Q
noun
the 17th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
Q
1 American
[kyoo]
/ kju /
Or
q
noun
-
Q's,
plural
-
Qs,
plural
-
q's,
plural
-
qs
plural
-
the 17th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
-
any spoken sound represented by the letter Q or q, as in quick, acquit, or Iraq.
-
something having the shape of a Q .
-
a written or printed representation of the letter Q or q.
-
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Q or q.
Q
2
American
Q
3
American
Symbol.
-
the 17th in order or in a series.
-
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 500.
-
Biochemistry. glutamine.
-
Physics. heat.
-
Thermodynamics. a unit of heat energy, equal to 10 18 British thermal units (1.055 × 10 21 joules).
-
Also called Q-factor. Electronics. the ratio of the reactance to the resistance of an electric circuit or component.
-
Biblical Criticism. the symbol for material common to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that was not derived from the Gospel of Mark.
q.
4
American
abbreviation
q.
5
American
abbreviation
-
quart; quarts.
-
query.
-
question.
-
quintal.
-
quire.
Q.
6
American
abbreviation
-
quarto.
-
Quebec.
-
Queen.
-
question.
-
(in Guatemala) quetzal; quetzals.
Q
1
British
symbol
-
chess queen
-
question
-
physics heat
abbreviation
Q.
2
British
abbreviation
-
quartermaster
-
Also: q. quarto
-
Queen
-
question
q.
3
British
abbreviation
-
quart
-
quarter
-
quarterly
q
4
British
/ kjuː /
noun
-
the 17th letter and 13th consonant of the modern English alphabet
-
a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiceless velar stop, as in unique and quick
q
5
British
symbol
q
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of q.
From the Latin word quadrāns
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:
Q: How is AI changing these types of attacks?
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
To evaluate different routes, the scientists used a measurement called Q, which compares the power produced by fusion reactions with the external heating power supplied to the plasma.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Q: What are you seeing in the cryptocurrency space as an exchange-traded funds provider?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Last week, the county Board of Supervisors voted to rename a section of Avenue Q in Palmdale in honor of the slain deputy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
And if Q is like a father to Dray, then Q is my father, too.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
The proverb has a similar meaning to "Fair fa' the wife," &c., q. v.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop
Remarks.—Topotypes of this subspecies are intergrades between it and E. q. quadrivittatus.
From Taxonomy of the Chipmunks, Eutamias quadrivittatus and Eutamias umbrinus by John A. White
E. q. hopiensis, the only other subspecies in this species, E. q. quadrivittatus differs in: Dorsal dark stripes blackish; crown grayer; rump and thighs grayer; general tone of upper parts darker.
From Taxonomy of the Chipmunks, Eutamias quadrivittatus and Eutamias umbrinus by John A. White
Ecologically, E. umbrinus thus replaces E. q. quadrivittatus in north-central Colorado.
From Taxonomy of the Chipmunks, Eutamias quadrivittatus and Eutamias umbrinus by John A. White
"When will he be back," says he, as though he was thinking of getting me fired p. d. q. for being fresh.
From The Trail of the Hawk A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life by Sinclair Lewis
Most notably, he fired General Charles Q. Brown, the military’s highest-ranking Black officer.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
It’s one thing to have John Q. Public, who reads and watches certain news outlets where you’ve appeared, mistake you for someone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the fired Joint Chiefs chairman, is the second Black general to serve in the role.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2025
He even leaned back and licked his lips after asking the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., about dropping atomic bombs to end World War II.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2024
“We need more time, Uncle Q. We had to toss all of it. We’re not trying to sell some messed-up batch,” Chantal says.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
The Fed Board in Washington oversees supervision of large regional banks like SVB, and Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr is undertaking a review of what went wrong to be published on May q.
From Reuters ● Apr. 12, 2023
The letters q, p, d and b are all shaped identically but rotated, and some have argued serifs make them easier to identify.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
To simplify things, we would prefer to have a field that depends only on Q and not on the test charge q .
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
First show that q is in static equilibrium.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
“The q is red,” I repeat, “on the block. But in my head it’s a dark silver, like the color of Dad’s helicopter.”
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Q’s posts also stopped, leaving many followers adrift.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2025
It is not disputed that Child Q's sanitary pad was thereby exposed.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025
“It’s a Ugly Come Up” is so feral, so brazenly uninhibited, that Schoolboy Q’s “Blue Lips” seems almost family-friendly by comparison.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
Q’s gaze hovers above the audience, but she is not talking to us.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
“My prom prospects are so poor that Q’s grandma turned me down. She said she was waiting for Radar to ask her.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Here, he takes an opportunity to respond publicly to a few Qs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
"We've got a whole line of Qs doing really cool stuff in the tech space who are women," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2024
“The point of a code is to set consistent expectations for how justices will behave & the norms of ethical conduct. These types of articles raise Qs a code could answer,” the group tweeted.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
“He’s definitely on his Ps and Qs as far as pass protection,” Talib said of Anderson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2018
Some Os and Qs and Cs long and narrow.
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Viewed this way, minding our p’s and q’s is less about proscriptive notions of correctness, and more about mindfulness, self-discovery and proper conduct.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Being aware of how to mind your p's and q's in each of those places is essential to getting by or possibly moving up in the world.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2022
For parents worried that virtual assistants are encouraging bad manners in children, it’ll be a good way to prod the little ones to remember their p’s and q’s.
From The Verge ● Nov. 29, 2018
"That's the biggest adjustment. It makes me lock in defensively. I know I have to be on my p's and q's."
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2018
She snaps back, “Now, you just mind your own p’s and q’s there!”
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
E-Mili 1st 3 qs wasted but 4th was a vg one.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2013
After the camera pans to the board – which has the words 'shaqattack', 'shaqalici', 'shaquesque' and, yes, 'shaqfu' on it – Shaq is asked: "How do you get so many qs?"
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2012
Today's playgoers are not so likely to be put off by Cock-A-Doodle Dan dy's zany unconcern with sequiturs, probabilities or dramatic ps and qs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Diana is closeted in Clarence House, the residence of the Queen Mother, getting a cram course in monarchical ps and qs.
From Time Magazine Archive
He loves her and he rejoices in her, that's true; but, mate, you must mind your ps and qs with him, he is a strict old man, a harsh old man.
From The Schoolmistress, and other stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
