timer
Americannoun
-
a device for indicating or measuring elapsed time, times, as a stopwatch.
-
a device for controlling machinery, appliances, or the like, in a specified way at a predetermined time: times.
Please put the roast in the oven and set the timer to cook it for two hours.
-
(in an internal-combustion engine) a set of points actuated by a cam, which causes the spark for igniting the charge at the instant required.
noun
-
a device for measuring, recording, or indicating time
-
a switch or regulator that causes a mechanism to operate at a specific time or at predetermined intervals
-
a person or thing that times
Etymology
Origin of timer
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.
This can end up hurting long-term returns, with the timer underperforming an investor who stayed put.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026
Were this another sport—football, basketball, baseball—they’d be swooning over Alcaraz as an all timer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026
Using a simple remote control, you cycle through six heat levels and can set a timer in one-hour increments.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
The average short-term timer that my firm tracks reduced recommended equity exposure on Tuesday by almost 20 percentage points, as judged by the Hulbert Stock Newsletter Sentiment Index.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 21, 2026
I dropped the pasta in and set the timer.
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
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.