Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A ball dropped suddenly from the top of a staff prominently placed, as on the top of an observatory or of a church spire, for the purpose of indicating some exact moment of mean time previously determined upon—1
p. m. being that in general use in Great Britain, and noon in the United States.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Rare spelling of
time ball .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a ball that slides down a staff to show a fixed time; especially at an observatory
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In large towns, timekeepers would drop a "time-ball" at the top of a high tower.
don't worry, your children won't even remember it Holly 2005
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In large towns, timekeepers would drop a "time-ball" at the top of a high tower.
Archive 2005-03-01 Holly 2005
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And the men of lower Broadway hurrying along the walks, conscious of time and money, stopping at noon to check the precision of their big watches with Western Union's red time-ball — well, their faces were often abstracted; some were worried; some were greedy or anxious, others complacent and going-to-live-forever.
Time and Again Finney, Jack 1995
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Telegraph Hill and its semaphore and time-ball were features of business life.
A Backward Glance at Eighty Murdock, Charles A 1921
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The fork was wedged into a wooden support, and the platinum tip allowed to rest on lampblacked paper, wound about a metal cylinder, which was rotated by hand Time was given by a break-circuit clock, the rate of which was ascertained, by comparisons with Western Union time-ball, to be 9.87 seconds.
Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light Made at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis Albert A. Michelson 1891
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But despite this, every afternoon a member of staff from James Ritchie & Son clockmakers, in Broughton Street, has walked up the 170 steps to the top of the Nelson Monument, hauled up the time-ball and lowered it at exactly 1pm.
unknown title 2009
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But despite this, every afternoon a member of staff from James Ritchie & Son clockmakers, in Broughton Street, has walked up the 170 steps to the top of the Nelson Monument, hauled up the time-ball and lowered it at exactly 1pm.
unknown title 2009
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However, the time-ball is finally showing its age and needs refurbishing to stop it falling further into decay.
unknown title 2009
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The Admiralty call for estimates for a time-ball at Portsmouth: on receiving them they decline further proceeding. ”
Autobiography Airy, George Biddell, Sir 1896
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On Dec. 6th the mast of the Observatory time-ball broke, and the Ball fell in the Front Court. ”
Autobiography Airy, George Biddell, Sir 1896
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