1The first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α), transliterated as ‘a’.

1. 1.1as modifier Denoting the first of a series of items or categories, e.g. forms of a chemical compound.
   the α and β chains of haemoglobin

   Example sentencesExamples

   • First my head was wrapped to monitor my alpha and theta brainwaves.
   • The log power of activity in delta, theta, alpha, sigma, and beta bandwidths was computed.
   • Results showed hypnotic trait effects on skin resistance, heart and respiratory rate as well as on EEG theta, alpha, beta and gamma relative power changes.
   • In contrast to results for sigma and delta frequencies, no strong differences between sleepy and less sleepy subjects were noted in theta, alpha, and beta ranges.
   • Three additional categories approached significance at the adjusted alpha levels.
2. 1.2British A first-class mark given for an examination paper or piece of school or college work.
   he had been awarded alpha double plus

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He added, with the devastating practicality of the true alpha double plus aesthete, that there was queer old difference between maintaining a path a hundred yards long and a maintaining a path three hundred yards long.
   • That was light on the stomach, lots of nutty and fruity bits bound in a crumbly jacket, surrounded by an alpha plus brandy creme anglaise froth.
   • He was an alpha plus member of the Central London Hatchery.
3. 1.3Zoology Sociology as modifier Denoting the dominant animal or human in a particular group.
   the pack is a tightly knit, highly organized group, led by an alpha wolf

   See also alpha male

   Example sentencesExamples

   • For every dominant alpha individual, well endowed with strength, cleverness, and hence females, there are more who lose out, and therefore end up as resentful and unsuccessful betas, deltas, and zetas.
   • Periodically, fights broke out between the males as they competed for the coveted role of alpha grouse.
   • All pack animals have a lead animal, in the case of dogs it is the alpha dog.
   • An alpha leader does not use fear, punishment or brute force to achieve and maintain its position.
   • Conniff explains that when chimpanzees approach an alpha member, they appear to reduce their body size a bit.
   • When groups were merged, once again, only a single alpha individual could be identified.
   • An alpha wolf establishes his authority by biting a rival on the neck and pinning him to the ground.
   • If you can eliminate the alpha animals you can disrupt the predation until a new alpha pair is established or transient pack takes over the territory.
   • At Fauna, Anna's role was that of the "alpha chimp," the sort of head of the clan.
   • This pair is monogamous although, with the death of an alpha individual, a new alpha male or female will emerge and take over as the mate.
   • The traditional tools for observing dominance displays by alpha animals - surveillance using radio collars and the tranquilliser dart - are, unfortunately, not an option here.
   • Modern primatologists point out that an alpha animal, contrary to its reputation as solitary lord of all it surveys, is thickly enmeshed in a social webbing, dependent on the reciprocities of group life.
   • This is the same type of behavior a submissive member of a wild dog pack would show to the alpha dog in that pack.
   • Nietzsche's alpha grandmother and two spinster aunts treated his meek, young mother like a hanger-on.
   • He talked about how the alpha male chimp tends to have one of two models of leadership, one being a bullying model and the other being a populist leader model.
   • We've found that it's often a single alpha animal or pair that are preying on sheep that have moved into the pack's territory.
   • The one bird I do find unattractive is the menacing seagull, particularly the alpha individuals who bully the others away from sources of food by craning their necks and gargling like their throat has been slit.
   • This pup should be considered the alpha dog of the litter.
   • For obedience training to proceed smoothly, your dog must consider you its alpha leader.
   • Triangle, named for her high-peaked white brow, is the troop's alpha animal; her infant is fearless.
4. 1.4informal as modifier Denoting a person who has a dominant role or position within a particular sphere.
   take turns cooking for each other if one of you is too much of an alpha chef

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Just a few seats away, the model Kate Moss—a kind of alpha trend-setter—was wearing a black monkey fur coat over a lace miniskirt that looked like a Victorian vintage piece.
   • He became the alpha student of the program.
   • She has built a reputation working with alpha architects.
   • He is an alpha politician, but with a beta brain.
   • The television station was launched to 10m cable subscribers in parts of America last month and will arrive in New York - supreme home of the alpha mom - at the end of June.
   • If your party ideology is the cult of individualism, then it's no surprise they all see themselves as the alpha boss.
   • He is now doing a complete makeover of the house of Atlanta's alpha chef.
   • The unloved school swots of the 20th century have blossomed into the alpha group of the 21st.
   • Although there is no point where a formal line can be drawn, there is a subset of people with a disproportinate amount of links, traffic, and influence who are, by tradition called the alpha bloggers.
   • Most mothers who fulfil the alpha mom stereotype don't want to describe themselves like that.
   • The alpha bloggers spread concepts like Typhoid Marys.
   • Alpha moms are so determined to make a project out of everything, they are not considering or loving the child, who becomes an object of status or self-glorification.
   • You give yourself the right to be the alpha developer in this space.
   • He is the alpha villain in the game.
   • Known as the "order committee", these alpha gangsters were the sole authority because successive Guatemalan governments simply abandoned the facility.
   • For the capital's alpha toddlers, children's charity parties have become the events to see and be seen.
   • They have portrayed the company as a sort of alpha polluter, providing funds to environmentally destructive logging and mining projects all over the globe.
   • Thanks to these alpha parents' first-rate genes and nonstop cocktail parties, their scions were both very good-looking and highly adept at small talk.
   • It's not just mothers: alpha dads, in the form of "over-competitive soccer dads", are also to blame.
   • Finally, soaking up the deference of the others, the alpha designer leans forward, and exercising the absolute minimum of movement, grazes the lid open with the palm of his hand.
5. 1.5
   short for alpha test

   Example sentencesExamples

   • As well, the Behind Enemy Lines multiplayer mode was an addition that was actually created after alpha, when we were continually testing and polishing.
   • I would also like to remind everyone that the last two releases are alpha, which is why only minor changes are visible.
   • We weren't asked a cent for the privilege of downloading their music - presumably once Wippit gets out of alpha, the company will begin charging.
   • A new build of Longhorn, Microsoft's follow-up to XP, has leaked, and although it's still an alpha, reports of increased stability make it sound almost worth stealing.
   • The final release of the game is hardly better than the leaked alpha, which they said was nothing but a rough version, that needed polishing.
6. 1.6Astronomy followed by Latin genitive The first (typically the brightest) star in a constellation.
   Alpha Orionis

   Example sentencesExamples

   • And now, in a small nebula brimming with new lifeforms, ready and innocently waiting to see what the universe had in store for them, an Alpha lurks.
   • These alphas - named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet - are the brightest stars in their constellation, defining life as the young teen knows it.
7. 1.7as modifier Relating to alpha decay or alpha particles.
   an alpha emitter

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Gamma rays are high energy photons, often emitted together with beta or alpha radiations when the transformation has left the atom with excess energy.
   • Helium, a light gas, is formed during radioactive alpha decay in rock minerals.
   • Similar damage is caused by the alpha recoil, which is a trace of the energy released during the alpha decay of uranium and thorium isotopes.
   • Among the commonly known alpha emitters are various isotopes of polonium, radium, thorium, uranium and all of the transuranium elements.
   • Part of this energy is seen in the form of alpha radiation, which occurs in the process of alpha decay.

2A code word representing the letter A, used in radio communication.

1A plane angle.

2Angular acceleration.

3Astronomy
Right ascension.