unit of heat defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade at atmospheric pressure
a unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree at one atmosphere pressure; used by nutritionists to characterize the energy-producing potential in food
a never-ending cycle of activities and events (especially when they seem to have little purpose); "if we lose the election the whole legislative merry-go-round will have to start over"
lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture; "this benighted country"; "benighted ages of barbarism and superstition"; "the dark ages"; "a dark age in the history of education"
overtaken by night or darkness; "benighted (or nighted) travelers hurrying toward home"