meter 1
/mee"teuhr/ , 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 .
[ 1790-1800; mètre métron measure ]
meter 2
/mee"teuhr/ , 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 .
[ bef. 900; ME metir, metur, OE meter metrum poetic meter, verse métron measure; r. ME metre ]
meter 3
/mee"teuhr/ , 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.
3. to measure by means of a meter.
4. to process (mail) by means of a postage meter.
Also, Brit., metre .
[ 1805-15; see METE 1 , -ER 1 ]