Adjacent Words

Meter definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ME'TER, n. [from mete.] One who measures; used in compounds, as in coal-meter, land-meter.
ME'TER, n. [L. metrum.]
1. Measure; verse; arrangement of poetical feet, or of long and short syllables in verse. Hexameter is a meter of six feet. This word is most improperly written metre. How very absurd to write the simple word in this manner, but in all its numerous compounds, meter, as in diameter, hexameter, thermometer, etc.
2. A French measure of length, equal to 39 37/100 English inches, the standard of linear measure, being the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the North Pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an arc of the meridian.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards) [syn: meter, metre, m]
2: any of various measuring instruments for measuring a quantity
3: (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse [syn: meter, metre, measure, beat, cadence]
4: rhythm as given by division into parts of equal duration [syn: meter, metre, time] v
1: measure with a meter; "meter the flow of water"
2: stamp with a meter indicating the postage; "meter the mail"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English & Anglo-French; Old English m?ter, from Latin metrum, from Greek metron measure, meter; Anglo-French metre, from Latin metrum — more at measure Date: before 12th century 1. a. systematically arranged and measured rhythm in verse: (1) rhythm that continuously repeats a single basic pattern <iambic meter> (2) rhythm characterized by regular recurrence of a systematic arrangement of basic patterns in larger figures <ballad meter> b. a measure or unit of metrical verse — usually used in combination <pentameter> — compare foot 4 c. a fixed metrical pattern ; verse form 2. the basic recurrent rhythmical pattern of note values, accents, and beats per measure in music II. noun Etymology: Middle English, from meten to mete Date: 14th century one that measures; especially an official measurer of commodities III. noun Etymology: French mètre, from Greek metron measure Date: 1797 the base unit of length in the International System of Units that is equal to the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in frac1/299,792,458 second or to about 39.37 inches — see metric system table IV. noun Etymology: -meter Date: 1815 1. an instrument for measuring and sometimes recording the time or amount of something <a parking meter> <a gas meter> 2. postage meter; also a marking printed by a postage meter V. transitive verb Date: 1878 1. to measure by means of a meter 2. to supply in a measured or regulated amount 3. to print postal indicia on by means of a postage meter

Britannica Concise

In poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a poetic line. Various principles have been devised to organize poetic lines into rhythmic units. Quantitative verse, the meter of classical Greek and Latin poetry, measures the length of time required to pronounce syllables, regardless of their stress; combinations of long and short syllables form the basic rhythmic units. Syllabic verse is most common in languages that are not strongly accented, such as French or Japanese; it is based on a fixed number of syllables within a line. Accentual verse occurs in strongly stressed languages such as the Germanic; only stressed syllables within a line are counted. Accentual-syllabic verse is the usual form in English poetry; it combines syllable counting and stress counting. The most common English meter, iambic pentameter, is a line of 10 syllables, or five iambic feet; each foot contains an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Free verse does not follow regular metrical patterns. See also prosody. Basic unit of length in the metric system and the International System of Units. In 1983 the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided that the accepted value for the speed of light would be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second, so the meter is now defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second. One meter is equal to about 39.37 in. in U.S. units. In poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a poetic line. Various principles have been devised to organize poetic lines into rhythmic units. Quantitative verse, the meter of classical Greek and Latin poetry, measures the length of time required to pronounce syllables, regardless of their stress; combinations of long and short syllables form the basic rhythmic units. Syllabic verse is most common in languages that are not strongly accented, such as French or Japanese; it is based on a fixed number of syllables within a line. Accentual verse occurs in strongly stressed languages such as the Germanic; only stressed syllables within a line are counted. Accentual-syllabic verse is the usual form in English poetry; it combines syllable counting and stress counting. The most common English meter, iambic pentameter, is a line of 10 syllables, or five iambic feet; each foot contains an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Free verse does not follow regular metrical patterns. See also prosody. Basic unit of length in the metric system and the International System of Units. In 1983 the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided that the accepted value for the speed of light would be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second, so the meter is now defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second. One meter is equal to about 39.37 in. in U.S. units.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a person or thing that measures, esp. an instrument for recording a quantity of gas, electricity, etc. supplied, present, or needed. 2 = parking-meter (see PARK). --v.tr. measure by means of a meter. Etymology: ME f. METE(1) + -ER(1) 2. US var. of METRE(1). 3. US var. of METRE(2).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Meter Me"ter, n. [From Mete to measure.] 1. One who, or that which, metes or measures. See Coal-meter. 2. An instrument for measuring, and usually for recording automatically, the quantity measured. Dry meter, a gas meter having measuring chambers, with flexible walls, which expand and contract like bellows and measure the gas by filling and emptying. W?t meter, a gas meter in which the revolution of a chambered drum in water measures the gas passing through it.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Meter Me"ter, n. A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Meter Me"ter, Metre Me"tre, n. [OE. metre, F. m[`e]tre, L. metrum, fr. Gr. ?; akin to Skr. m[=a] to measure. See Mete to measure.] 1. Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm; measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter. The only strict antithesis to prose is meter. --Wordsworth. 2. A poem. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia). 3. A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly, the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an arc of a meridian. See Metric system, under Metric. Common meter (Hymnol.), four iambic verses, or lines, making a stanza, the first and third having each four feet, and the second and fourth each three feet; -- usually indicated by the initials C.M. Long meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines of four feet each, four verses usually making a stanza; -- commonly indicated by the initials L. M. Short meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines, the first, second, and fourth having each three feet, and the third four feet. The stanza usually consists of four lines, but is sometimes doubled. Short meter is indicated by the initials S. M.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(meters, metering, metered) 1. A meter is a device that measures and records something such as the amount of gas or electricity that you have used. He was there to read the electricity meter... N-COUNT 2. To meter something such as gas or electricity means to use a meter to measure how much of it people use, usually in order to calculate how much they have to pay. Only a third of these households thought it reasonable to meter water... Metered taxis are relatively inexpensive. VERB: V n, V-ed 3. A meter is the same as a parking meter. N-COUNT 4. see also metre

Foolish Dictionary

The gas man's trysting place. "Meet her in the cellar!"

Moby Thesaurus

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