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• z
  z

  abbreviation

  zone.
• Z
  Z

  noun

  the 26th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
• z.
  z.

  abbreviation

  zero.

z

¹ American  

abbreviation

1. zone.

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z ² American  

Symbol, Mathematics.

1. an unknown quantity or variable.

2. (in Cartesian coordinates) the z- axis.

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Z ³ American  

[zee, zed, iz-erd] / zi, zɛd, ˈɪz ərd /

Or z

noun

• Z's,
  plural
• Zs,
  plural
• z's,
  plural
• zs
  plural

1. the 26th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter Z or z, as in zero, zigzag, or buzzer.

3. something having the shape of a Z .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter Z or z.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Z or z.

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Z ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. Astronomy. zenith distance.

2. zone.

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Z ⁵ American  

Symbol.

1. the 26th in order or in a series.

2. (sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 2000.

3. Chemistry, Physics. atomic number.

4. Electricity. impedance.

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z. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. zero.

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Z ¹ British  

symbol

1. any unknown, variable, or unspecified factor, number, person, or thing

2. chem atomic number

3. physics impedance

4. zone

5. currency zaïre

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abbreviation

1. Zambia (international car registration)

z ² British  

/ ziː, zɛd /

noun

1. the 26th and last letter and the 20th consonant of the modern English alphabet

2. a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiced alveolar fricative, as in zip

3. 1. something shaped like a Z

   2. ( in combination )

      a Z-bend in a road

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z ³ British  

symbol

1. the z- axis or a coordinate measured along the z- axis in a Cartesian or cylindrical coordinate system

2. an algebraic variable

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z Idioms  

1. see from soup to nuts (a to z).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Z's
  plural
• Zs
  plural
• z's
  plural
• zs
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

z Z z. Z's Zs z's zs

"Discovery of an X-ray Luminous Radio-Loud Quasar at z = 3.4: A Possible Transitional Super-Eddington Phase" in the Astrophysical Journal on January 21, 2026.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026

For example: “If we do this, could it prevent us from reaching the revenue target because x, y and z might happen?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

“There are thousands of group chats like this where gen z people talk like that,” he said.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2025

Fyfield Manor, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, posted a video to its TikTok page on Monday with the caption: "When you ask your gen z daughter to write the marketing script."

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2024

Helen had never been lazy that Theresa could see, but she had always seemed to possess a certain amount of energy, e, which she could expend on any projects, x, y, z.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

Hopefully the generation of Gen Z musicians depicted in the film still lust over the chance to try, even as a wretched economy makes road-dogging harder today while digital fame beckons instead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Ray Smith: I have been reporting on how Gen Z is navigating the challenging job market and the workplace for months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Sliders are out and Crocs are in for Gen Z, she says.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Gen Z isn’t simply embracing AI or resisting it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

We used a machine the size of a mobile home to press them into a Z shape, then we attached wire brushes to grinders and blasted away the rust so they could be painted.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

“Miles, without a z. My apologies for the stuff I said about your dad in our battle.”

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

J, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, y, z. until you have covered all the consonants.

From What Every Singer Should Know by Ryan, Millie

Zodiac, z. system outcome of religious thought, 247, 434; zodiacal interpretation of the gods, 82, 310-1, 434, 462-3, 676; almost the entire zodiac known to the Babylonians, 456.

From The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Jastrow, Morris

This is always a case simply of imperfections in h and z. a.

From The Mind of the Child, Part II The Development of the Intellect, International Education Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX. by Preyer, William T.

For further details, see C. Rose, Beitr. z. vergl.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

This is, in part, why I’m surprised at Gen Z’s dismissal of Holden Caulfield as a whiny white rich-kid hypocrite.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

As business publication Fast Company noted, Backrooms is among several recent liminal space titles "shaped by Gen Z's most traumatic formative years".

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

Editor’s note: In this Future View, students discuss Gen Z’s attitude toward artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

Gasoline this year has taken up around 7% of Gen Z’s total card spending per household, according to BofA data, compared with around 4% for Boomers.

From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026

A hand touched Z’s shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Rashid’s looking at him.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau

That statistic was higher among Gen Zs and millennials, with 41 percent saying they rely heavily on food delivery.

From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2026

For some digital-native Gen Zs, it seems, simply doing the things they enjoy can be an alternative to the tyranny of the swipe.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2025

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers debate one of the great questions of our time: Do Gen Zs even get checks?

From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2024

Gen Z workers are struggling with financial anxiety and pushing for more purposeful and flexible work, according to a Deloitte Gen Z and Millennial report surveying 14,808 Gen Zs and 8,412 millennials.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2023

By Family to Fashion I was beginning to wonder about going the other way: starting on the Zs and working backwards.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

It’s like a mini sensory deprivation pod, perfect for catching some z’s mid-flight.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2024

Horses have specialized anatomical features that enable them to stay on their hooves while catching some z's.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 12, 2023

Next to my bed, I played an eight-hour recording of someone snoring like a runaway freight train, while I wore the Sleepbuds to see whether I could still catch some z’s.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 26, 2018

Finally, ties were broken based on things like which word was the most fun to say or whether any of the word choices included especially cool letters like z’s or w’s.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2015

You know, check the place out—make sure ain't no badges copping some z's in the back.

From "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers

This is Siesta of a Hungarian Snake: s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz Zs zs Zs zs zs z Morgan was born into a middle-class family in Hyndland, in Glasgow's west end.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 19, 2010

Almost immediately, on a shortwave band, they can hear someone talking in a strange language full of zs and s’s.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

C or cz is pronounced as English ts; cs as English ch; ds as English j; zs as French j; gy as dy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 8 "Hudson River" to "Hurstmonceaux" by Various

They think if they talk like they had an egg in there mouth an put in lots of zs its French.

From "Same old Bill, eh Mable!" by Breck, G. William