centimeter

[ sen-tuh-mee-ter ]

/ ˈsɛn təˌmi tər /

one 100th of a meter, equivalent to 0.3937 inch. Abbreviation: cm, cm.

Nearby words

Also especially British, cen·ti·me·tre.

From the French word centimètre, dating back to 1795–1805. See centi-, meter¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

The daughter had also been exposed and was comatose before she and her mother each received A 250 cubic centimeter transfusion.
Infected Ebola Doctor Kent Brantly Is an Endangered Hero|Michael Daly|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
True, this wasn't an outpost set up by Israeli settlers to prevent a centimeter of retreat from the Whole Land.
Bibi Grows a Backbone|Gershom Gorenberg|January 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The knife missed the lung by half a centimeter,—cursed be the devil!
The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin|Emilia Pardo Bazn
Growing on old wood and bark in small patches of a few millimeters to a centimeter or more in extent.
The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio|A. P. Morgan

This lens has a short focal length usually less than a centimeter.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower
A good, thick cork, quite a centimeter deep, is the obstacle to be pierced for an outlet.
The Life of the Fly|J. Henri Fabre
It was no more possible to buy a piece of dynamite for any purpose than to buy a forty-two centimeter siege gun.
The Fall of a Nation|Thomas Dixon

also centimetre, 1801, from French centimètre (18c.), coined from Latin centum "hundred" (see hundred) + French mètre (see meter (n.2)).

[ sĕn′tə-mē′tər ]

A unit of length equal to one hundredth (10-2) of a meter.

[ sĕn′tə-mē′tər ]

A unit of length in the metric system equal to 0.01 meter. See Table at measurement.

[ (sen-tuh-mee-tuhr) ]

A unit of length in the metric system; one-hundredth of a meter, or about two-fifths of an inch.