DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Ze·ro n.; pl. Zeros or Zeroes.
1. Arith. A cipher; nothing; naught.
2. The point from which the graduation of a scale, as of a thermometer, commences.
Note: ☞ Zero in the Centigrade, or Celsius thermometer, and in the Réaumur thermometer, is at the point at which water congeals. The zero of the Fahrenheit thermometer is fixed at the point at which the mercury stands when immersed in a mixture of snow and common salt. In Wedgwood's pyrometer, the zero corresponds with 1077° on the Fahrenheit scale. See Illust. of Thermometer.
3. Fig.: The lowest point; the point of exhaustion; as, his patience had nearly reached zero.
Absolute zero. See under Absolute.
Zero method Physics, a method of comparing, or measuring, forces, electric currents, etc., by so opposing them that the pointer of an indicating apparatus, or the needle of a galvanometer, remains at, or is brought to, zero, as contrasted with methods in which the deflection is observed directly; -- called also null method.
Zero point, the point indicating zero, or the commencement of a scale or reckoning.
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zero
adj 1: indicating the absence of any or all units under
consideration; "a zero score" [syn: 0]
2: indicating an initial point or origin
3: of or relating to the null set (a set with no members)
4: having no measurable or otherwise determinable value; "the
goal is zero population growth" [syn: zero(a)]
n 1: a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had
ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had
done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all
for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn: nothing,
nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cipher, cypher,
goose egg, naught, zilch, zip]
2: a mathematical element that when added to another number
yields the same number [syn: 0, nought, cipher, cypher]
3: the quantity that registers a reading of zero on a scale
[syn: zero point]
v 1: adjust (an instrument or device) to zero value
2: adjust (as by firing under test conditions) the zero of (a
gun); "He zeroed in his rifle at 200 yards" [syn: zero in]
[also: zeroes (pl)]