Meaning & use
kiloliter
Last updated
UK/ˈkɪləˌliːtə/
US/ˈkɪləˌliːtər/
Meaning
nouncountable
A metric unit of volume equal to one thousand liters, the same as one cubic meter.
Grammar: Often follows a number: five kiloliters of water. British spelling is kilolitre.
Patterns
- a kiloliter of something
- per kiloliter
The tank holds twenty kiloliters of water.
The factory uses about three kiloliters of oil each day.
Farmers pay a set price per kiloliter of irrigation water.
Word forms
| plural | kiloliters |
|---|
Common combinations
- a kiloliter of water
- A household may use a kiloliter of water in a few days.
- per kiloliter
- The council charges a fee per kiloliter.
- kiloliters of fuel
- The depot stored thousands of kiloliters of fuel.
- measured in kiloliters
- Reservoir capacity is measured in kiloliters.
- one kiloliter
- One kiloliter equals a thousand liters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cubic meter
- Cubic meter is the same volume and is the more common term in science and engineering.
- 1,000 liters
- Saying 1,000 liters is the plain wording used when kiloliter might sound too technical.
- tonne of water
- A tonne of water weighs about a kiloliter of it, but tonne is a unit of mass, not volume.
Opposites
Word family
- liter noun
- the basic metric unit of volume
- kilo- prefix
- meaning one thousand
- milliliter noun
- one thousandth of a liter
- kilometer noun
- a thousand meters
Commonly confused: kiloliter or kilogram? kiloliter or kilolitre?
kiloliter vs kilogram
A kilogram measures mass, while a kiloliter measures volume.
kiloliter vs kilolitre
Kilolitre is the British spelling and has the same meaning.
Practice
How many liters are in one kiloliter?
Choose one answer.
The prefix kilo- means a thousand, so a kiloliter is 1,000 liters.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “kiloliter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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