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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

This newly identified galaxy sits at z = 1.156, which means its light has traveled for 8.5 billion years to reach us.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 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

“Basically. It’s part of who Milez with a z is. But that’s his creation. It’s not me.”

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Generation Z remains the most optimistic, with 58% expecting to be financially prepared for retirement, though this is down from 63% in 2025.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

Gen Z is a critical segment for Tapestry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

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

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Z raked his fingers through his matted hair.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

“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

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 Morris Jastrow

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

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 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

Generation Z’s backlash signals a desire for a say in the future that AI is creating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

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

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

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

He quickly helped Diana wrap Z’s shirt and paper towels around her legs while Z bound the makeshift bandages with duct tape.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau

Generationally, the Zs don’t seem to share much common ground with “Wuthering Heights” author Emily Brontë.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026

Perhaps it was due to the large volume of young children stood in the crowd amongst us Gen Zs and millennials.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 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

“We see a lot of demand for our products and services coming from Gen Zs and Millennials. They are also signing up for premium products.”

From Reuters ● Oct. 20, 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

The study found that Northern elephant seals sleep far less at sea than they do on land, and the z’s they do catch at sea are caught hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface.

From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 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

“You want to catch a few z’s in my office?”

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick

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