METER

meter

(noun) any of various measuring instruments for measuring a quantity

meter, metre, time

(noun) rhythm as given by division into parts of equal duration

meter, metre, measure, beat, cadence

(noun) (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

meter, metre

(noun) the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d’Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)

meter

(verb) measure with a meter; “meter the flow of water”

meter

(verb) stamp with a meter indicating the postage; “meter the mail”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

meter (plural meters)

(always meter) A device that measures things.

(always meter) A parking meter or similar device for collecting payment.

(always meter) (dated) One who metes or measures.

(chiefly American spelling, elsewhere metre) The base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), conceived of as 1/10000000 of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator, and now defined as the distance light will travel in a vacuum in 1/299792458 second.

(chiefly American spelling, elsewhere metre) (music) An increment of music; the overall rhythm; particularly, the number of beats in a measure.

(chiefly American spelling, elsewhere metre, prosody) The rhythm pattern in a poem.

(chiefly American spelling, elsewhere metre) A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

(obsolete) A poem.

Verb

meter (third-person singular simple present meters, present participle metering, simple past and past participle metered)

To measure with a metering device.

To imprint a postage mark with a postage meter.

To regulate the flow of or to deliver in regulated amounts (usually of fluids but sometimes of other things such as anticipation or breath).

Anagrams

• -metre, -treme, Emert, metre, remet, retem

Source: Wiktionary


-me"ter. Etym: [L. metrum measure, or the allied Gr. Meter rhythm.]

Definition: A suffix denoting that by which anything is measured; as, barometer, chronometer, dynamometer.

Me"ter, n. Etym: [From Mete to measure.]

1. One who, or that which, metes or measures. See Coal-meter.

2. An instrument for measuring, and usually for recording automatically, the quantity measured. Dry meter, a gas meter having measuring chambers, with flexible walls, which expand and contract like bellows and measure the gas by filling and emptying.

– W, a gas meter in which the revolution of a chambered drum in water measures the gas passing through it.

Me"ter, n.

Definition: A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

Me"ter, Me"tre, n. Etym: [OE. metre, F. mètre, L. metrum, fr. Gr. ma to measure. See Mete to measure.]

1. Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm; measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter. The only strict antithesis to prose is meter. Wordsworth.

2. A poem. [Obs.] Robynson (More's Utopia).

3. A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly, the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an arc of a meridian. See Metric system, under Metric. Common meter (Hymnol.), four iambic verses, or lines, making a stanza, the first and third having each four feet, and the second and fourth each three feet; -- usually indicated by the initials C.M.

– Long meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines of four feet each, four verses usually making a stanza; -- commonly indicated by the initials L.M.

– Short meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines, the first, second, and fourth having each three feet, and the third four feet. The stanza usually consists of four lines, but is sometimes doubled. Short meter is indicated by the initials S.M.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

28 April 2024

POLYGENIC

(adjective) of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee press is 230 cm (7 ft 6 in) in height and 72 cm (2 ft 4 in) in diameter and was created by Salzillo Tea and Coffee (Spain) in Murcia, Spain, in February 2007. The cafetière consists of a stainless steel container, a filtering piston, and a superior lid.

coffee icon