zed

Everyday

1. (UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) The name of the last letter of the alphabet, Z. tree →
2. (informal) «Catch some zeds» means get some sleep, because cartoon sleepers show «zzz». tree →

In the lessons

In spelling and alphabet lessons, British, Canadian, Australian, Irish and New Zealand children say «zed», while American children say «zee». In maths, z is often a letter standing for a number or for the third axis.

Examples

• The alphabet goes from A to zed. tree →
• «Zebra» starts with a zed. tree →
• Americans say «zee» but we say «zed». tree →
• Spell «zoo»: zed, oh, oh. tree →
• I'm off to catch some zeds. tree →
• Write a capital zed at the end. tree →

Note

Only the name of the letter; you write the letter as Z. In the USA it is «zee». It is not a word you write in a sentence on its own often.