at

prep

1. In, near, or in the general vicinity of (a particular place).

   “Caesar was at Rome.”

   “A climate treaty was signed at Kyoto in 1997.”

   “I was at Jim’s house at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine.”

   “at the bottom of the page; sitting at the table; at church; at sea”

   “Hirtius and Pansa, who were good men and admirers of Cicero, begged him not to desert them, and undertook to put down Antony if Cicero would remain at Rome.”

2. In, near, or in the general vicinity of (a particular place).

   “She's at Oxford University, studying chemistry.”

3. In, near, or in the general vicinity of (a particular place).

   “He used to be at Lehman Brothers. Now he's at Merrill Lynch.”

   “'Where does he work?' — 'I think he's still at the solicitors.'”

4. In, near, or in the general vicinity of (a particular place).

   “Target at five miles. Prepare torpedoes.”

   “Look out! UFO at two o'clock!”

5. Present or taking place during (an event).

   “Was he at the meeting?”

   “There was a big fight at the class reunion.”

6. Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.

   “at six o’clock; at dawn; at closing time; at the age of twelve; at night; at the moment”

   “Lafayette was major-general in the American army at the age of 18 […]”

   “Other global taboos, such as sex and suicide, manifest themselves widely online, with websites offering suicide guides and Hot XXX Action seconds away at the click of a button. The UK government will come under pressure to block access to pornographic websites this year when a committee of MPs publishes its report on protecting children online.”

   “Hi, Anne. Are you busy? — Hi, Anna. Yes. At 10 a.m. I am writing.”

   “At 21, I moved to New York City to pursue acting.”

7. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, especially)Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.

   “balance as at 20th March 1999”

   “at the date of the commencement of the proceedings before the judicial or administrative authority of the Contracting State where the child is”

8. In the direction of; towards; (often implied to be in a hostile or careless manner).

   “Don’t just talk at someone; really listen to what they have to say.”

   “Stones were thrown at us, but we couldn't see who did.”

   “He shouted at her.”

   “She pointed at the curious animal.”

   ““My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.””

9. Indicating action bearing upon something, especially continued or repeated action.

   “Don't pick at your food!”

   “My cat keeps scratching at the furniture.”

   “I was working at the problem all day.”

10. In response or reaction to.

    “At my request, they agreed to move us to another hotel.”

    “He jumped at the sudden noise.”

    “We laughed at the joke.”

    “She was mad at their comments.”

11. Occupied in (activity).

    “men at work; children at play”

12. In a state of.

    “The two countries are at war.”

    “She is at sixes and sevens with him.”

    “They are at loggerheads over how best to tackle the fiscal cliff.”

13. Subject to.

    “We hope that the event will go ahead, but we are at the whim of the weather.”

    “The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces.”

14. Denotes a price.

    “3 apples at 2¢ (each)”

    “The offer was at $30,000 before negotiations.”

15. Indicates a position on a scale or in a series.

    “Sell at $90.”

    “Tiger finished the round at tenth, seven strokes behind the leaders.”

    “I’m offering it—just to select customers—at cost.”

    “The river is at its highest in spring.”

    “These babies weigh in at ten tons apiece.”

16. In certain phrases, used to indicate the manner in which something happens or is done.

    “The car came towards me at speed.”

    “He spoke at great length on the topic.”

    “The winner will be chosen at random.”

    “A few days later, on 1 October, King Hussein opened the Jordanian Parliament by speaking at length about the crisis in Syria,”

17. Indicates a specific speed or rate that is maintained by something.

    “We were cruising along at well over the speed limit of fifty miles per hour.”

    “It is growing at the rate of 3% a year.”

18. Indicates a means or method.

    “'How was the painting sold?' — 'At auction.'”

    “[…] to be sold at auction for sixty gold francs.”

19. On the subject of; regarding.

    “The twins were both bad at chemistry.”

    “He slipped at marksmanship over his extended holiday.”

    “She’s good at playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”

20. (Ireland)Bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to

    “I think ‘Jesus, my back is at me’. Then I get the ball. Off you go for 10 yards and you don’t feel a thing. Then you stop and think: ‘Jesus, it’s at me again’[.]”

    “He seems to be saying. “Ah, go on, you’re making the other lads feel bad.” But the 4th fella says, “No. Don’t be ‘at’ me. I’m just not in the form right now, I’ll stay where I am, thanks.””

21. Also used in various other idiomatic combinations: at a pinch, at all, at fault, at pains, at risk, at that, etc.; see the individual entries.

noun

1. The at sign (@).
2. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of att (Laos currency unit)
3. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of assistive technology.
4. (Navy, US, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of auxiliary tugboat.
5. (US, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of anaerobic threshold.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of alternate timeline.
7. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of aerotriangulation.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of appropriate technology.
9. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Abbreviation of air tanker.
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of activity theory.
11. (countable, uncountable)Ukrainian initialism of акціонерне товариство (akcionerne tovarystvo, “JSC”)

verb

1. (form-of, informal, neologism, rare)Rare form of @; to reply to or talk to someone, either online or face-to-face. (from the practice of targeting a message or reply to someone online by writing @name)

   “If you have questions or observations on my discussion questions, feel free to reply to this email, at me on Twitter, or comment on the companion post on AMV.”

pron

1. (Northern-England, alt-of, alternative, obsolete, possibly, rare)Alternative form of 'at (relative pronoun; reduced form of “that” and/or “what”).

   “Tak us t’ foxes, t’ little foxes at spoils t’ veynes: fer our veynes hev tender grapes.”

adj

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of antitank.