calorie

  1. Noun.  (''physics and chemistry, obsolete'') the gram calorie or small calorie, a non-SI unit of energy, equivalent to approximately 4.2 joules. This unit was widely used in chemistry and physics, being the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C.
  2. Noun.  (nutrition) kilogram calorie or large calorie. A unit of energy 1000 times larger than the gram calorie. It is equivalent to the gram kilocalorie, approximately 4.2 kilojoules.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.