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:
“It’s amazing when the audience, whether it’s during a Q and A or during a interactive part of the show, gets a chance to express what these shows have meant to them,” Levy said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Q: What does the PHP episode tell us?
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
And the oldest restaurant in London, Rules in Covent Garden, also featured in Spectre, hosting M, Q and Moneypenny.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Q: Can you help me understand the difference between the 30-day SEC yield and the trailing 12-month distribution yield?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Suzie Q lay her head on Sofia chest Poor Sofia, she say, just like she heard Shug.
From "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
Bacula of E. q. hopiensis from northeastern Arizona are like those in typical E. q. quadrivittatus.
From The Baculum in the Chipmunks of Western North America by John A. White
Diagnosis.—Size medium; dorsal dark stripes tawny; crown Drab-Gray; baculum of same proportions as in E. q. quadrivittatus but smaller.
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
Teut., kater, a he-cat, and boetse, rendered cavillatio, q., "a cat's quarrel."
From Our Cats and All About Them Their Varieties, Habits, and Management; and for Show, the Standard of Excellence and Beauty; Described and Pictured by Harrison Weir
Remarks.—Specimens from the Chuska Mountains, Zuni Mountains, and Blanco, New Mexico, are intergrades between E. q. quadrivittatus and E. q. hopiensis, but are referable to E. q. quadrivittatus.
From Taxonomy of the Chipmunks, Eutamias quadrivittatus and Eutamias umbrinus by John A. White
Q. Who lives in the house on the right side of yours?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Most notably, he fired General Charles Q. Brown, the military’s highest-ranking Black officer.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
“He’s obviously a talented politician,” said Q. Whitfield Ayres, a GOP pollster with extensive campaign experience in Georgia and other presidential swing states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 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
“This is my colleague, Q. Q, this is Gus.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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
But we do know that, since F = qE , the work, and hence ΔPE , is proportional to the test charge q.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
The electrostatic or Coulomb force is conservative, which means that the work done on q is independent of the path taken.
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
“Ballard” is a sharp reversal from Q’s last series — the 2024 Fox comedy “Pivoting,” about three close-knit women who are trying to cope with the death of another friend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2025
He added that Child Q's position as a "vulnerable or a potentially exploited child was not adequately considered".
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2025
Just across the parking lot from Station Q’s new office, a third kind of Majorana hunt is underway.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 20, 2023
But my cousins don’t move until they’re sure that Q’s car has turned the corner and driven several blocks out of the neighborhood.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
It reintroduced Suzy Qs, a snack cake that resembles an ice cream sandwich, and launched Fritter Rings, which the CEO said bring a “country fair kind of vibe.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
“You need to be on your Ps and Qs in both categories,” Snead said, “both variables, right, to earn that type of contract.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026
"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
Since the doors to the theater first swung open, it’d been made clear that everyone needed to mind their Ps and Qs.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2023
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
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
Getting sense my q's today went over ppls heads - maybe going fwd I shouldn’t stay up late watching @Dbacks games...
From Time ● Jun. 8, 2017
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
He minds not only the ps and qs of acting but the entire alphabet of stagecraft.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
For instance, there were twenty ss, and only two qs.
From The Adventures of Bobby Orde by Worth Brehm
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