ounce1

[ouns] /aʊns/
noun
1.
a unit of weight equal to 437.5 grains or 1/16 pound (28.35 grams) avoirdupois.
2.
a unit of 480 grains, 1/12 pound (31.1 grams) troy or apothecaries' weight.
3.
a fluid ounce.
4.
a small quantity or portion.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English unce < Middle French < Latin uncia twelfth part, inch, ounce, derivative of unus one

ounce2

[ouns] /aʊns/
noun
1.
snow leopard.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English unce lynx < Anglo-French; Old French once, variant of lonce (erroneously taken as l'once the ounce) < Vulgar Latin *luncea, derivative of Latin lync- (stem of lynx) lynx
Examples from the web for ounce
  • If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
  • To that, a group of researchers is saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  • So the industry has adopted a strategy that counters a pound of sugar with an ounce of nutrition.
  • Sponges have to filter about a ton of water for each ounce of food they ingest.
  • He has been able to sell it for about one dollar per ounce.
  • But every ounce of breeding plumes represented six dead adults, and each slain pair left behind three to five starving nestlings.
  • These noodles have more protein, ounce for ounce, than steak.
  • Economist, stop pretending to be a worldly magazine if you cannot display an ounce of worldliness describing events at home.
  • Generally buying large containers of shampoo will cost less per ounce.
  • The drive allegedly produces a fraction of an ounce of thrust.
British Dictionary definitions for ounce

ounce1

/aʊns/
noun
1.
a unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of a pound (avoirdupois); 1 ounce is equal to 437.5 grains or 28.349 grams oz
2.
a unit of weight equal to one twelfth of a Troy or Apothecaries' pound; 1 ounce is equal to 480 grains or 31.103 grams
3.
short for fluid ounce
4.
a small portion or amount
Word Origin
C14: from Old French unce, from Latin uncia a twelfth; from ūnus one

ounce2

/aʊns/
noun
1.
another name for snow leopard
Word Origin
C18: from Old French once, by mistaken division of lonce as if l'once, from Latin lynx
Word Origin and History for ounce
n.

unit of weight, early 14c., from Old French once, unce, a measure of weight or time (12c.), from Latin uncia "one-twelfth part" (of a pound, foot, etc.), from Latin unus "one" (see one). The Latin word had been adopted in Old English as ynce (see inch). It was one-twelfth of a pound in the Troy system of weights, but one-sixteenth in avoirdupois. Abbreviation oz. is from older Italian onza. Also used in Middle English as a measure of time (7.5 seconds) and length (about 3 inches).

"wildcat," c.1300, from Old French once "lynx" (13c.), from lonce, with l- mistaken as definite article, from Vulgar Latin *luncea, from Latin lyncea "lynx-like," from lynx (see lynx). Originally the common lynx, later extended to other wildcats, now mainly used of the mountain-panther or snow leopard of Asia.

ounce in Medicine

ounce (ouns)
n.
Abbr. oz, oz.

  1. A unit of weight in the U.S. Customary System, an avoirdupois unit equal to 437.5 grains or 28.35 grams.

  2. A unit of apothecary weight equal to 480 grains or 31.10 grams.

  3. A fluid ounce.

ounce in Science
ounce
  (ouns)   

  1. A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 1/16 of a pound or 437.5 grains (28.35 kilograms). See Table at measurement.

  2. See fluid ounce.


Slang definitions & phrases for ounce

ounce

Related Terms

vig ounce


Idioms and Phrases with ounce

ounce

In addition to the idiom beginning with ounce also see: more bang for the buck (bounce for the ounce)