nanosecond

[ nan-uh-sek-uhnd, ney-nuh- ]

noun

1. one billionth of a second. : ns, nsec

nanosecond

/ ˈnænəʊˌsɛkənd /

noun

1. one thousand-millionth of a second ns

nanosecond

/ năn′ə-sĕk′ənd /

1. One billionth (10 ^-9) of a second.

nanosecond

1. A billionth of a second.

Notes

The term is often used to refer to a very short time: “He missed having an accident by nanoseconds.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of nanosecond¹

First recorded in 1955–60; nano- + second ²

Example Sentences

We never got the sense there was any willingness to scale back even for a nanosecond of what they were doing.

From Time

Measuring the properties of their electron qubits, they found the qubits maintain superposition for 220 nanoseconds and change states in mere nanoseconds.

From Singularity Hub 

The stone-age minds of voters evolved for eons to deal with hunter-gatherer societies but have been forced to address modern politics for only an evolutionary nanosecond.

From Washington Post

So we’re looking for a bright burst of light or infrared radiation that occupies only a nanosecond, or a millionth of a second—even maybe as long as a thousandth of a second.

From Nautilus

For every nanosecond that I miraculously lift off the ground, I land with an inordinately loud thud.

From The Daily Beast

The water pressure alone would turn a man into a “meat cloud” in a nanosecond, Cameron colorfully explains.

From The Daily Beast

The man behind ‘Moneyball’ goes inside the crazy world of high frequency trading to find billions being made by the nanosecond.

From The Daily Beast

But for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the process was completed in a political nanosecond.

From The Daily Beast

Whether you want news up to the nanosecond or an absurdist joke, these are the Twitter feeds you need to follow now.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• blink of an eye
• millisecond