Zeroname

• 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.

Zeronoun

• 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.
  • 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.

zeronum/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/

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

zeronoun/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/

• 1

  The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero.

  • In unary and k-adic notation in general, zero is the empty string.
  • Write 0.0 to indicate a floating point number rather than the integer zero.
• 2

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

  • One million has six zeroes.
  • 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.
• 3

  informalNothing, or none.

  • zero-defect
  • The shipment was lost, so they had zero in stock.
• 4

  The 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.
  • 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.
• 5

  The point on a scale at which numbering or measurement originates.

  • The temperature outside is ten degrees below zero.
• 6

  mathematicssciencesA 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.
  • The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero.
• 7

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

  • 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.
• 8

  slangA person dismissed as unimportant.

  • They rudely treated him like a zero.

zerodet/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/

• 1

  Synonym of no.

  • She showed zero respect.
  • 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.

zeroadj/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/

• 1

  climatologymeteorologynatural-sciencesOf a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.

• 2

  climatologymeteorologynatural-sciencesOf horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.

• 3

  human-scienceslinguisticssciencesPresent at an abstract level, but not realized in the surface form.

  • The stem of "kobieta" with the zero ending is "kobiet".
• 4

  Used in the names of foodstuffs, especially beverages, to indicate a version with no calories

zeroverb/ˈzɪəɹəʊ/

• 1

  To set some amount to be zero.

  • They tried to zero the budget by the end of the quarter.
  • Results were inconsistent because an array wasn’t zeroed during initialization.
• 2

  To disappear or make something disappear.

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