kilo

1 of 3

noun

ki·​lo ˈkē-(ˌ)lō 

also

ˈki- 

plural kilos

: a unit of mass or weight equaling one thousand grams or approximately 2.2 pounds : kilogram

Each sack weighs 50 kilos.

Did you know … that it takes a lobster between five and seven years to grow to a weight of half a kilo, the minimum size it should reach before being fished?

—Food & Drink

When he finally strips off the kilos of gold enveloping his body, Deion is as light as a feather.

—Curry Kirkpatrick

Gathering in Versailles, west of Paris, governments are expected on Friday to approve plans to instead use a scientific formulation to define the exact mass of a kilo.

—John Leicester

Kilo

2 of 3

communications code word

—used as a code word for the letter k

kilo-

3 of 3

combining form

: thousand

kiloton

Examples of kilo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That changed in September after a 1-year-old died and three other children were sickened following exposure to a kilo of fentanyl at a Bronx day care. —Clio Chang, Curbed, 15 Nov. 2023

Key developments The surface drones were loaded with 450 kilos of explosives and targeted the Olenegorsky Miner, which was carrying 100 Russian crew members, the Ukrainian government official told The Post on Friday. —Mikhail Klimentov, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2023

During May, the principal period of distillation, the town consumed 45,000 kilos of roses and 15,000 kilos of orange flowers a day. —Jonathan Miles, Town & Country, 5 Sep. 2023

Back then, his monthly salary was the equivalent of $20, enough to pay for a carton of eggs, a kilo of meat and a kilo of cheese in Venezuela’s economy, beset by years of hyper-inflation. —Soudi Jiménez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023

According to the indictment, investigators raided that apartment on May 20, 2019, finding two kilos of fentanyl, a handgun and drug packaging materials. —Alex Mann, Baltimore Sun, 11 Sep. 2023

Officials said a kilo of the poisonous and potent drug was stored on top of children’s play mats, and more fentanyl was found beneath trap doors inside a room where kids played and slept at the day care center, according to court records. —Rob Frehse, CNN, 5 Oct. 2023

The suspects are accused of storing a kilo of fentanyl in a closet at the day care center, prosecutors said. —Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2023

Officials said a kilo of the poisonous and potent drug was stored on top of children’s play mats, and more fentanyl was found beneath trap doors inside the room where the kids played and slept at the daycare, according to court records. —Mark Morales, CNN, 28 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Combining form

French, modification of Greek chilioi

First Known Use

Noun

1870, in the meaning defined above

Communications Code Word

1952, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

kilo

1 of 2 noun

ki·​lo ˈkē-(ˌ)lō 

plural kilos

: kilogram

kilo-

2 of 2 combining form

: thousand

kiloton

Etymology

Combining form

derived from Greek chilioi "thousand"