altimeter
[al-tim-i-ter, al-tuh-mee-ter]
- a sensitive aneroid barometer that is graduated and calibrated, used chiefly in aircraft for finding distance above sea level, terrain, or some other reference point by a comparison of air pressures.
- any device used for the same purpose that operates by some other means, as by radio waves.
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Origin of altimeter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for altimeter
Contemporary Examples
Some trackers come with a built in altimeter to keep you honest on the number of stairs you take each day.
A tracker with an altimeter will give you a far more accurate picture of calories-burned.
Historical Examples
Danny O'Rourke was watching his altimeter sharply as he neared the ground.
The Hammer of ThorCharles Willard Diffin
Smithy glanced past him at the lighted instruments and found the altimeter.
Two Thousand Miles BelowCharles Willard Diffin
A glance at his altimeter showed a scant eighteen hundred now.
Spawn of the CometHarold Thompson Rich
That was the altimeter, which registered twenty-five thousand feet.
Lords of the StratosphereArthur J. Burks
Already it was very cold, though my altimeter only marked nine thousand.
Danger! and Other StoriesArthur Conan Doyle
altimeter
- an instrument that indicates height above sea level, esp one based on an aneroid barometer and fitted to an aircraft
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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
Word Origin and History for altimeter
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
altimeter
[ăl-tĭm′ĭ-tər]
- An instrument that measures and indicates the height above sea level at which an object, such as an airplane, is located.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.