What is "zeroes"

Zero \Ze"ro\, n.; pl. Zerosor Zeroes. [F. z['e]ro, from Ar.

1. (Arith.) A cipher; nothing; naught.

2. The point from which the graduation of a scale, as of a thermometer, commences.

   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.

3. Fig.: The lowest point; the point of exhaustion; as, his patience had nearly reached zero.

   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.

n. 1 (plural of zero English) 2 (context rare English) The decade of the 1800s, 1900s, 2000s, etc. The noughties. The 2000s. vb. (en-third-person singular of: zero)

1. v. 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 in]

3. [also: zeroes (pl)]

1. n. 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, zilch, zip]

2. a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number [syn: 0, nought, cipher, cypher]

3. the quantity that registers a reading of zero on a scale [syn: zero point]

4. [also: zeroes (pl)]

1. adj. indicating the absence of any or all units under consideration; "a zero score" [syn: 0]

2. indicating an initial point or origin

3. of or relating to the null set (a set with no members)

4. having no measurable or otherwise determinable value; "the goal is zero population growth" [syn: zero(a)]

5. [also: zeroes (pl)]

See zero