WC(1) WC(1) NAME wc - word count SYNOPSIS wc [ -lwc ] [ file ... ] DESCRIPTION Wc counts lines, words and characters in the named files, or in the standard input if no file is named. A word is a max- imal string of characters delimited by spaces, tabs or new- lines. If the optional argument is present, just the specified counts (lines, words or characters) are selected by the let- ters l, w, or c.