timer

[ tahy-mer ]

noun

1. a person or thing that times. times.
2. a person who measures or records time. times.
3. a device for indicating or measuring elapsed time, times, as a stopwatch.
4. a device for controlling machinery, appliances, or the like, in a specified way at a predetermined time: times:

   Please put the roast in the oven and set the timer to cook it for two hours.

5. (in an internal-combustion engine) a set of points actuated by a cam, which causes the spark for igniting the charge at the instant required.

timer

/ ˈtaɪmə /

noun

1. a device for measuring, recording, or indicating time
2. a switch or regulator that causes a mechanism to operate at a specific time or at predetermined intervals
3. a person or thing that times

Word History and Origins

Origin of timer¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; time + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Technical experts at SMEX, a Beirut-based internet watchdog group, speculated that a shipment of pagers could have been intercepted and planted with small amounts of explosives that would be triggered either by a timer or a prearranged signal.

From Los Angeles Times

The parasocial relationship timer ran out when my sense of identity sharpened around 15.

From Salon

The Hollywood Reporter clocked the applause at 10.5 minutes, while Deadline’s timer recorded 12.5 minutes.

From Los Angeles Times

“I had all my jokes memorized but I was so nervous. And the host goes onstage. ‘We have a first timer tonight, give it up for the uncomfortably young Matt Reef,’” Rife recalled, adding that he was so nervous he thought his bowels were “gonna drop out of my body.”

From Los Angeles Times

He uses a sleep timer on his own tub, which he puts in sleep mode between 11:00 and 07:00.

From BBC

Related Words

• timepiece
• wristwatch