C
1 Americannoun
PLURAL
C's, Cs, c's, cs.-
the third letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
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any spoken sound represented by the letter C or c, as in cat, race, or circle.
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something having the shape of a C .
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a written or printed representation of the letter C or c.
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a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter C or c.
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the third in order or in a series.
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(in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as fair or average. Sometimes c
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Music.
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the first tone, or keynote, in the scale of C major or the third tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
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a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
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a written or printed note representing this tone.
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(in the fixed system of solmization) the first tone of the scale of C major, called do.
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the tonality having C as the tonic note.
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a symbol indicating quadruple time and appearing after the clef sign on a musical staff.
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the Roman numeral for 100. Sometimes c
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Electricity.
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a battery size for 1.5 volt dry cells: diameter, 1 inch (2.5 centimeters); length, 1.9 inches (4.8 centimeters).
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Chemistry. carbon.
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Physics.
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Biochemistry.
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Slang. Also a hundred-dollar bill.
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a proportional shoe width size, narrower than D and wider than B.
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a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than D and larger than B.
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the lowest quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond.
abbreviation
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Optics. candle; candles.
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cycle; cycles.
abbreviation
abbreviation
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Optics. candle; candles. Also c
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carat.
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carbon.
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carton.
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case.
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Baseball. catcher.
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cathode.
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cent; cents.
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centavo.
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Football. center.
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centigrade.
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centime.
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centimeter.
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century.
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chairman; chairperson.
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chapter.
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chief.
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child.
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church.
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cirrus.
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city.
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cloudy.
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cognate.
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color.
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copper.
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copyright.
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corps.
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cubic.
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cycle; cycles. Also c
abbreviation
abbreviation
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Grammar. complement.
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Electricity. coulomb.
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county (used with a number to designate a county road).
C55.
noun
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Physics, Optics. the speed of light in a vacuum: standardized as 186,282.4 miles per second (299,792,458 meters per second).
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Physics, Acoustics. the speed of sound.
abbreviation
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Calorie.
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Cape.
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Catholic.
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Celsius.
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Celtic.
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Centigrade.
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College.
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(in Costa Rica and El Salvador) colon; colons.
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Congress.
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Conservative.
abbreviation
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(on maps as part of name) Cape
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Catholic
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Celtic
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Conservative
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Corps
symbol
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music
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a note having a frequency of 261.63 hertz ( middle C ) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the first degree of a major scale containing no sharps or flats ( C major )
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a key, string, or pipe producing this note
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the major or minor key having this note as its tonic
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a time signature denoting four crotchet beats to the bar See also alla breve common time
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chem carbon
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biochem cytosine
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capacitance
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heat capacity
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cold (water)
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physics compliance
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Celsius
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centigrade
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century
C20
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coulomb
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100 See Roman numerals
abbreviation
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012abbreviation
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carat
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cricket caught
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cent(s)
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century or centuries
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(used esp preceding a date) circa
c. 1800
abbreviation
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012noun
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the third letter and second consonant of the modern English alphabet
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a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually either a voiceless alveolar fricative, as in cigar, or a voiceless velar stop, as in case
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the third in a series, esp the third highest grade in an examination
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something shaped like a C
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( in combination )
a C-spring
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abbreviation
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012symbol
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centi-
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cubic
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cycle
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maths constant
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specific heat capacity
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the speed of light and other types of electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum
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chess See algebraic notation
Etymology
Origin of c1
From Latin circā, circiter, circum
Origin of c̄1
From the Latin word cum
Origin of c.1
From the Latin word congius
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.