[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/decimetre.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / decimetre

[← D](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/D/)

# decimetre

«decimetre» in Mova's school dictionary: **a unit of length equal to 10 centimetres, or one tenth of…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a decimetre, decimetres); decimeter (US)

### meaning for a pupil

A decimetre is a unit of length equal to 10 centimetres, or one tenth of a metre. It is written dm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In maths lessons on metric units, the decimetre sits between the centimetre and the metre. It is not used much in everyday life, but appears in conversion questions and in volume: 1 cubic decimetre = 1 litre. Phrases: square decimetre, cubic decimetre.

### examples

- A decimetre is 10 centimetres long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x1)
- There are 10 decimetres in a metre. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x2)
- My pencil is about 1.5 decimetres long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x3)
- Convert 3 dm into centimetres: 30 cm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x4)
- A cube with 1 dm sides holds exactly 1 litre. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x5)
- The ruler is 3 decimetres long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x6)
- 25 cm = 2.5 dm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x7)
- We rarely use decimetres in everyday life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/#x8)

### note

UK spelling decimetre; US decimeter. Symbol dm. "Deci-" means one tenth. Maths: 1 dm = 10 cm = 100 mm = 0.1 m; 1 dm³ = 1 litre. Trap: do not confuse "deci-" (a tenth) with "deca-" (ten times).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «decimetre» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/decimetre/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.