CR
Abbreviation with 13 meanings
| Stands for | Continuing resolution |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 13 |
| Categories | Government & Politics, Medical, Science & Engineering, Business & Finance, Geography & Places, Transportation & Travel, Law & Legal |
| Also written | Cr, cr |
CR has 13 meanings. The most common are Continuing resolution (political) and Creatinine (laboratory test); it can also stand for Chromium, Credit, Complete response, Controlled release and Costa Rica, plus 6 more listed below.
Meanings of CR at a glance
| # | CR stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continuing resolution | Government & Politics › Political |
| 2 | Creatinine | Medical › Laboratory Test |
| 3 | Chromium | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
| 4 | Credit | Business & Finance › Accounting |
| 5 | Complete response | Medical › Hematology and Oncology |
| 6 | Controlled release | Medical › Pharmacy |
| 7 | Costa Rica | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 8 | County Road | Transportation & Travel › Driving |
| 9 | Congressional Record | Government & Politics › Political |
| 10 | Conditioned response | Science & Engineering › Psychology |
| 11 | Critically Endangered | Science & Engineering › Environmental |
| 12 | Change request | Business & Finance › Project Management |
| 13 | Criminal (case-type code) | Law & Legal › Criminal Law |
1. Continuing resolution
Government & Politics · Political Abbreviations
Temporary spending law that keeps federal agencies funded, usually at the previous year's levels, when Congress has not passed regular appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Without a CR or full-year bills, a government shutdown begins.
Example: Congress passed a CR on Wednesday night, averting a shutdown until mid-December.
Short-term CRs, often called stopgaps, have been needed in almost every recent fiscal year, and a full-year CR keeps funding on autopilot for an entire year. The shutdown that began on October 1, 2025 lasted 43 days and ended on November 12, 2025, the longest on record; the previous record was 35 days in 2018-2019.
2. Creatinine (Cr)
Medical · Laboratory Test Abbreviations
Waste product of creatine phosphate metabolism in muscle that is filtered by the kidneys at a fairly steady rate, making serum creatinine the standard blood marker of kidney function. Typical adult values are about 0.6 to 1.2 mg/dL, lower in women and older adults, and a rise signals falling filtration.
Example: Cr 2.1 from a baseline of 0.9 after the CT with contrast; nephrology consulted.
Because the relationship is not linear, creatinine roughly doubles only after about half of kidney function is lost. KDIGO defines acute kidney injury as a rise of at least 0.3 mg/dL within 48 hours or to 1.5 times baseline within seven days. Muscular people, recent cooked-meat meals and creatine supplements raise it; trimethoprim and cimetidine raise it by blocking tubular secretion without harming the kidney. Cr is also the chemical symbol for chromium.
3. Chromium (Cr)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
A hard, lustrous transition metal with atomic number 24, chromium gives stainless steel its corrosion resistance (at least 10.5% by weight) and provides the mirror finish of chrome plating. Traces of chromium color rubies red and emeralds green. Hexavalent chromium compounds, used in some plating and pigments, are toxic and carcinogenic.
Example: Type 304 stainless contains roughly 18% Cr and 8% Ni, which is why it is often called 18/8.
Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered chromium in 1797 in crocoite, a red lead ore from Siberia, and named it from Greek chroma (color) because its compounds are so vividly colored. Trivalent chromium, Cr(III), is a dietary trace element, while hexavalent Cr(VI) is a recognized carcinogen; the 2000 film Erin Brockovich dramatized a groundwater case involving Cr(VI).
4. Credit (Cr)
Business & Finance · Accounting Abbreviations
Entry on the right side of an account in double-entry bookkeeping, which increases liability, equity and revenue accounts and decreases asset and expense accounts. Each journal entry's credits must equal its debits.
Example: Payroll accrual: Dr Wages expense 18,400, Cr Accrued wages 18,400.
Cr comes from "creditor." On a bank statement, a credit increases the customer's balance, and "CR" after a balance on a utility or card statement can indicate money owed to the customer. In chemistry, Cr is the symbol for chromium.
5. Complete response
Medical · Hematology and Oncology Abbreviations
Disappearance of all signs of cancer in response to treatment. Under RECIST for solid tumors, all target lesions must disappear and lymph nodes shrink below 10 mm; in leukemia, complete remission means fewer than 5 percent blasts in the marrow with recovery of blood counts.
Example: PET-CT after 6 cycles: Deauville 2, complete metabolic response; CR.
A complete response does not guarantee cure, because undetectable cancer cells may remain; deeper measures such as minimal residual disease testing refine prognosis in blood cancers. Lymphomas use the Lugano criteria with PET imaging rather than RECIST. In pharmacy CR means controlled release, an unrelated use.
6. Controlled release
Medical · Pharmacy Abbreviations
Release-technology suffix indicating a product engineered to deliver drug at a controlled rate, as in Paxil CR, Ambien CR, Sinemet CR and Coreg CR. It usually allows less frequent dosing or a smoother effect.
Example: Zolpidem CR 6.25 mg at bedtime for sleep maintenance insomnia.
Ambien CR uses a two-layer tablet: one layer dissolves quickly to help with falling asleep and the other releases slowly to help with staying asleep. In 2013 the FDA lowered recommended zolpidem doses for women because of next-morning impairment. In lab reports CR often means creatinine.
7. Costa Rica
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 and protects about a quarter of its land in parks and reserves. San José is the capital and CRI the alpha-3 code.
Example: Eco-lodge invoices from Monteverde list CR as the country.
Sports bodies use CRC for Costa Rica. The colón is CRC in currency markets, which is also the country's football code. CR also abbreviates credit and creek in some contexts.
8. County Road
Transportation & Travel · Driving Abbreviations · also used in geography
Designation for roads maintained by county governments in many US states, written on signs and maps as CR followed by a number, such as CR 42. County route signs in many states use a blue pentagon shape.
Example: Turn left on CR 12 and the farm stand is two miles down on the right.
County roads range from paved two-lane routes to gravel lanes. The blue pentagon sign is defined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota and many Midwestern states make heavy use of county routes.
9. Congressional Record
Government & Politics · Political Abbreviations
Official daily record of the proceedings and debates of the US Congress, published by the Government Publishing Office when either chamber is in session. It includes floor speeches, votes and extensions of remarks that members submit for publication.
Example: The senator's statement was entered into the CR after the vote.
It has been published since 1873, succeeding earlier records such as the Congressional Globe. Members can revise their remarks and insert speeches never delivered on the floor, which are marked typographically. Legal citations use "Cong. Rec." with volume and page, as in 167 Cong. Rec. S1234.
10. Conditioned response
Science & Engineering · Psychology Abbreviations
In classical conditioning, the learned response to a conditioned stimulus, such as salivating at the sound of a bell or feeling anxious at the sight of a dentist's chair. The CR usually resembles the natural, unconditioned response but is triggered by the learned cue.
Example: The CR, salivation to the tone, appeared after about a dozen pairings with food.
Conditioned responses can return after extinction, a phenomenon called spontaneous recovery, which helps explain relapses in anxiety and addiction. Exposure therapy for phobias works partly by extinguishing conditioned fear responses. In conservation CR means Critically Endangered.
11. Critically Endangered
Science & Engineering · Environmental Abbreviations
Highest risk category for species still surviving in the wild on the IUCN Red List, meaning an extremely high risk of extinction. Criteria include a population decline of 80-90% or more over ten years or three generations, or fewer than about 250 mature individuals.
Example: The vaquita, a tiny porpoise in Mexico's Gulf of California, is listed as CR with only about ten left.
The Red List categories, from Least Concern (LC) to Extinct (EX), were established in their current form in 1994 and revised in 2001. Some CR species carry a "Possibly Extinct" tag when they have not been seen for years. The Sumatran rhinoceros and the Amur leopard are other CR examples.
12. Change request
Business & Finance · Project Management Abbreviations
Formal proposal to change a project's scope, requirements, schedule, budget or deliverables, documented with its reason and impact and submitted for approval through change control.
Example: The client's new reporting feature needs a CR with a cost and schedule estimate.
Uncontrolled changes without CRs are the classic cause of "scope creep." In fixed-price contracts, approved CRs usually lead to contract amendments or change orders.
13. Criminal (case-type code) (cr)
Law & Legal · Criminal Law Abbreviations
Code in federal docket numbers identifying a criminal case, as in "1:23-cr-00123", where 1 is the court division or office, 23 the year filed, cr the case type and 00123 the sequence number. The assigned judge's initials sometimes follow.
Example: The indictment was docketed as 1:23-cr-00123 and assigned to a district judge in Alexandria.
Other federal case-type codes include cv (civil), mj (magistrate judge matters such as criminal complaints and search warrants) and mc (miscellaneous). Courts cite the number exactly as docketed, and PACER searches accept it. State courts use their own formats, often beginning with CR or CF.
Related abbreviations
More political abbreviations
- BOE – Board of Elections
- CBC – Congressional Black Caucus
- CPAC – Conservative Political Action Conference
- CPC – Congressional Progressive Caucus
- D – Democrat (party label)
- DCCC – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
- DGA – Democratic Governors Association
- DINO – Democrat in name only
See all 91 political abbreviations →
More laboratory test abbreviations
- CLIA – Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments
- CMP – Comprehensive metabolic panel
- CO2 – Total carbon dioxide (serum bicarbonate)
- CPK – Creatine phosphokinase
- CrCl – Creatinine clearance
- CRP – C-reactive protein
- CSF – Cerebrospinal fluid
- DAT – Direct antiglobulin test
See all 135 laboratory test abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical or legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.