# CPS

/ˈsiˌpiˈɛs/ (US)

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

## Senses

### 1. child welfare agency

noun · CEFR B2 · American English

Stands for Child Protective Services. This is the government agency in the US that looks after the safety and well-being of children.

For teachers: Abbreviation for Child Protective Services. Refers to the governmental agency in the United States responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect.

- The hospital called CPS because they were worried about the child's safety at home.
- Social workers from CPS are required to conduct a home visit within twenty-four hours of receiving a high-priority report of potential neglect.

Usage: Usually treated as a proper noun or a collective noun for the agency staff.

### 2. UK legal authority

noun · CEFR B2 · British English

Stands for Crown Prosecution Service. This is the organization in England and Wales that decides if someone should be charged with a crime.

For teachers: Abbreviation for Crown Prosecution Service. The principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.

- The police handed the evidence over to the CPS to decide on the charges.
- The CPS dropped the charges after concluding there was no realistic prospect of conviction based on the available witness testimony.

Usage: Typically used with the definite article 'the'.

### 3. typing speed

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

Stands for characters per second. You use this to measure how fast a printer works or how fast someone can type.

For teachers: Abbreviation for characters per second. A unit of measurement for the data transfer rate of a device or the input speed of a typist.

- The old dot-matrix printer had a speed of about 50 CPS.
- While modern laser printers are measured in pages per minute, legacy impact printers were often rated by their CPS output.

### 4. gaming/clicking speed

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal · Slang

Stands for clicks per second. This is often used by gamers to measure how fast they can press a mouse button.

For teachers: Abbreviation for clicks per second. A metric used primarily in competitive gaming to quantify the frequency of mouse-button inputs.

- He practiced his jitter clicking to get a higher CPS in the game.
- The player was banned from the server after the anti-cheat software detected an impossibly high CPS, suggesting the use of an auto-clicker.

### 5. integrated technology

noun · CEFR C2 · Academic · Technical

Stands for cyber-physical system. This refers to smart systems where computers and physical machines work together, like self-driving cars.

For teachers: Abbreviation for cyber-physical system. A mechanism controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms, tightly integrated with the internet and its users.

- Modern power grids are a great example of a complex CPS.
- The security of a CPS is paramount, as a digital breach can result in catastrophic physical consequences for the industrial machinery involved.

## Examples

- A faster CPU has a higher CPS rating.
- The new server handles thousands of CPS, ensuring the website loads instantly for every user.
- Engineers optimized the algorithm to reduce the required CPS, allowing the device to run efficiently on a low-power battery.

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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.