Meaning & use
kilometer
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A unit of length in the metric system equal to one thousand meters, about 0.62 miles.
Grammar: Use 'a kilometer' for one, and 'kilometers' for more than one.
Patterns
- X kilometers from somewhere
- X kilometers per hour
- a kilometer of something
The nearest town is ten kilometers away.
She runs five kilometers every morning.
The speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour.
Word forms
| plural | kilometers |
|---|
Common combinations
- kilometers per hour
- The car was traveling at 80 kilometers per hour.
- a few kilometers away
- The beach is only a few kilometers away.
- square kilometers
- The park covers 200 square kilometers.
- walk a kilometer
- We had to walk a kilometer to the bus stop.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mile
- Use 'mile' in the US and UK for everyday distances; 'kilometer' is standard in most other countries and in science.
Word family
- meter noun
- The base unit of length; a kilometer is 1,000 meters.
- kilometric adjective
- Relating to kilometers, though rare in everyday English.
Commonly confused: kilometer or kilogram? kilometer or millimeter?
kilometer vs kilogram
A kilogram measures weight, not distance; don't mix up the endings -meter and -gram.
kilometer vs millimeter
A millimeter is much smaller than a meter, while a kilometer is much larger.
Practice
The sign says the next gas station is 15 ______ ahead.
Choose one answer.
Kilometers measure distance, which fits the space ahead. Kilograms measure weight, liters measure volume, and kilometers per hour measure speed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “kilometer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.