zero

1. The cardinal number occurring before one and that denotes no quantity or amount at all, represented in Arabic numerals as 0.

   The conductor waited until the passenger count was zero.

   3 more examples

   A cheque for zero dollars and zero cents crashed the computers on division by zero.

   Last year, it scored 26 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index which ranks countries on a scale of zero to 100, with zero meaning “highly corrupt” and 100 signifying that a country is “very clean.”

   2024 July 22, Nimi Princewill, “Uganda’s President Museveni warns citizens they are ‘playing with fire’ over planned protests”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Jul 2024

   "A zero itself is nothing, but without a zero you cannot count anything. Therefore, a zero is something, yet zero." These words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama might not have been in the minds of planners and engineers when designing new railway station platforms, but for several main line stations, zero is indeed something. Eight stations in the UK now operate a Platform 0 - from Cardiff to Kings Cross, Doncaster and Haymarket.

   2025 May 14, Andy Comfort, “Holding out for a zero...”, in RAIL, number 1035, page 58

   Synonyms: 0, cipher, goose egg, love, naught, nil, no, nought

plural zeros · plural zeroes

1. countableuncountableThe numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.

   In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string.

   2 more examples

   Write 0.0 to indicate a floating point number rather than the integer zero.

   The zero sign in American Sign Language is considered rude in some cultures.

   Synonyms: cipher

2. countableuncountableThe digit 0 in the decimal, binary, and all other base numbering systems.

   One million has six zeroes.

   3 more examples

   His idea is to stand billions of ultrafine wire loops around the edge of a silicon chip — hence the name racetrack — and use electric current to slide infinitesimally small magnets up and down along each of the wires to be read and written as digital ones and zeros.

   2007 September 11, John Markoff, “Redefining the Architecture of Memory”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020

   Here is the formal definition: an autobiographical number is a number N such that the first digit of N counts how many zeroes are in N, the second digit counts how many ones are in N and so on. In our example, 1210 has 1 zero, 2 ones, 1 two and 0 threes.

   2008 March 2, Tanya Khovanova, “Autobiographical Numbers”, in arXiv, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2026, page 1

   This effectively allows switching on and off of the flow of current, so it is either conducting or not conducting, creating the binary system of zeroes and ones used in digital computers.

   2024 January 4, Matthew Sparkes, “First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers”, in New Scientist, archived from the original on 23 Feb 2024, retrieved 18 Jan 2024

   Synonyms: slashed zero

3. informaluncountableNothing, or none.

   zero-defect

   3 more examples

   The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.

   He knows zero about humour.

   In the end, all of our hard work amounted to zero.

4. countableuncountableThe value of a magnitude corresponding to the cardinal number zero.

   The electromagnetic field does not drop all of the way to zero before a reversal.

   1 more example

   Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

   2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2019, page 68

5. countableuncountableThe point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.

   The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.

6. countableuncountablemathematicsA value of the independent variables of a function, for which the function is equal to zero.

   The zeroes of a polynomial are its roots by the fundamental theorem of algebra.

   3 more examples

   The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero.

   The nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.

   As the next example shows, the set of zeros may well have a limit point not belonging to the domain.

   2006, Ivan Francis Wilde, Lecture Notes on Complex Analysis, Imperial College Press, page 153

7. countableuncountablealgebraThe additive identity element of a monoid or greater algebraic structure, particularly a group or ring.

   The quotient ring over a maximal ideal is a field with a single zero element.

   2 more examples

   Since a commutative zero is the inverse of any additive identity, it must be unique when it exists.

   The zero (of a ring or field) has the property that the product of the zero with any element yields the zero.

   Synonyms: additive identity

8. countableslanguncountableA person dismissed as unimportant.

   They rudely treated him like a zero.

   Synonyms: cipher, nobody, nonentity, loser, absolute zero, assbucket, asswipe, badling

9. countableuncountablehuman sciencesA difference that is present at an abstract level, but not realized in the form, that is, superficially (on the surface).

   Sometimes a difference in intended meaning has only a zero to mark it, in which case the utterance may be ambiguous when context alone does not fully clarify it.

10. countablehistoricalinformaluncountablegovernmentA casual misspelling of Zero ("a fighter aircraft operated by Imperial Japan during World War II").
11. countableuncountableA setting of calibrated instruments such as a firearm, corresponding to a zero value.
12. countableuncountablebusinessA security which has a zero coupon (paying no periodic interest).

    The takeovers were financed by issuing zeroes.

1. Synonym of no.

   She showed zero respect.

   1 more example

   You have to salute Gerrard's bravery in accepting the challenge of trying to turn Rangers around given that he has zero experience in senior management. Immortality beckons if he does it.

   2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: no.

1. not comparableclimatologyOf a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.

   Synonyms: no

2. not comparableclimatologyOf horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.
3. not comparablehuman sciencesPresent at an abstract level, but not realized in the surface form.

   The stem of "kobieta" with the zero ending is "kobiet".

4. not comparablepostpositionalUsed in the names of foodstuffs, especially beverages, to indicate a version with no calories

present singular third person zeroes · present singular third person zeros · participle present zeroing · participle past zeroed · past zeroed

1. transitiveTo set some amount to be zero.

   They tried to zero the budget by the end of the quarter.

   3 more examples

   Results were inconsistent because an array wasn’t zeroed during initialization.

   Zero the fluorometer with the same solvent used in extraction.

   George parked in space 34, zeroed the trip meter, closed and locked his car, then went back to the guard shack.

   Synonyms: tare, zero out

2. To disappear or make something disappear.

   If I zeroed Jack, I'd get by So I'd erased him, pretended the last few months had never happened.

   2004, Anna Maxted, Being Committed, page 358

   2 more examples

   Traffic on the encrypted channels used by senior Iraqi generals had peaked and zeroed, then peaked again, and zeroed again.

   1997, Tom Clancy, Executive Orders, page 340

   They discovered the object code for the simulator that was DON, and zeroed it. DON — or his creator — was clever and had planted many copies,

   2001, Mark Pesce, “True Magic”, in James Frenkel, editor, True Names by Vernor Vinge and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier

3. To adjust until the variance is reduced to an acceptably low amount.

   The soldier took his gun to the shooting range to zero its aim.

1. A model of fighter aircraft, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, operated by Imperial Japan during World War II.

   The Zero was renowned for its dogfighting capabilities and its range.

plural Zeros · plural Zeroes

1. Any specific instance of that model.

   A Zero had been shot down earlier, and we were hoping that the pressure was off, but just then two more Zeroes came in quite low, and we were suddenly in a sticky situation.

   1 more example

   The visit to Townsville was filled with nostalgia for me. I remembered very well staying there on June 8, 1942. I shared a room with a brave and friendly officer, Colonel Francis Stevens. Early the next morning we flew to Port Moresby in New Guinea, and from there we took off in separate planes. Colonel Stevens never returned from that flight; his plane was shot down by a Japanese Zero.

   1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The New Age of Regionalism”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 361