ace

Noun

ace (plural aces)

1. (card games) A playing card showing a single pip, typically the highest or lowest ranking card in a game.
   • 1948 January 1, “Deck of Cards” (track 20), in Famous Country Music Makers‎, performed by Tex Ritter:

     You see, Sir, when I look at the Ace it reminds me that there is but one God. The deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. And when I see the trey I think of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

2. (dice games) A die face marked with a single dot, typically representing the number one.
3. The ball marked with the number 1 in pool and related games.
   • 1961, The Hustler (film): a character is calling his next shot

     Ace in the corner.

4. (US, slang) A dollar bill.
   • 1990, David F. Friedman, Don DeNevi, A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-film King, page 136:

     […] maybe two or three twenties, a dozen tens, and twenty or thirty fins. The rest is all aces and silver.

   • 1996, Arthur M. Smith, Robert Thomas King, Let's Get Going, page 65:

     If they got too many aces (dollar bills) or fives or tens, they turned them in to the vault where they became part of the reserve.

5. A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum

   • c. 1658, Dr. Henry More, Government of the Tongue:

     He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.

   • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, page 45:

     I'LL not wag an ace farther: The whole World ſhall not bribe me to it;

6. (tennis, volleyball) A serve won without the opponent hitting the ball.
7. (sports) A point won by a single stroke, as in handball, rackets, etc.
8. (US, baseball) The best pitcher on the team.
9. (US, baseball, dated, 19th century) A run.
10. (US, golf, disc golf) A hole in one.
    • 2012, Arv Olson, Backspin: 120 Years of Golf in British Columbia, page 253:

      "Most of the aces weren't on holes I would have liked to have made them on," confessed Colk, who dropped his fifth dodo of 1935 on December 29, which was believed at the time to be a record for most aces in a year.

11. (sometimes attributive) An expert at something; a maverick, genius; a person of supreme talent.

    Synonyms: expert, wiz; see also Thesaurus:skilled person

    an ace detective

    • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 4:

      ‘Weston, the ace of theatrical agents.’

    • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport‎:

      Mexican ace Dos Santos smashed home the third five minutes later after good work from Defoe.

12. A military aircraft pilot who is credited with shooting down many enemy aircraft, typically five or more.
13. (US) A perfect score on a school exam.
14. Any of various hesperiid butterflies.
15. (physics, obsolete) A quark.

Verb

ace (third-person singular simple present aces, present participle acing, simple past and past participle aced)

1. (transitive, US, informal) To pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly.

   Synonym: ace out

2. (transitive, intransitive, US, informal) To defeat (others) in a contest; to outdo (others) in a competition.

   Synonym: ace out

3. (transitive, intransitive, tennis) To win a point against (an opponent) by an ace.
4. (golf) To make an ace (hole in one).

Adjective

ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)

2. (UK, slang) Excellent.

   Synonyms: excellent, first-rate, outstanding

See also

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Adjective

ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)

2. (slang) Asexual, not experiencing sexual attraction.

   Synonym: (slang) asexy

   • 2009 June 22, Anneli Rufus, “Asexuals at the Pride Parade”, in Psychology Today:

     "Some people who identify as ace fall under the GLBT umbrella while many others do not. Members of the queer movement have reached out to asexuals to include them in their community. The acronym for this has now become GLBTQA (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and asexual)."

   • 2010, Amy Ebersole, "Asexuality, not to be confused with celibacy", The Daily Aztec (San Diego State University), 25 January 2010:

     “I was 14 when I first realized I had no interest in sex,” Jed Strohm, a happily satisfied, romantic asexual from upstate New York, said. “I identified as ace (asexual) and the group leader said I was too attractive.”

   • 2013 March 28, Andrea Garcia-Vargas, “Ourselves, our sex, our choices”, in The Eye:

     “If you identify as ace [asexual] and you just don’t feel like having sex, then for me, sex-positive means, ‘That’s great! It’s fantastic you don’t want to have sex!’” says McGown.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ace.

Noun

ace (plural aces)

1. (slang) A person who is asexual.
   • 2012 July 23, Tasmin Prichard, “Freedom from Desire: Some Notes on Asexuality”, in Salient, Victoria University of Wellington, page 20:

     Asexuals are programmed differently, like anybody else on the LGBTQXYZ spectrum, but difference is cool! Difference is perhaps the best part of being queer. Own it, aces!

   • 2013 April, Leigh Miller, “(A)Sexual Healing”, in Jerk, volume XII, number V, Syracuse University, page 23:

     Negativity toward asexuality can make emerging aces fear that something is wrong with them.

   • 2014 February 4, Emma Ianni, “New Group to Bring Awareness Of C. U. Asexual Community”, in The Cornell Daily Sun, volume 130, number 81, Cornell University, page 1:

     G. F. said she came up with the idea of creating an asexual group last semester, when she was struggling with the way being an ace was affecting her personal life.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ace.

See also

• (aromantic): aro