R

[ahr]

noun, plural R’s or Rs, r’s or rs.
1.
the 18th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter R or r, as in ran, carrot, or rhyme.
3.
something having the shape of R .
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter R or r.
5.
a device, as a printer’s type, for reproducing the letter R or r.
6.
.
Ecology.
1.
the theoretical intrinsic rate of increase of a population, equivalent to the difference between the birth and death rates divided by the number of individuals in the population.
1.
.
2.
Commerce. (def 2).
3.
Electricity. .
4.
Physics. (def 2).
5.
.
6.
.
7.
plural rs, .
[ahr]
verb
1.
Informal. :
Oysters R in season.
Symbol.
1.
the 18th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 17th.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 80.
Compare .
3.
Biochemistry. .
4.
Physics. .
5.
registered trademark: written as superscript ® following a name registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
1.
restricted: a rating assigned to a motion picture by the Motion Picture Association of America indicating that children under the age of 17 will not be admitted unless accompanied by an adult.
Compare (def 7), , , (def 8).
1.
Chemistry. .
2.
Mathematics. .
3.
regular: a man’s suit or coat size.
4.
Electricity. .
5.
Theater. stage right.
6.
Physics. .
7.
Chess. .
1.
(in prescriptions) take.
1.
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2.
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3.
.
4.
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5.
.
6.
(in South Africa) rand; rands.
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19.
Theater. stage right.
1.
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2.
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Commerce. .
7.
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8.
replacing.
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11.
rises.
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18.
Baseball. run; runs.
19.
plural rs. .
/ɑː/
noun (pl) r’s, R’s, Rs
1.
the 18th letter and 14th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.
a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually an alveolar semivowel, as in red
3.
See three Rs
symbol
1.
(chem) radical
2.
(currency)

3.
Réaumur temperature (scale)
4.
(physics, electronics) resistance
5.
roentgen or röntgen
6.
(chess) rook
7.
Royal
8.
(chem) gas constant
9.
(in the US and Australia)

abbreviation
1.
rare
2.
recto
3.
Also r. rod (unit of length)
4.
ruled
5.
(cricket, baseball) run(s)
abbreviation
1.
registered (trademark)
2.
right
3.
river
4.
rouble
abbreviation
1.
rabbi
2.
rector
3.
Regina
4.
Republican
5.
response (in Christian liturgy)
6.
Rex
7.
River
8.
Royal

In a circle, meaning “registered (trademark),” first incorporated in U.S. statues 1946. Three Rs (1825) said to have been given as a toast by Sir W. Curtis (1752-1829). R&R “rest and relaxation,” first recorded 1953, American English; R&B “rhythm and blues” (type of popular music) first attested 1949, American English.

If all our r’s that are written are pronounced, the sound is more common than any other in English utterance (over seven per cent.); the instances of occurrence before a vowel, and so of universal pronunciation, are only half as frequent. There are localities where the normal vibration of the tip of the tongue is replaced by one of the uvula, making a guttural trill, which is still more entitled to the name of “dog’s letter” than is the ordinary r; such are considerable parts of France and Germany; the sound appears to occur only sporadically in English pronunciation. [Century Dictionary]

The moment we encounter the added r’s of purp or dorg in our reading we know that we have to do with humor, and so with school-marm. The added consonants are supposed to be spoken, if the words are uttered, but, as a matter of fact, they are less often uttered than seen. The words are, indeed, largely visual forms; the humor is chiefly for the eye. [Louise Pound, “The Humorous ‘R,'” “American Mercury,” October 1924]

She goes on to note that in British humorous writing, -ar “popularly indicates the sound of the vowel in father” and formations like larf (for laugh) “are to be read with the broad vowel but no uttered r.” She also quotes Henry James on the characteristic prominence of the medial -r- sound (which tends to be dropped in England and New England) in the speech of the U.S. Midwest, “under some strange impulse received toward consonantal recovery of balance, making it present even in words from which it is absent, bringing it in everywhere as with the small vulgar effect of a sort of morose grinding of the back teeth.”

r abbr.
racemic

R abbr.

r
Abbreviation of radius
R
The symbol for resistance.
1.
correlation coefficient
2.
radius
3.
resistance
1.
gas constant
2.
radical
3.
rain
4.
range
5.
Réaumur
6.
receiver
7.
registered trademark
8.
Republican
9.
response
10.
restricted (children under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian)
11.
right
12.
roentgen
13.
rook
14.
run
1.
rare
2.
recto
3.
reigned
4.
retired
5.
rod
6.
rubber
7.
ruble
8.
rupee
1.
patented
2.
rabbi
3.
received as transmitted (shortwave transmission)
4.
rector
5.
registered
6.
Latin rex (king)
7.
Latin regina (queen)
8.
river
see: three R’s