The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
consumer price index \consumer price index\ n.
An index of the cost of all goods and services to a typical
consumer, calculated and published by the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics; abbreviated CPI, and usually
referred to by that acronym. The Bureau maintains several
indices for different groups of consumers, but the most
commonly referred to is the index for "All urban consumers",
called the CPI-U. The increase of this value each year is
one measure of monetary inflation.
Syn: CPI, cost-of-living index.
[WordNet 1.5]
Note: For a table of values from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the CPI over time, see CPI-U from 1913 to
1998.
[PJC]