metric

[ me-trik ]

/ ˈmɛ trɪk /

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See synonyms for: metric / metrics on Thesaurus.com

adjective

pertaining to the meter or to the metric system.

noun

Often metrics . a standard for measuring or evaluating something, especially one that uses figures or statistics: new metrics for gauging an organization’s diversity;pretty good by any metric.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of metric

1860–65; <French métrique, derivative of mètremeter¹; see -ic

Other definitions for metric (2 of 3)

metric²

[ me-trik ]

/ ˈmɛ trɪk /

adjective

pertaining to distance: metric geometry.

metrical.

noun

Mathematics. a nonnegative real-valued function having properties analogous to those of the distance between points on a real line, as the distance between two points being independent of the order of the points, the distance between two points being zero if, and only if, the two points coincide, and the distance between two points being less than or equal to the sum of the distances from each point to an arbitrary third point.

Origin of metric

1750–60; <Latin metricus<Greek metrikós of, relating to measuring. See meter², -ic

Other definitions for metric (3 of 3)

-metric

a combining form occurring in adjectives that correspond to nouns ending in -meter (barometric) or -metry (geometric).

Origin of -metric

<Greek -metrikos;see meter², -metry, -ic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use metric in a sentence

“You are applying Western metrics to someone who is not using that metric against you,” referring to ISIS, Bolger said.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Take the chief metric of the war in Vietnam—body counts, which ultimately did not answer whether the strategy was working.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
America sent less than 2,000 metric tons of cheese to China in 2009.
Say Cheese—China's New Obsession|Will Doig|September 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
While approximately one in every 25 attempts among adults results in death, that same metric is one in five for under-29s.
FDA’s Suicide Warnings Backfire|Charlotte Lytton|June 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Do you have any kind of metric for whether what you're doing is working or not?
Hanging Out With the Minds Behind Google Doodles and Chrome Experiments|Douglas Wolk|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The British measure of energy is the foot-pound; the metric measure is the kilogrammetre.
A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine|Robert H. Thurston
Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the unification and improvement of the metric system.
Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, Volume XII|Various
To appreciate its metre, one must so enter into the spirit of a poem that the metric movement is felt as a part of its expression.
Browning and the Dramatic Monologue|S. S. Curry
So complex, so mysterious, is the metric expression of feeling, that no one poem can be made a standard for another.
Browning and the Dramatic Monologue|S. S. Curry
It is impossible to read it in its proper spirit when not correctly rendering its metric rhythm.
Browning and the Dramatic Monologue|S. S. Curry

British Dictionary definitions for metric

metric

/ (ˈmɛtrɪk) /

adjective

of or relating to the metre or metric system

maths denoting or relating to a set containing pairs of points for each of which a non-negative real number ρ(x, y) (the distance) can be defined, satisfying specific conditions

noun

maths the function ρ(x, y) satisfying the conditions of membership of such a set (a metric space)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for metric

metric

[ mĕt′rĭk ]

Relating to the meter or the metric system.

metric

Origin of metric

Other definitions for metric (2 of 3)

Origin of metric

Other definitions for metric (3 of 3)

Origin of -metric

Words related to metric

How to use metric in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for metric

Scientific definitions for metric