z
abbreviation
zone.
z
1 Americanabbreviation
z
2
American
Symbol, Mathematics.
-
an unknown quantity or variable.
-
(in Cartesian coordinates) the z- axis.
Z
3
American
[zee, zed, iz-erd]
/ zi, zɛd, ˈɪz ərd /
Or
z
noun
-
Z's,
plural
-
Zs,
plural
-
z's,
plural
-
zs
plural
-
the 26th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
-
any spoken sound represented by the letter Z or z, as in zero, zigzag, or buzzer.
-
something having the shape of a Z .
-
a written or printed representation of the letter Z or z.
-
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Z or z.
Z
4
American
Z
5
American
Symbol.
-
the 26th in order or in a series.
-
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 2000.
-
Chemistry, Physics. atomic number.
-
Electricity. impedance.
z.
6
American
abbreviation
Z
1
British
symbol
-
any unknown, variable, or unspecified factor, number, person, or thing
-
chem atomic number
-
physics impedance
-
zone
-
currency zaïre
abbreviation
z
2
British
/ ziː, zɛd /
noun
-
the 26th and last letter and the 20th consonant of the modern English alphabet
-
a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiced alveolar fricative, as in zip
-
-
something shaped like a Z
-
( in combination )
a Z-bend in a road
-
z
3
British
symbol
-
the z- axis or a coordinate measured along the z- axis in a Cartesian or cylindrical coordinate system
-
an algebraic variable
z
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
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
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
We don’t say, “OK, you’re paying x, y, z bill, you’re paying x, y, z, though I don’t know what you make and I don’t know what you have in the bank.”
From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2024
"The dumbbell thus acts a bit like the needle on a compass, allowing us to read off the z coordinate according to its orientation," says Prof. Dr. Dieter Meschede.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024
A large and fancy N and a fancy z with a tail.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
"Gen Z protests didn't go in vain. We achieved something. At least now we see more debates with young people on state TV," she says.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
As the first members of Gen Z hit 30, this topic merits attention.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
The current campaign also follows a wave of Gen Z protests that erupted in September 2025 over unemployment, healthcare and living costs.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Z bosons examined in the experiment came from the decay of a Higgs boson, the particle discovered at the LHC in 2012.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
"You want some help, Ms. Z?" he asked her.
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
“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
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 William T. Preyer
C. z. zodius is known to occur in the foot hills north of the Cerro Viejo, the mountain from which C. g. atratus was described above.
From Four New Pocket Gophers of the Genus Cratogeomys from Jalisco, Mexico by Robert J. Russell
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 Millie Ryan
Pronounce the s like z. shame, etc., was ashamed and was quietly making a hole in the shingle roof so as to get away.
From Jamaican Song and Story Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes, and dancing tunes by Walter Jekyll
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
Only a mint green handbag and full sleeves of tattoos suggested that Gen Z’s reigning rock star had settled in to talk about his new album “Oh Yeah?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
How should employers respond to Gen Z’s ethical concerns about their work having a positive impact and aligning with their social values?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Generation Z’s approach to risk management is uninformed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Everything on Dr. Z’s supply list was arranged in a tidy row.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
She said Amex is mostly targeting Gen Zs with the best credit scores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Across men, women, and across every age group - including Gen Zs - voice notes were the least popular method of communication.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
Generationally, the Zs don’t seem to share much common ground with “Wuthering Heights” author Emily Brontë.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026
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
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
Only Momma could decipher the lacy handwriting with its long, tall letters all bunched together and the lines running into one another because of the long-tailed, fancy z’s and f’s and g’s.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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
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 G. William Breck
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
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.
