- 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. Abbreviation: m
- Music.
- the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value.
- the unit of measurement, in terms of number of beats, adopted for a given piece of music.
- Prosody.
- poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.
- 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.
- 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.
- parking meter.
- to measure by means of a meter.
- to process (mail) by means of a postage meter.
- a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the names of instruments measuring quantity, extent, degree, etc.: altimeter; barometer.
- the US spelling of metre 1
- the US spelling of metre 2
- any device that measures and records the quantity of a substance, such as gas, that has passed through it during a specified period
- any device that measures and sometimes records an electrical or magnetic quantity, such as current, voltage, etc
- See parking meter
- to measure (a rate of flow) with a meter
- to print with stamps by means of a postage meter
- indicating an instrument for measuring
- indicating a verse having a specified number of feet