# calorie

/ˈkæɫɝi/ (US) · /kˈælɔːɹi/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/calorie
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. nutrition and diet

noun · CEFR B1

a unit that measures the energy you get from food and drink.

For teachers: the 'large calorie' or kilocalorie (kcal), used to measure the energy content of food and the energy expended through physical activity.

- The label on the back of the juice bottle shows the number of calories per serving.
- Nutritionists recommend that the average adult male requires approximately two thousand five hundred calories a day to maintain a healthy weight.

Usage: In everyday speech and on food labels, 'calorie' almost always refers to the kilocalorie (1,000 small calories).

### 2. physics and chemistry

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a small unit of energy used in science, equal to the heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree.

For teachers: the 'small calorie' (cal), defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

- In the science experiment, we measured how many calories of heat the burner produced.
- While the joule is the standard SI unit of energy, the calorie remains a common reference in older thermodynamic literature and specific chemical calculations.

Usage: Usually written as 'cal' in lowercase to distinguish it from the nutritional 'Cal' or 'kcal'.

## Examples

- This apple has about ninety calories.
- Athletes often track their daily calorie intake to ensure they have enough energy for intense training sessions.
- While the physical definition of a calorie remains constant, the metabolic efficiency with which the human body processes different macronutrients can vary significantly between individuals.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.