meter
1 Americannoun
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the fundamental unit of length in the metric system, equivalent to 39.37 U.S. inches, originally intended to be, and being very nearly, equal to one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the pole measured on a meridian: defined from 1889 to 1960 as the distance between two lines on a platinum-iridium bar (the “International Prototype Meter”) preserved at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris; from 1960 to 1983 defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red radiation of krypton 86 under specified conditions; and now defined as 1/299,792,458 of the distance light travels in a vacuum in one second. m
noun
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Music.
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the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value.
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the unit of measurement, in terms of number of beats, adopted for a given piece of music.
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Prosody.
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poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.
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a particular form of such arrangement, depending on either the kind or the number of feet constituting the verse or both rhythmic kind and number of feet (usually used in combination).
pentameter; dactylic meter; iambic trimeter.
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noun
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an instrument for measuring, especially one that automatically measures and records the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time, when it is activated.
verb (used with object)
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to measure by means of a meter.
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to process (mail) by means of a postage meter.
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a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the names of instruments measuring quantity, extent, degree, etc..
altimeter; barometer.
noun
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the US spelling of metre 1
combining form
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indicating an instrument for measuring
barometer
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prosody indicating a verse having a specified number of feet
pentameter
noun
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the US spelling of metre 2
noun
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any device that measures and records the quantity of a substance, such as gas, that has passed through it during a specified period
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any device that measures and sometimes records an electrical or magnetic quantity, such as current, voltage, etc
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See parking meter
verb
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to measure (a rate of flow) with a meter
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to print with stamps by means of a postage meter
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The basic unit of length in the metric system, equal to 39.37 inches.
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See Table at measurement
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The basic unit of length in the metric system; it was originally planned so that the circumference of the Earth would be measured at about forty million meters. A meter is 39.37 inches. Today, the meter is defined to be the distance light travels in 1 / 299,792,458 seconds.
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The highly organized rhythm characteristic of verse; the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. (See iambic pentameter.)
Usage
What does -meter mean? The combining form -meter is used like a suffix meaning “measure” or "measuring instrument." It is often used in scientific and technical terms.The form -meter comes from Greek métron, meaning “measure.” Find out how métron is also the source of diameter, isometric, and metronome at our entries for these words.What are variants of -meter?While -meter doesn't have any variants, it's related to the forms -metric, -metrics, and -metry.. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for these forms.
Other Word Forms
- unmetered adjective
Etymology
Origin of meter1
First recorded in 1790–1800; from French mètre, from Greek métron “measure”
Origin of meter2
First recorded before 900; Middle English metir, metur, Old English meter, from Latin metrum “poetic rhythm or meter, verse,” from Greek métron “measure”; replacing Middle English metre, from Middle French metre, from Latin as above
Origin of meter3
First recorded in 1805–15; mete 1, -er 1
Origin of -meter4
< New Latin -metrum < Greek métron measure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Consumer groups say people can cut bills by checking if they are eligible for discounted tariffs, trialling a water meter, and by saving water, for example, by setting a time limit on showers.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Instead, it exists as nanoplastics, particles so small they are measured in billionths of a meter.
From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026
All of this readily registers on Barry’s Dada-absurdity meter.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
Claude’s meter also runs faster based on the length of your conversation, meaning new users who upload long documents may be surprised to reach their limit faster than they’re used to with ChatGPT.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
Conducting26 also depends on the meter of the piece; conductors use different conducting patterns for the different meters.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.