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• calorie
  calorie
• Calorie
  Calorie

  noun

  a unit of heat, equal to one thousand calories, often used to express the heat output of an organism or the energy value of food

calorie

American  

[kal-uh-ree] / ˈkæl ə ri /

Sometimes calory

noun

• calories
  plural

1. Thermodynamics.

   1. Also called gram calorie, small calorie. an amount of heat exactly equal to 4.1840 joules. cal

   2. (usually initial capital letter) kilocalorie. Cal

2. Physiology.

   1. a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.

   2. a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy.

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Calorie ¹ British  

/ ˈkælərɪ /

noun

1. Cal. Also called: kilogram calorie, kilocalorie, large calorie. a unit of heat, equal to one thousand calories, often used to express the heat output of an organism or the energy value of food

2. the amount of a specific food capable of producing one thousand calories of energy

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calorie ² British  

/ ˈkælərɪ /

noun

1. Also called: gram calorie, small calorie, cal. a unit of heat, equal to 4.1868 joules ( International Table calorie ): formerly defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C under standard conditions. It has now largely been replaced by the joule for scientific purposes Compare Calorie

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calorie Scientific  

/ kăl′ə-rē /

1. A unit of energy equal to the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. One calorie is equivalent to 4.1868 joules.

2. Also called small calorie

3. Calorie A unit of heat equal to the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1,000 grams of water by one degree Celsius. This unit is used as a measure of the energy released by food as it is digested by the human body.

4. Also called kilocalorie large calorie

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Calorie Cultural  

1. The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. A calorie (with a lower-case c) is a measurement of the heat needed to raise the temperature of a gram of water, rather than a kilogram.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• calories
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of calorie

First recorded in 1800–10; from French, equivalent to calor- (from Latin calor “heat”) + -ie noun suffix; see -y ³

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Explanation

A calorie is the energy that it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade. More importantly, a calorie is a unit that you can use to measure the energy in your food. From the Latin calor, “to heat,” a calorie is a measurement of heat energy (it may be called a small calorie or a large calorie). When you’re out of the chemistry lab, you’ll most often hear calorie in relation to the energy in food or the energy you burn through exercise. It will also usually be referred to in the plural, as calories. This makes sense: just one calorie won’t make any difference in what you weigh, but many calories will!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calorie Calorie calories

Despite the additional fruits, the avocado and mango group did not experience significant changes in body weight or overall calorie intake.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

It takes a lot more energy to produce each calorie you can get from meat than the calories you can get from vegetables, and this shows up in prices.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2026

According to McCormack, Overton’s vision for the restaurant involved a maximalism that carried over into the entire customer experience—from the look, to the indulgent food options, to the portion sizes and calorie counts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

He said calorie counting apps can become "highly addictive" if you are weighing, measuring and adjusting your calorie intake.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

On the industrial farm, it takes about ten calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food energy.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Like many millennial girls who came of age when diet culture was practically an extracurricular activity, I could mentally toggle between Weight Watchers points and the “Pocket Calorie Counter” with alarming fluency.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

"Calorie restriction does so many different things, and no one knows the precise way that it is extending lifespan," Dr. Tyler said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024

Calorie content was only displayed on a fifth of the bottles analysed by the lab.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2022

Calorie restriction “could enhance longevity in some people while shortening lifespan in others,” Kaeberlein wrote.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2021

His daughters would never have presented him with a copy of Calorie Counters, the 1-2-3 Way to an All-New You.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

Participants followed this eating plan for eight weeks, while a comparison group consumed a similar diet in which the fruits were replaced with carbohydrate-based foods containing equivalent calories.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

It takes a lot more energy to produce each calorie you can get from meat than the calories you can get from vegetables, and this shows up in prices.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2026

Fasting can help some people reduce how many calories they eat — but it’s not “effortless” as some would have you believe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

"I was eating 12 eggs a day, like, 4,000 calories, training a lot," she says.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Since 1977, an American’s average daily intake of calories has jumped by more than 10 percent.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

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