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kilometer

noun
ki·​lo·​me·​ter | \ kə-ˈlä-mə-tər How to pronounce kilometer (audio) , ki-; ˈki-lə-ˌmē-tər How to pronounce kilometer (audio) \

Definition of kilometer

: a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters — see Metric System Table
How do you pronounce kilometer?: Usage Guide Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about kilometer

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How do you pronounce kilometer?: Usage Guide

In North American speech kilometer is most often pronounced with primary stress on the second syllable. This pronunciation is also heard frequently in British speech. Those who object to second syllable stress say that the first syllable should be stressed in accord with the stress patterns of centimeter, millimeter, etc. However, the pronunciation of kilometer does not parallel that of other metric compounds. From 1828 to 1841 Noah Webster indicated only second syllable stress, and his successor added a first syllable stress variant in the first Merriam-Webster dictionary of 1847. Thus, both pronunciations are venerable. Most scientists use second syllable stress, although first syllable stress seems to occur with a higher rate of frequency among scientists than among nonscientists.

Did You Know?

A kilometer is equal to about 62/100 of a mile, and a mile is equal to about 1.61 kilometers. The U.S. has been slow to adopt metric measures, which are used almost everywhere else in the world. Though our car speedometers are often marked in both miles and kilometers, the U.S. and Great Britain are practically the only developed nations that still show miles rather than kilometers on their road signs. But even in the U.S., footraces are usually measured in meters or kilometers, like the Olympic races. Runners normally abbreviate kilometer to K: "a 5K race" (3.1 miles), "the 10K run" (6.2 miles), and so on.

Examples of kilometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Saturday's main protest takes place in Mong Kok -- one of the most crowded places in the world, with population densities of up to 130,000 people per square kilometer (52,000 per square mile) -- from 2.30 p.m. local time. — Ben Westcott, CNN, "Hong Kong protesters to march in Mong Kok, one of the world's most densely populated areas," 2 Aug. 2019 Nationally, the ministry says, nearly half of Spanish municipalities now have a population density of below 12.5 inhabitants per square kilometer—a ratio that the EU qualifies as at risk of complete depopulation. — Phil Boucher, Fortune, "Want to Buy a Spanish Village? This Real Estate Agent Has 400 to Sell," 14 July 2019 Starting next year, new passenger cars sold in Europe will have to emit no more than 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. — William Boston, WSJ, "EU Auto Makers Have to Sell More Electric Cars as New Emission Targets Loom," 21 June 2019 Knowles says that the R-compound tires are supposed to lower your lap time by a half second per kilometer, compared to regular Sport Cup 2 Rs. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "Driving the Porsche GT3 RS and GT2 RS, the New Quickest Production Cars," 5 Apr. 2019 Last year, average emissions actually crept up, to 118.5 grams per kilometer from 118.1 grams. — David Mchugh, The Seattle Times, "Climate goals mean Europe will overtake U.S. in electric cars," 2 Oct. 2018 The scientists estimated water coursed over the escarpment through Noto Canyon, flowing at up to 160 kilometers per hour and spilling over a 1.5-kilometer-high waterfall into the Mediterranean’s briny eastern basin. — Katherine Kornei, Scientific American, "A Megaflood-Powered Mile-High Waterfall Refilled the Mediterranean [Video]," 26 Mar. 2018 Twenty-five speakers were spaced evenly in five rows of five in each of the two square-kilometer grids, one inside the Sierra Azul Preserve, just south of Los Gatos, and the other in the San Vicente Redwoods, east of the coastal town of Davenport. — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, "Fearsome mountain lions high-tail it out of there when they hear human voices," 17 July 2019 In July last year, Alberto Boaron of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues reported distributing secret keys using QKD over a record distance of more than 400 kilometers of optical fiber, at 6.5 kilobits per second. — Anil Ananthaswamy, Scientific American, "The Quantum Internet Is Emerging, One Experiment at a Time," 19 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kilometer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of kilometer

1810, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for kilometer

French kilomètre, from kilo- + mètre meter

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More Definitions for kilometer

kilometer

noun
How to pronounce kilometer (audio) How to pronounce kilometer (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of kilometer

: a unit of length equal to 1,000 meters

See the full definition for kilometer in the English Language Learners Dictionary

kilometer

noun
ki·​lo·​me·​ter | \ ki-ˈlä-mə-tər How to pronounce kilometer (audio) , ˈki-lə-ˌmē-tər\

Kids Definition of kilometer

: a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters

kilometer

noun
ki·​lo·​me·​ter
variants: or chiefly British kilometre \ ˈkil-​ə-​ˌmēt-​ər How to pronounce kilometre (audio) , kə-​ˈläm-​ət-​ər How to pronounce kilometre (audio) \

Medical Definition of kilometer

: 1000 meters

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