums;
   Toodles.

• probably from the metonymic use of nouns formed with -s³, as boots or Goldilocks

S., 

1. Sabbath.
2. Saint.
3. Saturday.
4. Saxon.
5. Currency (in Austria) schilling;
   schillings.
6. School.
7. Sea.
8. Senate.
9. September.
10. Currency shilling;
    shillings.
(in prescriptions) mark;
write;
label.
• Latin signa
let it be written.
• Latin signa
11. Signor.
12. Small.
13. Socialist.
14. Society.
15. Fellow.
• Latin signa
16. sol³ (def. 1).
17. Geography South.
18. Southern.
19. (in Ecuador) sucre;
    sucres.
20. Sunday.

s., 

1. saint.
2. school.
3. second.
4. section.
5. see.
6. series.
7. Currency shilling;
   shillings.
8. sign.
9. signed.
10. silver.
11. singular.
12. sire.
13. small.
14. society.
15. son.
16. Geography south.
17. southern.
18. steamer.
19. stem.
20. stem of.
21. substantive.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

s, S / ɛs/ noun (s's, S's, Ss)

1. the 19th letter and 15th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2. a speech sound represented by this letter, usually an alveolar fricative, either voiceless, as in sit, or voiced, as in dogs
3. something shaped like an S
4. (in combination): an S-bend in a road

s symbol

1. second (of time)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-'s suffix

1. forming the possessive singular of nouns and some pronouns: man's, one's
2. forming the possessive plural of nouns whose plurals do not end in -s: children's
3. forming the plural of numbers, letters, or symbols: 20's, p's and q's
4. contraction of is or has: she's here, Misha's coming, it's gone
5. contraction of us with let: let's
6. contraction of does in some questions: where's he live?, what's she do?

Etymology: senses 1, 2: assimilated contraction from Middle English -es, from Old English, masculine and neuter genitive singular; sense 3, equivalent to -s¹

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-s, -es suffix

1. forming the plural of most nouns: boys, boxes

Etymology: from Old English -as, plural nominative and accusative ending of some masculine nouns

-s, -es suffix

1. forming the third person singular present indicative tense of verbs: he runs, she washes

Etymology: from Old English (northern dialect) -es, -s, originally the ending of the second person singular

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

S. abbreviation

1. (SS) Saint
2. school
3. Signor

Etymology: Latin socius

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

s. abbreviation

1. shilling
2. singular
3. son
4. succeeded