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

LinkedIn has the honor of being the sole surviving social media left on my phone, which has a timer set for less than 15 minutes a day.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Now that they’re getting a generative-AI overhaul, the question is: Can we get more out of devices that until now have been great at setting kitchen timers, reading the weather and playing music?

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Now that they’re getting a gen-AI overhaul, the question is: Can we get more out of devices that have been great at setting kitchen timers, reading the weather and playing music?

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Earick has fuelled speculation by posting an image of the dressing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on social media, including a timer counting down the 27 days to 24 October.

Read more on BBC

Young adults in hiking gear sipped beers beneath chandeliers shaped like wagon wheels as old timers with gray ponytails and cowboy hats chatted with a tattooed bartender.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• timepiece 
• wristwatch