noun
ounce
owns
noun
1
A unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of a pound (about 28.3 grams), used for everyday measurements like food or mail.
"The recipe calls for four ounces of grated cheese."
"The letter was over an ounce, so it needed extra postage."
2
A tiny amount of something.
"He didn't show an ounce of remorse."
How to Use Ounce
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small unit of weight, or figuratively, a very small amount of a quality like patience or honesty.
UK vs US
Still standard for everyday weights in both the US and UK, alongside metric grams.
Common pairings
an ounce of truth
a few ounces
fluid ounce
Word Forms
ounces plural, ounces plural
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The recipe calls for four _____ of grated cheese.
Etymology
From Latin uncia, meaning "a twelfth part," which also gave English the word "inch."