From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishampersandam‧per‧sand /ˈæmpəsænd $ -ər-/ noun [countable] SLAthe sign ‘&’ that means ‘and’ Mills & Boon
Examples from the Corpus
ampersand• It seems we've unwound an ampersand and pulled it like a cracker.Origin ampersand (1800-1900) and (&) per se and “(the character) & by itself (is the word) and” 