C

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does C mean? 

• C (noun)
  The noun C has 12 senses:

1. a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature

2. the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second

3. a vitamin found in fresh fruits (especially citrus fruits) and vegetables; prevents scurvy

4. one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

5. a base found in DNA and RNA and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with guanine

6. an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds

7. ten 10s

8. a unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second

9. a general-purpose programing language closely associated with the UNIX operating system

10. (music) the keynote of the scale of C major

11. the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet

12. street names for cocaine

  Familiarity information: C used as a noun is familiar.

• C (adjective)
  The adjective C has 1 sense:

1. being ten more than ninety

  Familiarity information: C used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• C (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A degree on the centigrade scale of temperature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

C; degree Celsius; degree centigrade

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

degree (a unit of temperature on a specified scale)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "C"):

standard temperature (exactly zero degrees centigrade)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

c; light speed; speed of light

Hypernyms ("c" is a kind of...):

constant (a number representing a quantity assumed to have a fixed value in a specified mathematical context)

speed; velocity (distance travelled per unit time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A vitamin found in fresh fruits (especially citrus fruits) and vegetables; prevents scurvy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

ascorbic acid; C; vitamin C

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

antioxidant (substance that inhibits oxidation or inhibits reactions promoted by oxygen or peroxides)

water-soluble vitamin (any vitamin that is soluble in water)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

C; deoxycytidine monophosphate

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

base; nucleotide (a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A base found in DNA and RNA and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with guanine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

C; cytosine

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

pyrimidine (any of several basic compounds derived from pyrimidine)

Holonyms ("C" is a substance of...):

deoxyribonucleic acid; desoxyribonucleic acid; DNA ((biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information)

ribonucleic acid; RNA ((biochemistry) a long linear polymer of nucleotides found in the nucleus but mainly in the cytoplasm of a cell where it is associated with microsomes; it transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm and controls certain chemical processes in the cell)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 6; C; carbon

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "C"):

carbon black; crock; lampblack; smut; soot (a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink)

adamant; diamond (very hard native crystalline carbon valued as a gem)

black lead; graphite; plumbago (used as a lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors)

activated carbon; activated charcoal (powdered or granular carbon used for purifying by adsorption; given orally (as a slurry) it is an antidote for some kinds of poisons)

charcoal; wood coal (a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air)

char (a charred substance)

carbon 14; radiocarbon (a radioactive isotope of carbon)

fullerene (a form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms)

Holonyms ("C" is a substance of...):

coal (fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period)

limestone (a sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium that was deposited by the remains of marine animals)

crude; crude oil; fossil oil; oil; petroleum; rock oil (a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Ten 10s

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

100; C; century; hundred; one C

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

large integer (an integer equal to or greater than ten)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

ampere-second; C; coulomb

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

charge unit; quantity unit (a measure of the quantity of electricity (determined by the amount of an electric current and the time for which it flows))

Holonyms ("C" is a part of...):

abcoulomb (a unit of electrical charge equal to 10 coulombs)

ampere-minute (a unit of charge equal to 60 coulombs)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A general-purpose programing language closely associated with the UNIX operating system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

programing language; programming language ((computer science) a language designed for programming computers)

Sense 10

Meaning:

(music) the keynote of the scale of C major

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

keynote; tonic ((music) the first note of a diatonic scale)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sense 11

Meaning:

The 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("C" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Street names for cocaine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

blow; C; coke; nose candy; snow

Hypernyms ("C" is a kind of...):

cocain; cocaine (a narcotic (alkaloid) extracted from coca leaves; used as a surface anesthetic or taken for pleasure; can become powerfully addictive)

• C (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being ten more than ninety

Synonyms:

100; c; hundred; one hundred

Similar:

cardinal (being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order)

 Context examples 

This was the highest for June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year in 2014 by 0.22°F (0.12°C).

(June 2015 was warmest June on record for the globe, NOAA)

This was the highest for January–March in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2002 by 0.09°F (0.05°C).

(March 2015 and first quarter of year warmest on record, NOAA)

The planet Teegarden c is similar to Earth in terms of mass, completes its orbit in 11.4 days, and is located relative to its star at 4.5% of the Earth–Sun distance.

(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)

The bushfires, which are among the worst in the country’s history, have been fuelled by record temperatures — 41.9 °C on 17 December — and several months of intense droughts.

(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)

The exoplanets in the study span a large range in size – from ‘mini-Neptunes’ of nearly 10 Earth masses to ‘super-Jupiters’ of over 600 Earth masses – and temperature, from nearly 20°C to over 2000°C.

(Water common – yet scarce – in exoplanets, University of Cambridge)

Currently on an inbound trajectory, comet C/2019 Q4 is heading toward the inner solar system.

(Newly Discovered Comet Is Likely Interstellar Visitor, NASA)

His team reviewed supplement data that included A, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folic acid), C, D and E; and β-carotene; calcium; iron; zinc; magnesium; and selenium.

(Most Popular Supplements Provide No Health Benefit, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Between 2000 and 2010, they rose by another 0.48°C (0.86°F).

(Retreat of Yakutat Glacier, NASA)

“‘_L’homme c’est rien—l’œuvre c’est tout_,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“When I dismantled my old Pantheon and cast out Napoleon and Cæsar and their fellows, I straightway erected a new Pantheon,” she answered gravely, “and the first I installed was Dr. Jordan.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)