centimeter

noun cen·ti·me·ter \ ˈsen-tə-ˌmē-tər , ˈsän- \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of centimeter

: a unit of length equal to ¹/₁₀₀ meter — see Metric System Table

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Recent Examples of centimeter from the Web

Because ultraviolet radiation and oxidizing compounds in the martian soil would destroy any compounds exposed at the surface, Curiosity's scientists used a robotic drill to penetrate several centimeters into the mudstone.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "NASA rover hits organic pay dirt on Mars," 7 June 2018
However, much of the rest of the year isn't so welcoming: the water surrounding the archipelago islands freezes over with ice up to 50 centimeters thick.

— michael hardy, WIRED, "Mesmerizing Photos of Finland's Icebound Archipelago," 17 May 2018
At 25, a woman with a normal BMI has about 40 square centimeters of fat in such a scan.

— stacey burling, Philly.com, "Women past menopause may be fatter than they think," 19 Apr. 2018
Forty hours of labor, 28 hours at home … never dilated more than five centimeters.

— meaghan o'connell, The Cut, "This Time, I’m Not Afraid to Give Birth," 9 Apr. 2018
Adding to the looming threat is global sea level rise, which is projected to accelerate to 1 centimeter a year by 2050.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "Marine lab has 'front row seat' to Louisiana coastal loss," 21 Mar. 2018
Right in between the Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks was this thin strip of clay about a centimeter thick: the line between life and death.

— robert clark, National Geographic, "Why Today is the Golden Age for Dinosaur Discoveries," 2 June 2018
Neurosurgeon Joshua Bederson recently used augmented-reality technology to remove a three-centimeter-wide brain tumor in a 76-year-old man’s parietal lobe, a part of the brain that handles such information as touch and spatial orientation.

— sarah toy, WSJ, "Brain Surgeons Get a Better View From Augmented Reality," 28 May 2018
The bone density scan uses X-ray technology to measure a person’s bone mass (measuring the calcium in grams per centimeter squared in the bone).

— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Osteoporosis is not a normal part of aging," 22 May 2018

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

Did You Know?

In the metric system, which is used in most countries of the world, each basic unit of measure of length, area, or volume can be divided into centimeters. A meter consists of 100 centimeters, a square meter consists of 10,000 square centimeters, and a cubic meter consists of 1,000,000 cubic centimeters.