hourglass

[ouuh r-glas, -glahs, ou-er-]

See more synonyms for hourglass on Thesaurus.com

noun

an instrument for measuring time, consisting of two bulbs of glass joined by a narrow passage through which a quantity of sand or mercury runs in just an hour.

adjective

having a notably slim or narrow waist, midsection, or joining segment: She has an hourglass figure.

Origin of hourglass

First recorded in 1505–15; hour + glass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hourglass

Contemporary Examples

There were bold minidresses with molded bodices that exaggerated an hourglass figure.
Paris’s Fashion Finale
Robin Givhan
October 6, 2011
Sometimes his leather jackets were sporty and rakish, at others they were sculpted into prim, hourglass shapes.
Paris Fashion Week Frenzy: Let’s Focus on Clothes
Robin Givhan
March 9, 2011

Historical Examples

The marble was but roughly hewn, in lines that held the suggestion of an hourglass.
A Bookful of Girls
Anna Fuller
There is a good oak pulpit, with hourglass holder, and some heavy 15th-cent.
Somerset
G.W. Wade and J.H. Wade
To calculate it one must reckon a century for every turn of the hourglass.
John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 10 (of 10)
John L. Stoddard
At the sound the bearded old man raises his sceptre, opens his mouth, and turns an hourglass.
Christopher and the Clockmakers
Sara Ware Bassett
I think an hourglass running out would help the notion; perhaps her little tilings upon his knee, or in his hand.
The Letters of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for hourglass

hourglass

noun

a device consisting of two transparent chambers linked by a narrow channel, containing a quantity of sand that takes a specified time to trickle to one chamber from the other
(modifier) well-proportioned with a small waistan hourglass figure

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 hourglass

n.

1510s, from hour + glass. Used 19c. in a variety of technical and scientific senses to describe the shape; reference to women's bodies is attested by 1897.

Men condemn corsets in the abstract, and are sometimes brave enough to insist that the women of their households shall be emancipated from them; and yet their eyes have been so generally educated to the approval of the small waist, and the hourglass figure, that they often hinder women who seek a hygienic style of dress. [Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, "The Story of My Life," 1898]

hourglass

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}hourglass

Examples from the Web for hourglass

Contemporary Examples

There were bold minidresses with molded bodices that exaggerated an hourglass figure.

Sometimes his leather jackets were sporty and rakish, at others they were sculpted into prim, hourglass shapes.

Historical Examples

The marble was but roughly hewn, in lines that held the suggestion of an hourglass.

There is a good oak pulpit, with hourglass holder, and some heavy 15th-cent.

To calculate it one must reckon a century for every turn of the hourglass.

At the sound the bearded old man raises his sceptre, opens his mouth, and turns an hourglass.

I think an hourglass running out would help the notion; perhaps her little tilings upon his knee, or in his hand.

hourglass

Word Origin and History for hourglass

n.

Origin of hourglass