Dictionary
me•ter
Pronunciation: (mē'tur), [key]—
n.
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.
Abbr.: m
Also, Brit.,metre.me•ter
Pronunciation: (mē'tur), [key]—
n.
1. Music.
a. the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value.
b. the unit of measurement, in terms of number of beats, adopted for a given piece of music. Cf.
measure (def. 14).
2. Pros.
a. poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.
b. 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. Also, Brit.,metre.me•ter
Pronunciation: (mē'tur), [key]—
n.
1. an instrument for measuring, esp. one that automatically measures and records the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time, when it is activated.
2. See
parking meter.
—
v.t.
1. to measure by means of a meter.
2. to process (mail) by means of a postage meter.
Also, Brit.,metre.-meter
a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the names of instruments measuring quantity, extent, degree, etc.:
altimeter; barometer. Cf.
-metry. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
