From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdefinite articleˌdefinite ˈarticle noun [countable usually singular] 1 SLGthe word ‘the’ in English → indefinite article2 SLGa word in another language that is like ‘the’
Examples from the Corpus
definite article• The newspaper names have a definite article because there is only one.• But these are presented without a definite article.• It's a language all its own, with rules and a grammar, but it has no definite article.• The man had become a myth and acquired the definite article.• Demonstratives and the definite article are terms whose mobilisation and use would be strongly linked to this kind of deixis.• Notice especially that the definite article may be one such further selecting qualifier.• They are all blond and call themselves Gang, without the definite article, which has an icily Germanic ring.• The definite article was inclined to appear in strange places, and to disappear from other places where it should have been. 