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

Investigators also found a kilo of fentanyl stored on kids' play mats, according to court documents. —Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 10 June 2024

Plus, Macauley employed several friends, including Ortiz, to break down the contraband — said to be up to 18 to 20 kilos — and deal it locally in the Upper Keys, both prosecutors and Macauley’s defense attorney, Donald Barrett, said at the trial. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 7 June 2024

After 13 months in Auschwitz and Ravensbrück, the 22-year-old was barely the weight of her bones, down to 29 kilos, with blue tattooed numbers, 5199, on her left arm. —Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 6 June 2024

While much of the U.S. remained in their homes during the height of the COVID pandemic, Nesmith ordered a group of women, supervised by Byrd, to make regular trips to Atlanta to pick up one to three kilos of meth and drive it nearly five hours southeast to Brunswick. —Beth Warren, The Courier-Journal, 30 Apr. 2024

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"