litre
Britishnoun
-
one cubic decimetre
-
(formerly) the volume occupied by 1 kilogram of pure water at 4°C and 760 millimetres of mercury. This is equivalent to 1.000 028 cubic decimetres or about 1.76 pints
Etymology
Origin of litre
C19: from French, from Medieval Latin litra, from Greek: a unit of weight
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.
"Instead of two litres of oil, I buy one litre and make it last... We're tightening our belts," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
During the appointment, Sawyer offered to inject up to a litre of filler, provided prescription-only medicines without a prescription being issued and suggested administering local anaesthetic without a prescriber present.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Since 28 May, the price of petrol has come down by 4.8p to 154.7p a litre, with diesel reducing by 10.3p to 174.3p a litre.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
According to the RAC, the price of petrol reached an Iran war peak of 159.53p a litre on 28 May, while diesel's highest price during the conflict was 191.54p a litre on 15 April.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
The instructions also suggested survivors restrict themselves to half a litre of water every twenty-four hours.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
![]()
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.