variants
often B
plural b's or bs
ˈbēz 
often attributive
1
a
: the 2nd letter of the English alphabet
names that begin with b
b
: a graphic representation of this letter
in the shape of a b
c
: the speech sound that the written letter b represents : a speech counterpart of orthographic b
2
: the seventh tone of a C-major scale (see scale entry 5 sense 1)
in the key of b
3
: a graphic device for reproducing the letter b
the b on the laptop's keyboard
4
: one designated b especially as the second in order or class
I chose option b.
5
a
: a grade rating a student's work as good but short of excellent
b
: one graded or rated with a B
a b student
6
: something shaped like the letter B
7
B
: the one of the four ABO blood groups characterized by the presence of antigens designated by the letter B and by the presence of antibodies against the antigens present in the A blood group
1
bachelor
2
bacillus
3
back
4
bag
5
bale
6
bass
7
basso
8
bat
9
Baumé
10
before
11
Bible
12
billion
13
bishop
14
black
15
blue
16
bolivar
17
book
18
born
19
bottom
20
brick
21
brightness
22
British
23
bulb
24
butut
boron
Examples of b in a Sentence
Noun
There are two b's in the word “abbey.”
All of their children's names begin with b.
a song in the key of B
got a B in math
Recent Examples on the Web
Lee Billings, Scientific American, 13 May 2026
And SpaceX is modifying three pads in the Cape Canaveral area — Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Launch Complex 37-A and 37-B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — to accommodate Starship launches.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 13 May 2026
The magnifying glass The LAP1-B is 13 billion light-years away from Earth.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
The play begins with a forbidding thumping on a glass window outside a bare bones upstairs apartment where B lives a subsistence-level life with his mother.
—Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for b
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
Eros Vanzella, an astronomer at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy, who has previously studied LAP1-B with JWST and led the team that first discovered the galaxy, finds these latest results vindicating—and promising.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 13 May 2026
And SpaceX is modifying three pads in the Cape Canaveral area — Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Launch Complex 37-A and 37-B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — to accommodate Starship launches.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 13 May 2026
The magnifying glass The LAP1-B is 13 billion light-years away from Earth.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
The play begins with a forbidding thumping on a glass window outside a bare bones upstairs apartment where B lives a subsistence-level life with his mother.
—Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for b
Cite this Entry
“B.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/b. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
b
1 of 3 abbreviation1
bacillus
2
barometric
3
bath
4
Baumé scale
5
behavior
6
bel
7
bicuspid
8
born
9
brother
B
2 of 3 noun
: the one of the four ABO blood groups characterized by the presence of antigens designated by the letter B and by the presence of antibodies against the antigens present in the A blood group
B
3 of 3 symbol
boron
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