| allegory | The setting forth of a subject under the guise of another subject of aptly suggestive likeness. |
| alleviate | To make less burdensome or less hard to bear. |
| alley | A narrow street, garden path, walk, or the like. |
| alliance | Any combination or union for some common purpose. |
| allot | To assign a definite thing or part to a certain person. |
| allotment | Portion. |
| allude | To refer incidentally, or by suggestion. |
| allusion | An indirect and incidental reference to something without definite mention of it. |
| alluvion | Flood. |
| ally | A person or thing connected with another, usually in some relation of helpfulness. |
| almanac | A series of tables giving the days of the week together with certain astronomical information. |
| aloof | Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others. |
| altar | Any raised place or structure on which sacrifices may be offered or incense burned. |
| alter | To make change in. |
| alteration | Change or modification. |
| altercate | To contend angrily or zealously in words. |
| alternate | One chosen to act in place of another, in case of the absence or incapacity of that other. |
| alternative | Something that may or must exist, be taken or chosen, or done instead of something else. |
| altitude | Vertical distance or elevation above any point or base-level, as the sea. |
| alto | The lowest or deepest female voice or part. |
| altruism | Benevolence to others on subordination to self-interest. |
| altruist | One who advocates or practices altruism. |
| amalgam | An alloy or union of mercury with another metal. |
| amalgamate | To mix or blend together in a homogeneous body. |
| amateur | Practicing an art or occupation for the love of it, but not as a profession. |
| amatory | Designed to excite love. |
| ambidextrous | Having the ability of using both hands with equal skill or ease. |
| ambiguous | Having a double meaning. |
| ambitious | Eagerly desirous and aspiring. |
| ambrosial | Divinely sweet, fragrant, or delicious. |
| ambulance | A vehicle fitted for conveying the sick and wounded. |
| ambulate | To walk about |
| ambush | The act or state of lying concealed for the purpose of surprising or attacking the enemy. |
| ameliorate | To relieve, as from pain or hardship |
| amenable | Willing and ready to submit. |
| Americanism | A peculiar sense in which an English word or phrase is used in the United States. |
| amicable | Done in a friendly spirit. |
| amity | Friendship. |
| amorous | Having a propensity for falling in love. |
| amorphous | Without determinate shape. |
| amour | A love-affair, especially one of an illicit nature. |
| ampere | The practical unit of electric-current strength. |
| ampersand | The character &; and. |
| amphibious | Living both on land and in water. |
| amphitheater | An edifice of elliptical shape, constructed about a central open space or arena. |
| amplitude | Largeness. |
| amply | Sufficiently. |
| amputate | To remove by cutting, as a limb or some portion of the body. |
| amusement | Diversion. |
| anachronism | Anything occurring or existing out of its proper time. |