apostrophe: Meaning and Definition of

a•pos•tro•phe

1. the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.'s, 3's.

a•pos•tro•phe

1. a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as “O Death, where is thy sting?”