Q

¹ American  

[kyoo] / kyu /

Or q

noun

plural

Q's, Qs, q's, qs

1. the 17th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter Q or q, as in quick, acquit, or Iraq.

3. something having the shape of a Q .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter Q or q.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Q or q.

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Q ² American  

abbreviation

1. quarterly.

2. Chess. queen.

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Q ³ American  

Symbol.

1. the 17th in order or in a series.

2. (sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 500.

3. Biochemistry. glutamine.

4. Physics. heat.

5. Thermodynamics. a unit of heat energy, equal to 10 18 British thermal units (1.055 × 10 21 joules).

6. Also called Q-factor.  Electronics. the ratio of the reactance to the resistance of an electric circuit or component.

7. Biblical Criticism. the symbol for material common to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that was not derived from the Gospel of Mark.

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q. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. farthing.

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q. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. quart; quarts.

2. query.

3. question.

4. quintal.

5. quire.

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Q. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. quarto.

2. Quebec.

3. Queen.

4. question.

5. (in Guatemala) quetzal; quetzals.

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Q ¹ British  

symbol

1. chess queen

2. question

3. physics heat

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abbreviation

1. text messaging queue

Q. ² British  

abbreviation

1. quartermaster

2. Also: q.  quarto

3. Queen

4. question

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q. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. quart

2. quarter

3. quarterly

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q ⁴ British  

/ kjuː /

noun

1. the 17th letter and 13th consonant of the modern English alphabet

2. a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiceless velar stop, as in unique and quick

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q ⁵ British  

symbol

1. quintal

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q Idioms  

1. see mind one's p's and q's.

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Etymology

Origin of q.

From the Latin word quadrāns

Example Sentences

Q: How do the precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights help?

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

Q: Do you have hope of seeing her free soon?

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

Q: Do you think Elon Musk’s SpaceX can get index providers to bend their rules and admit it to market benchmarks like the S&P 500 major indexes right after its likely IPO later this year?

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

Q: What are current commercial quantum providers doing to address the security concerns?

From Science Daily • Jan. 20, 2026

But that money wasn’t lasting ’cause Ma was giving it away—a couple hundred here, a couple thousand there, until Q put an end to that.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi