Zero
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
zero
adj 1: indicating the absence of any or all units under
consideration; "a zero score" [syn: {zero}, {0}]
2: having no measurable or otherwise determinable value; "the
goal is zero population growth"
3: indicating an initial point or origin
4: of or relating to the null set (a set with no members)
n 1: a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had
ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had
done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for
naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn: {nothing},
{nil}, {nix}, {nada}, {null}, {aught}, {cipher}, {cypher},
{goose egg}, {naught}, {zero}, {zilch}, {zip}, {zippo}]
2: a mathematical element that when added to another number
yields the same number [syn: {zero}, {0}, {nought}, {cipher},
{cypher}]
3: the point on a scale from which positive or negative
numerical quantities can be measured [syn: {zero}, {zero
point}]
4: the sight setting that will cause a projectile to hit the
center of the target with no wind blowing
v 1: adjust (an instrument or device) to zero value
2: adjust (as by firing under test conditions) the zero of (a
gun); "He zeroed in his rifle at 200 yards" [syn: {zero},
{zero in}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Zero \Ze"ro\, n.; pl. {Zeros}or {Zeroes}. [F. z['e]ro, from Ar.
[,c]afrun, [,c]ifrun, empty, a cipher. Cf. {Cipher}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Arith.) A cipher; nothing; naught.
[1913 Webster]
2. The point from which the graduation of a scale, as of a
thermometer, commences.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Zero in the Centigrade, or Celsius thermometer, and in
the R['e]aumur thermometer, is at the point at which
water congeals. The zero of the Fahrenheit thermometer
is fixed at the point at which the mercury stands when
immersed in a mixture of snow and common salt. In
Wedgwood's pyrometer, the zero corresponds with
1077[deg] on the Fahrenheit scale. See Illust. of
{Thermometer}.
[1913 Webster]
3. Fig.: The lowest point; the point of exhaustion; as, his
patience had nearly reached zero.
[1913 Webster]
{Absolute zero}. See under {Absolute}.
{Zero method} (Physics), a method of comparing, or measuring,
forces, electric currents, etc., by so opposing them that
the pointer of an indicating apparatus, or the needle of a
galvanometer, remains at, or is brought to, zero, as
contrasted with methods in which the deflection is
observed directly; -- called also {null method}.
{Zero point}, the point indicating zero, or the commencement
of a scale or reckoning.
[1913 Webster]
[1913 Webster]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
zero
vt.
1. To set to 0. Usually said of small pieces of data, such as bits or
words (esp. in the construction zero out).
2. To erase; to discard all data from. Said of disks and directories,
where `zeroing' need not involve actually writing zeroes throughout
the area being zeroed. One may speak of something being logically
zeroed rather than being physically zeroed. See {scribble}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
zero
0
1. <character> 0, {ASCI} character 48. Numeric zero, as
opposed to the letter "O" (the 15th letter of the English
alphabet). In their unmodified forms they look a lot alike,
and various {kluges} invented to make them visually distinct
have compounded the confusion.
If your zero is centre-dotted and letter-O is not, or if
letter-O looks almost rectangular but zero looks more like an
American football stood on end (or the reverse), you're
probably looking at a modern character display (though the
dotted zero seems to have originated as an option on {IBM
3270} controllers). If your zero is slashed but letter-O is
not, you're probably looking at an old-style {ASCII} graphic
set descended from the default typewheel on the venerable
{ASR-33} {Teletype} (Scandinavians, for whom slashed-O is a
letter, curse this arrangement).
If letter-O has a slash across it and the zero does not, your
display is tuned for a very old convention used at {IBM} and a
few other early mainframe makers (Scandinavians curse *this*
arrangement even more, because it means two of their letters
collide). Some {Burroughs}/{Unisys} equipment displays a zero
with a *reversed* slash. And yet another convention common on
early {line printers} left zero unornamented but added a tail
or hook to the letter-O so that it resembled an inverted Q or
cursive capital letter-O.
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-01-24)
2. To set to zero. Usually said of small pieces of data, such
as bits or words (especially in the construction "zero out").
3. To erase; to discard all data from. Said of disks and
directories, where "zeroing" need not involve actually writing
zeroes throughout the area being zeroed. One may speak of
something being "logically zeroed" rather than being
"physically zeroed".
See {scribble}.
(1999-02-07)
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
52 Moby Thesaurus words for "zero":
absolute zero, aught, blank, boiling point, cipher, concentrate on,
dew point, duck, dud, dummy, fix on, focus on, freezing point,
goose egg, hollow man, home in on, insignificancy, jackstraw,
lay figure, man of straw, melting point, nada, nadir, naught,
nebbish, nichts, nihil, nil, nix, no such thing, nobody, nonentity,
nothing, nothing at all, nothing on earth, nothing whatever,
nought, null, nullity, pinpoint, puppet, pushover,
recalescence point, rock bottom, temperature, thing of naught,
trifle, void, whiffet, whippersnapper, zero in on, zilch
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