Meaning & use
km
Last updated
UK/ˌkeɪ ˈem/
US/ˌkeɪ ˈem/
Meaning
abbreviation
Kilometer; a unit of length equal to 1,000 meters.
Grammar: Usually written after a number: 10 km. The same form is used for singular and plural.
Patterns
- number + km
- km/h
- square km
The nearest town is about 20 km away.
She runs 5 km every morning before work.
The speed limit on this road is 80 km/h.
Common combinations
- km/h
- The car was traveling at 100 km/h.
- square km
- The park covers an area of 50 square km.
- a few km
- The beach is only a few km from the hotel.
- km away
- The airport is 30 km away from the city center.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kilometer
- The full word; km is the standard abbreviation and is more common in writing with numbers.
Word family
- kilometer noun
- The full form of km, a unit of length equal to 1,000 meters.
Commonly confused: km or kg? km or mph?
km vs kg
kg is the abbreviation for kilogram, a unit of mass, not distance.
km vs mph
mph means miles per hour, used mainly in the US and UK for speed; km/h is the metric equivalent.
Practice
Which sentence uses km correctly?
Choose one answer.
km measures distance, so 'The distance is 10 km' is correct. Weight is measured in kg, temperature in degrees, and time in hours or minutes.
Make it your own
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