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mil

1 American  
[mil] / mɪl /

noun

  1. a unit of length equal to 0.001 of an inch (0.0254 millimeters), used in measuring the diameter of wires.

  2. a military unit of angular measurement equal to the angle subtended by 1/6400 of a circumference.

  3. (less accurately) the angle subtended by an arc equal to 1/1000 (0.001) of the radius or distance.

  4. (used formerly in pharmaceutical prescriptions) a milliliter.

  5. a former bronze coin of the mandate of Palestine, the 1/1000 part of a pound.

mil 2 American  
[mil] / mɪl /

noun

  1. Slang. a million.

mil. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. military.

  2. militia.

mil 1 British  

abbreviation

  1. a US military department

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mil 2 British  
/ mɪl /

noun

  1. a unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch

  2. an obsolete pharmaceutical unit of volume equal to one millilitre

  3. a unit of angular measure, used in gunnery, equal to one sixty-four-hundredth of a circumference

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mil. 3 British  

abbreviation

  1. military

  2. militia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mil Scientific  
/ mĭl /

  1. A unit of length in the US Customary System equal to 1/1000 of an inch (0.03 millimeter), used chiefly to measure the diameter of wires.

Etymology

Origin of mil1

First recorded in 1715–25; short for Latin millēsimus “thousandth,” equivalent to mill(e) “thousand” ( mile ) + -ēsimus ordinal suffix

Origin of mil2

By shortening

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.

Use 5 mil painters plastic around the room in the corner where the wall and ceiling meet.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 2, 2024

"These agreements were reached just recently, and we know that we have work with the PRC mil to do to solidify the next steps," Franchetti said.

From Reuters • Nov. 24, 2023

Her other book, “Xia y las mil sirenas,” published in Mexico in 2009, was a children’s book about mermaids, lesbian mothers and the power of chosen family.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2022

El artículo de 1997 de Simard ha sido citado casi mil veces y su charla TED de 2016, llamada How trees talk to each other, tiene más de cinco millones de reproducciones.

From New York Times • Nov. 20, 2022

“You can jolly well get up and put on your helm and we mil have a fight I won’t be called a cheat for anybody.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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.