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.
See Examples For:
“We *want* remain pass less and will continue to wear our man repellent vision helpers, mostly so we can function, but also bc of the bonus Creeper Deterrents. #jeopardy #foureyes,” another wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2024
Ohh my fault, it was holding bc he threw the flag.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2023
“There needs to be an age limit on congressional positions bc this was so embarrassing,” one user wrote in the caption of a video posted on Friday.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
Allen said: When LT blocked him, not Sweat, he knew to stay outside bc Sweat would go inside.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
A particularly ancient find was a flute made of bear bone, discovered in a Slovenian cave in 1995, which was dated at roughly 41,000 bc.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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The findings, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, show that the burial site was used during two separate periods, divided by a major population decline around 3000 BC.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
The only 2026 World Cup venue not affected by the rule is Vancouver's BC Place.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The earliest evidence of people on Ynys Enlli are pieces of flint, which have been dated back to between 2,000 and 1,000 BC.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Additionally, they may have no place to play next season since their lease at BC Place, a 54,000-seat football stadium, expires at the end of the year.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
The Hippocratic Oath, written in the fourth century BC, didn’t require patient consent.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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So, diagram the A/B premise and the B/C premise onto the three circles.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024
“Out of an abundance of caution, TSA evacuated the B/C and D/E security checkpoints to ensure the safety of its employees and travelers,” a TSA spokesperson said in an email.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
He’s a smart kid and normally a strong B/C student.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2021
As the BBC revealed on Wednesday, the inspectorate's findings on HMP Liverpool - a local category B/C prison, which also takes people on remand - are damning across the board.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2017
Taagepera, R. Size and duration of empires growth-decline curves, 3000 to 600 b.c.
From Nature ● Nov. 14, 2017
French archaeologists, for example, have found exquisite ceramic figurines, bowls and funerary objects at sites that date from at least 8000 b.c.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 b.c.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
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In 1650 James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, calculated from Old Testament genealogical data that God created the universe on Sunday, October 23, 4004 b.c.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Even allowing for a slow passage, the Israelites must have arrived by around 500 b.c.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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We have six homes: In California, we own two contemporary houses in Malibu, one house in Beverly Hills and two in Hollywood; and there’s one in Whistler, B.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Khichdi, derived from the Sanskrit word khicca, meaning a dish made with rice and legumes, dates back to the ninth century B.C.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
In the retelling of the ancient historian’s chronicle of the fifth century B.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
The one that really moved me was an ancient Chinese calligraphy example that’s from 1000 B.C.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
As early as 5000 B.C., colossal architecture of massive, upright stones appeared.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
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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.