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Glite Dictionary
📜 Old 'you' 💵 A thousand 📏 A small unit
thou

thou

9.9
A unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch used for precise measurements in engineering
  • noun
  • /θaʊ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : milésima de pulgada
  • I have used an indicator to make sure that it is perfectly level and that it spins within fourth thou of true.

Examples

  • To achieve the correct fit, the pieces must be within 5 thou of each other.

  • He measured the gap to be about 75 thou using a precision caliper.

  • - 20 thou... - 20...

    Horror Island (1941)

  • - Both hands will be over 200 thou!

    Las Vegas Weekend (1986)

  • A thou-

    Arabian Nights (1942)

  • One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thou...

    The Abyss (1989)

  • The engineer specified that the part should be no more than 50 thou thick.

Synonyms

mil
vsthou
  • Specialized
7 9.9

A unit for measuring thickness equal to one thousandth of an inch

is used more widely in engineering and manufacturing

Idioms

holier-than-thou
  • Offensive
5 8.7

Acting as if morally better than other people

holier-than-thou
  • Offensive
1 8.2

A person who acts as if morally better than other people

Surface Forms

thou singular
thous plural

Morphology

thou = thousandth (semi-transparent) = thousandth + thousand

The unit 'thou' is a clipped form of 'thousandth' (one one-thousandth of an inch); understanding requires the technical relation to 'thousandth', which may be unfamiliar to general learners.

Etymology

Thou as a small measurement is a short form of thousandth, which means 'one of a thousand'. So a thou is a very small length, equal to one thousandth of an inch.