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

plural

Z's, Zs, z's, zs

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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Example Sentences

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

We had to assume that the letter a was worth one cent, b two cents, c three cents—and so on, making the letter z worth twenty-six cents.

From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea