ounce

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

ounce, n. [F. once, fr. L. uncia a twelfth, the twelfth part of a pound or of a foot: cf. Gr. 'o`gkos bulk, mass, atom. Cf. 2d Inch, Oke.].

•  A weight, the sixteenth part of a pound avoirdupois, and containing 28.35 grams or 4371913 Webster]
•  The twelfth part of a troy pound; one troy ounce weighs 31.103486 grams, 8 drams, or 480 grains.  [1913 Webster]

  " The troy ounce contains twenty pennyweights, each of twenty-four grains, or, in all, 480 grains, and is the twelfth part of the troy pound. The troy ounce is also a weight in apothecaries' weight."  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: A small portion; a bit.  [1913 Webster]

  "By ounces hung his locks that he had."  [1913 Webster]

Fluid ounce. See under Fluid, n.

ounce, n. [F. once; cf. It. lonza, Sp. onza; prob. for lonce, taken as l'once, fr. L. lynx, Gr. , or an (assumed) fem. adj. lyncea, from lynx. Cf. Lynx.].

 A feline quadruped (Felis irbis syn. Felis uncia) resembling the leopard in size, and somewhat in color, but it has longer and thicker fur, which forms a short mane on the back. The ounce is pale yellowish gray, with irregular dark spots on the neck and limbs, and dark rings on the body. It inhabits the lofty mountain ranges of Asia. Called also once.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ounce, n.
1 a a unit of weight of one-sixteenth of a pound avoirdupois (approx. 28 grams).

Idiom

fluid ounce Brit.
1 a unit of capacity equal to one-twentieth of a pint (approx. 0.028 litre).
2 US a unit of capacity equal to one-sixteenth of a pint (approx. 0.034 litre).

Usage

Abbr.: oz. b a unit of one-twelfth of a pound troy or apothecaries' measure, equal to 480 grains (approx. 31 grams).
2 a small quantity.

ounce, n. an Asian wild cat, Panthera uncia, with leopard-like markings on a cream-coloured coat. Also called mountain panther, snow leopard.

Etymology

ME f. OF once (earlier lonce) = It. lonza ult. f. L lynx: see LYNX

THESAURUS

ounce

ace, atom, bit, crumb, dab, dole, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, drop, dwarf, farthing, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, gobbet, grain, granule, groat, hair, handful, iota, jot, little, little bit, minim, minimum, minutiae, mite, modicum, molecule, mote, nutshell, particle, pebble, pinch, pittance, point, scruple, shred, smidgen, smitch, speck, spoonful, spot, thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, trifling amount, trivia, whit

ROGET THESAURUS

ounce

Gravity

N gravity, gravitation, weight, heaviness, specific gravity, pondorosity, pressure, load, burden, burthen, ballast, counterpoise, lump of, mass of, weight of, lead, millstone, mountain, Ossa on Pelion, weighing, ponderation, trutination, weights, avoirdupois weight, troy weight, apothecaries' weight, grain, scruple, drachma, ounce, pound, lb, arroba, load, stone, hundredweight, cwt, ton, long ton, metric ton, quintal, carat, pennyweight, tod, gram, centigram, milligram, microgram, kilogram, nanogram, picogram, femtogram, attogram, balance, scale, scales, steelyard, beam, weighbridge, spring balance, piezoelectric balance, analytical balance, two-pan balance, one-pan balance, postal scale, baby scale, statics, weighty, weighing, heavy as lead, ponderous, ponderable, lumpish, lumpy, cumbersome, burdensome, cumbrous, unwieldy, massive, incumbent, superincumbent.