bc
1 Americanabbreviation
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Music. basso continuo.
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blind copy: used as a notation on the copy of a letter or other document sent to a third person without the addressee's knowledge. Also
abbreviation
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Scuba Diving. buoyancy compensator.
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British Columbia, Canada (approved for postal use).
abbreviation
abbreviation
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Bachelor of Chemistry.
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Bachelor of Commerce.
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bass clarinet.
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battery commander.
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British Columbia.
abbreviation
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Also: B.C.. (indicating years numbered back from the supposed year of the birth of Christ) before Christ Compare AD
in 54 bc Caesar came
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British Columbia
Usage
The abbreviation b.c. “before Christ” is always placed after a date or century: Cleopatra lived from 69 to 30 b.c. The war took place in the first century b.c. See also a.d. 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Everyone loved BC because he was always there as the most supportive friend you could ever imagine,” the agency wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
The site was used during two separate time periods, with a significant population decline occurring around 3000 BC between them.
From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026
Brunello Cucinelli BC 0.74%increase; green up pointing triangle , the quiet-luxury brand favored by tech billionaires, had been hit by the sour mood across the sector.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
The Bronze Age in Scotland spans a 1,400-year period from about 2,200 BC to about 800 BC.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
His most famous student, Alexander the Great, spread the doctrine as far east as India before Alexander’s untimely death in 323 BC.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.