Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line.
- noun A particular arrangement of words in poetry, such as iambic pentameter, determined by the kind and number of metrical units in a line.
- noun The rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind and number of lines.
- noun Division into measures or bars.
- noun A specific rhythm determined by the number of beats and the time value assigned to each note in a measure.
- noun Any of various devices designed to measure time, distance, speed, or intensity or indicate and record or regulate the amount or volume, as of the flow of a gas or an electric current.
- noun A postage meter.
- noun A parking meter.
- transitive verb To measure with a meter.
- transitive verb To supply in a measured or regulated amount.
- transitive verb To imprint with postage or other revenue stamps by means of a postage meter or similar device.
- transitive verb To provide with a parking meter or parking meters.
- noun The international standard unit of length, approximately equivalent to 39.37 inches. It was redefined in 1983 as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English, from Old English meter and from Old French metre, both from Latin metrum, from Greek metron, measure, poetic meter; see mē- in Indo-European roots.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From –meter.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French mètre, from Greek metron, measure; see mē- in Indo-European roots.]
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Examples
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