Q
noun
the 17th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
Q
1 American
[kyoo]
/ kju /
Or
q
noun
Q's,
plural
Qs,
plural
q's,
plural
qs
plural
-
the 17th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
-
any spoken sound represented by the letter Q or q, as in quick, acquit, or Iraq.
-
something having the shape of a Q .
-
a written or printed representation of the letter Q or q.
-
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Q or q.
Q
2
American
Q
3
American
Symbol.
-
the 17th in order or in a series.
-
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 500.
-
Biochemistry. glutamine.
-
Physics. heat.
-
Thermodynamics. a unit of heat energy, equal to 10 18 British thermal units (1.055 × 10 21 joules).
-
Also called Q-factor. Electronics. the ratio of the reactance to the resistance of an electric circuit or component.
-
Biblical Criticism. the symbol for material common to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that was not derived from the Gospel of Mark.
q.
4
American
abbreviation
q.
5
American
abbreviation
-
quart; quarts.
-
query.
-
question.
-
quintal.
-
quire.
Q.
6
American
abbreviation
-
quarto.
-
Quebec.
-
Queen.
-
question.
-
(in Guatemala) quetzal; quetzals.
Q
1
British
symbol
-
chess queen
-
question
-
physics heat
abbreviation
Q.
2
British
abbreviation
-
quartermaster
-
Also: q. quarto
-
Queen
-
question
q.
3
British
abbreviation
-
quart
-
quarter
-
quarterly
q
4
British
/ kjuː /
noun
-
the 17th letter and 13th consonant of the modern English alphabet
-
a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiceless velar stop, as in unique and quick
q
5
British
symbol
q
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of q.
From the Latin word quadrāns
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.
See Examples For:
After a long space, the post said, “and by Q we mean quantum.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Rappers like Schoolboy Q and DJ Khalid have also become interested in the sport, adding to its cachet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
In Q lab, one scientist mentions discovering the "lifeboat with a minibar" that appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me, observing: "I guess things were different in the 80s."
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
The amendment - highlighted by Jeremy Clarkson in his Amazon Prime show Clarkson's Farm - relaxed rules on turning old agricultural structures into dwellings under Class Q Agricultural Permitted Development Rights.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Still typing, Radar said, “I can’t believe Q has never heard of Coltrane. Trane’s playing is literally the most convincing proof of God’s existence I’ve ever come across.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Remarks.—Topotypes of this subspecies are intergrades between it and E. q. quadrivittatus.
From Taxonomy of the Chipmunks, Eutamias quadrivittatus and Eutamias umbrinus by White, John A.
Lancaster, William, pseudonym for Lord de Tabley, q. v.
From The Age of Tennyson by Walker, Hugh
Tuob, gold, probably akin to hobin, q. v.
From The Arawack Language of Guiana in its Linguistic and Ethnological Relations by Brinton, Daniel Garrison
The proverb has a similar meaning to "Fair fa' the wife," &c., q. v.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Hislop, Alexander
Bacula of E. q. hopiensis from northeastern Arizona are like those in typical E. q. quadrivittatus.
From The Baculum in the Chipmunks of Western North America by White, John A.
Most notably, he fired General Charles Q. Brown, the military’s highest-ranking Black officer.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
It’s one thing to have John Q. Public, who reads and watches certain news outlets where you’ve appeared, mistake you for someone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the fired Joint Chiefs chairman, is the second Black general to serve in the role.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2025
He greeted the crowd and soon joined Mr. Krinsky for a Q. and A. that the chief executive figured would be light and breezy.
From New York Times ● May 26, 2024
“It sure seems she left this for you, though, Q. I mean, does she know anyone else who could see this window?”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
The Fed Board in Washington oversees supervision of large regional banks like SVB, and Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr is undertaking a review of what went wrong to be published on May q.
From Reuters ● Apr. 12, 2023
The letters q, p, d and b are all shaped identically but rotated, and some have argued serifs make them easier to identify.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
The electrostatic or Coulomb force is conservative, which means that the work done on q is independent of the path taken.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
Note that the electric field is defined for a positive test charge q , so that the field lines point away from a positive charge and toward a negative charge.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
I nod and leave her holding the q up to the light.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Q’s posts also stopped, leaving many followers adrift.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2025
The court has adjourned Q's case, saying this would allow it to be involved again if necessary.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
Just across the parking lot from Station Q’s new office, a third kind of Majorana hunt is underway.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 20, 2023
Predictably, Professor Q’s dreamy affair is overtaken by a nightmare reality.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
“My prom prospects are so poor that Q’s grandma turned me down. She said she was waiting for Radar to ask her.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
It reintroduced Suzy Qs, a snack cake that resembles an ice cream sandwich, and launched Fritter Rings, which the CEO said bring a “country fair kind of vibe.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
“You need to be on your Ps and Qs in both categories,” Snead said, “both variables, right, to earn that type of contract.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026
"We've got a whole line of Qs doing really cool stuff in the tech space who are women," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2024
Your Qs aren’t hard, but when you’re obnoxious, we answer other reporters’ Qs.”
From Washington Times ● Jan. 24, 2020
Some Os and Qs and Cs long and narrow.
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Viewed this way, minding our p’s and q’s is less about proscriptive notions of correctness, and more about mindfulness, self-discovery and proper conduct.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Being aware of how to mind your p's and q's in each of those places is essential to getting by or possibly moving up in the world.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2022
For parents worried that virtual assistants are encouraging bad manners in children, it’ll be a good way to prod the little ones to remember their p’s and q’s.
From The Verge ● Nov. 29, 2018
"That's the biggest adjustment. It makes me lock in defensively. I know I have to be on my p's and q's."
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2018
She snaps back, “Now, you just mind your own p’s and q’s there!”
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
E-Mili 1st 3 qs wasted but 4th was a vg one.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2013
After the camera pans to the board – which has the words 'shaqattack', 'shaqalici', 'shaquesque' and, yes, 'shaqfu' on it – Shaq is asked: "How do you get so many qs?"
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2012
Diana is closeted in Clarence House, the residence of the Queen Mother, getting a cram course in monarchical ps and qs.
From Time Magazine Archive
He minds not only the ps and qs of acting but the entire alphabet of stagecraft.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nowadays she no longer minded her ps and qs; she had regained the most perfect freedom.
From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Zola, Émile
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.
