calorie

calorie — noun

1. a unit that measures how much energy a particular food or drink gives your body

1.名詞B1
釋義

a unit that measures how much energy a particular food or drink gives your body when you eat or drink it

例句

Aiko checked the calorie count on the cereal box before breakfast.

calorie count — collocation for written nutritional info

This chocolate bar has two hundred calories, so Leila ate only half.

has + number + calories

同義詞
  • kilocalorie

    technically the same unit in nutrition contexts; more formal and rarely used in everyday speech

文法句型

number + calorie(s)

high/low in calories

burn/consume + calories

常見錯誤

❌I eat many calories today.
✅I consumed a lot of calories today.
💡'Calories' are not eaten directly; you consume them through food or drink.
❌This food has big calories.
✅This food has a lot of calories / is high in calories.
💡Use 'high in calories' or 'a lot of calories,' not 'big calories.'

2. a standard unit used in physics and chemistry to quantify heat; a single calorie

2.名詞C1
釋義

a standard unit used in physics and chemistry to quantify heat; a single calorie gives enough energy to warm 1 g of water by 1 °C

例句

The lab report showed that the reaction released five hundred calories of heat.

released + number + calories of heat — technical pattern

Beatriz calculated how many calories were needed to warm the water sample by ten degrees.

calories needed to warm — purpose infinitive

同義詞
  • gram calorie

    full technical name for the small calorie in physics; distinguishes it from the food kilocalorie

  • joule

    the SI unit of energy; 1 calorie ≈ 4.184 joules; more common in modern scientific writing

文法句型

number + calorie(s)

calorie + of heat

用法筆記

This sense is primarily used in physics and chemistry contexts. In everyday nutrition talk, 'calorie' actually refers to a kilocalorie (1,000 of these small calories). When you need to be precise in science, the small calorie may be spelled with a lowercase 'c' while the food kilocalorie uses a capital 'C,' though this convention is not always followed.

常見錯誤

❌I burned 2 calories by walking — the scientific kind.
✅I burned about 200 kilocalories by walking.
💡In everyday language, 'calorie' means kilocalorie (1,000 small calories). The scientific small calorie is rarely used in fitness or diet contexts.