centimeter

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

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of centimeter

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

See centimeter defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of centimeter from the Web

The interrogator, identified as an agent of the Israeli military intelligence branch, at times moves within centimeters (inches) of the teenager, who doesn’t respond and repeatedly asserts her right to remain silent.

— Washington Post, "Threats, innuendo in Israeli questioning of Palestinian teen," 9 Apr. 2018
With climate change, the Mediterranean Sea is projected to rise up to five feet before 2100, meaning that mean water level could reach the critical threshold of 110 centimeters.

— marcello rossi, WIRED, "Will a Huge New Flood Barrier Save Venice?," 5 Apr. 2018
Parts of the southwest could get as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of snow, while London and the southeast can expect as much as 10 centimeters, according to the Met Office.

— lars paulsson, Bloomberg.com, "Big Freeze Stretches U.K. Gas Supplies as Prices Skyrocket," 1 Mar. 2018
Typically robots use radio waves to communicate with controls, but those don’t travel more than a few centimeters in water.

— grace donnelly, Fortune, "This Robotic Fish Could Change the Way Scientists Study Ocean Life," 22 Mar. 2018
The city is on pace to get 6 to 9 inches (15 to 23 centimeters), down from forecasts of 10 to 14 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

— Bloomberg.com, "Snowstorm Delivers Sloppy Mess to New York," 21 Mar. 2018
His parents noticed a lump on his neck that then grew to a 5.5 centimeter tumor.

— chabeli herrera, miamiherald, "Family of 3-year-old with cancer begged Spirit to wait 5 minutes. It left without them. | Miami Herald," 14 Mar. 2018
Ultimately, as the accuracy of the portable clock gets better, time could be used to resolve height differences of just one centimeter, the study authors said.

— deborah netburn, Washington Post, "Scientists take an atomic clock on the road and use it to measure the height of a mountain," 24 Feb. 2018
Last year’s US National Climate Assessment instead summarized the research by including plausible sea level rise scenarios as high as 250 centimeters.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "Yes, sea level rise really is accelerating," 13 Feb. 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.