Cooking Measurement Abbreviations

Q: Does oz mean weight or volume in a recipe?

Plain "oz" is weight; "fl oz" (fluid ounce) is volume. They only coincide for water-like liquids. For example, 8 oz of chocolate chips is a weight (about 1⅓ cups by volume), while 8 fl oz of milk is exactly 1 cup.

Q: What does "c" mean in a recipe?

Cup — 236.6 ml in US recipes. Note that a metric cup (Australia, NZ) is 250 ml and a UK imperial cup is 284 ml, so check the recipe's origin for precision baking.

Q: How much is a pinch, a dash, and a smidgen?

They are informal, but the convention is: dash ≈ ⅛ teaspoon, pinch ≈ ⅟₁₆ teaspoon, smidgen ≈ ⅟₃₂ teaspoon. Some spice-measuring spoon sets are actually labeled with these amounts.

Q: What does a number sign (#) mean in a recipe?

Pounds. "2# chicken" means 2 pounds of chicken. It appears mostly in professional and older American recipes.

Every abbreviation you'll meet in a recipe — tsp, tbsp, c, oz, fl oz, pt, qt — with what it means and how much it is.

Volume Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Also Written	Meaning	Equivalent
tsp	t	Teaspoon	5 ml · ⅓ tablespoon
tbsp	T, tbs, tbl	Tablespoon	15 ml · 3 teaspoons
fl oz	fl. oz.	Fluid ounce	29.57 ml · 2 tablespoons
c	C, cup	Cup	236.6 ml · 16 tablespoons
pt	p	Pint	473 ml · 2 cups
qt	q	Quart	946 ml · 4 cups
gal	g (rare)	Gallon	3.79 l · 16 cups
ml	mL, cc	Milliliter	⅕ teaspoon
l	L, lt	Liter	1000 ml · 4.2 cups

Weight Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Also Written	Meaning	Equivalent
oz	oz.	Ounce (weight)	28.35 g
lb	lbs, #	Pound	454 g · 16 ounces
g	gr (ambiguous)	Gram	0.035 oz
kg	kilo	Kilogram	1000 g · 2.2 lb

Converting between weight and volume depends on the ingredient — that's what our grams to cups converter is for.

Informal Measures

Term	What It Means
Pinch	What you can pinch between thumb and finger — about ⅟₁₆ teaspoon
Dash	A quick shake — about ⅛ teaspoon for dry, a few drops for liquid
Smidgen	Half a pinch — about ⅟₃₂ teaspoon
Heaping / heaped	As much as the spoon carries with a mound on top
Scant	Just under the stated measure
Knob (of butter)	About 1-2 tablespoons (British recipes)
Stick (of butter)	½ cup · 113 g · 8 tablespoons (US)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between tsp and tbsp?

tsp is teaspoon (5 ml) and tbsp is tablespoon (15 ml) — a tablespoon is three times a teaspoon. In older cookbooks a lowercase "t" means teaspoon and an uppercase "T" means tablespoon, so the capitalization matters.

Does oz mean weight or volume in a recipe?

What does "c" mean in a recipe?

How much is a pinch, a dash, and a smidgen?

What does a number sign (#) mean in a recipe?

Cooking Measurement Abbreviations

Volume Abbreviations

Weight Abbreviations

Informal Measures

Frequently Asked Questions

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