A fairly common metric unit of force equal to 10 newtons. The dekanewton is equal to 1 megadyne, to 1.019 716 kilograms of force (kgf) or kiloponds (kp), to 2.248 09 pounds of force (lbf), and to 72.3301 poundals. In engineering, the dekanewton is a convenient substitute for the kilogram of force or kilopond, since it is nearly equal to those units