Oxford Basic American Dictionary

onto the land from the ocean or a river We left the boat and went ashore.

ash • tray / ' rejtrei / noun [ count ]

a small dish for cigarette ash and the ends of cigarettes

a • side / s said / adverb

on or to one side; away

He set the letter aside while he did his homework.

ask О / resk / verb ( asks , isk . ing , asked )

1 to try to get an answer by using a question

asked him what time it was. "What's your name?" she asked. Liz asked the teacher a question.

to say that you would like someone to do something for you

I asked Sara to drive me to the station.

to try to get permission to do something I asked my teacher if I could go home.

I asked if I could go home early.

to invite someone to go somewhere with you Mark asked me to dinner on Saturday.

ask for someone to say that you want to speak to someone

Call this number and ask for Mrs. Green.

ask for something to say that you want someone to

give you something

He asked for a new bike for his birthday.

a .sleep О / a slip / adjective

sleeping

The baby is asleep in the bedroom.

He fell asleep (= started sleeping ) in front of the fire.

—ANTONYM awake Which word? Asleep or sleeping?

You use sleeping , not asleep , before a noun: She put the sleeping child in his crib.

We use fall asleep or go to sleep to talk about starting to sleep: Laura fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. ♦ Tom read for half an hour before he went to sleep.

as • par • a • gus / a 'spreragas /noun [noncount]

thin green plants with pointed ends that are eaten as a vegetable

as • pectAWL / ' respekt/ noun [ count ]

one of the qualities or parts of a situation, idea, problem, etc.

Spelling is one of the most difficult aspects of learning English.

as • phalt / ' resfolt / noun [ noncount ]

a thick black substance that is used for making the surface of roads

as • pi • rin / ' respran / noun [ count, noncount ] ( plural as . pi . rin or as . pi . rins ) ( health ) a medicine that stops pain I took an aspirin for my headache.

as • sas • sin / a ' sresn / noun [ count ]

a person who kills a famous or important person

Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a professional

actor.

as • sas • si • nate / a sresaneit / verb ( as . sas . si . nates , as . sas . si . nat . ing , as . sas . si . nat ed )

to kill an important or famous person John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. ► as • sas • si • na • tion / a^resa ' neijn / noun [ count, noncount ] an assassination attempt as • sault / a solt / verb ( as . saults , as . sault . ing , as . sault . ed ) to attack or hurt someone He assaulted a policeman.

as • sault noun [ count, noncount ]

an assault on an old lady

as • sem • ble aw / a ' sembl /

( as . sem . bles , as . sem . bling , as . sem . bled )

to come together, or bring people or things together in a group

The leaders assembled in Washington for the meeting.

to fit the parts of something together instructions for assembling a bookcase

as • sem • bly aw / a ' sembli /

[ count, noncount ] ( plural as . sem . blies )

a meeting of a big group of people for a special reason Our school assembly is at 9:30 in the morning.

as • ser • tive / a ' sartiv / adjective

acting and talking in a confident way so that people listen to you or do what you want

If you want them to listen to you, you need to be more assertive.