interval

American  

[in-ter-vuhl] / ˈɪn tər vəl /

noun

• intervals
  plural

1. an intervening period of time.

   an interval of 50 years.

2. a period of temporary cessation; pause.

   intervals between the volleys of gunfire.

3. a space between things, points, limits, etc.; interspace.

   an interval of ten feet between posts.

   Synonyms:

   gulf, separation, gap, opening

4. Mathematics.

   1. the totality of points on a line between two designated points or endpoints that may or may not be included.

   2. any generalization of this to higher dimensions, as a rectangle with sides parallel to the coordinate axes.

5. the space between soldiers or units in military formation.

6. Music. the difference in pitch between two tones, as between two tones sounded simultaneously harmonic interval or between two tones sounded successively melodic interval.

7. Chiefly New England. intervale.

8. Cards. a period in a game for placing bets.

9. British. an intermission, as between the acts of a play.

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idioms

1. at intervals,

   1. at particular periods of time; now and then.

      At intervals, there were formal receptions at the governor's mansion.

   2. at particular places, with gaps in between.

      detour signs at intervals along the highway.

interval British  

/ ˈɪntəvəl /

noun

1. the period of time marked off by or between two events, instants, etc

2. the distance between two points, objects, etc

3. a pause or interlude, as between periods of intense activity

4. a short period between parts of a play, concert, film, etc; intermission

5. music the difference of pitch between two notes, either sounded simultaneously ( harmonic interval ) or in succession as in a musical part ( melodic interval ). An interval is calculated by counting the (inclusive) number of notes of the diatonic scale between the two notes

   the interval between C and G is a fifth

6. the ratio of the frequencies of two sounds

7. maths the set containing all real numbers or points between two given numbers or points, called the endpoints. A closed interval includes the endpoints, but an open interval does not

8. 1. occasionally or intermittently

   2. with spaces between

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intervalic
  adjective
• intervallic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• intervals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of interval

1250–1300; Middle English intervall ( e ) < Latin intervallum interval, literally, space between two palisades. See inter-, wall

Explanation

A clock breaks time down into intervals of seconds, minutes, and hours. An interval is a distinct measure of time or the physical or temporal distance between two things. When you are driving down the highway at 60 mph, you'll see distance markers at intervals of .1 miles. That means that every 1/10th of a mile, you will see one of these markers. Do the math and you'll see that these signs flash by you at intervals of 6 seconds. If your coach tells you to try interval training, he is telling you to do something like run for three minutes, lift weights for two, then run again for three. If he tells you do this again and again, you might want to end this interval of your life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interval intervals

A hike at the two-day meeting ending Friday would come just three months after the central bank’s last rate increase in June, marking the shortest interval since it exited negative rates in March 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Fly-half Ruben Love missed a long-range shot at goal after the interval with the stakes suffocatingly high.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Molecular clock studies have suggested that hexapods split from their marine crustacean relatives and began adapting to terrestrial environments as early as the Cambrian-Ordovician interval.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Food companies are increasingly interested in that interval, too.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Again, it is important to name a chord or interval as it has been spelled, in order to understand how it fits into the rest of the music.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

At intervals of 20 years and sometimes more often, it has lashed and splashed us, turned our living rooms into muddy aquariums, swept away our cars and houses, and sometimes hundreds of Angelenos.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

The researchers applied this pulse at different intervals after the first one and measured the energy and momentum of the expelled electrons.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

After 77 years of intervals of tolerance alternating with intervals of repression, official statistics acknowledge 44 million registered Christians.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

"The shares have been going up so radically it keeps messing up my life plans - you really can't know the future, so it's better to sell early and in intervals."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Because equal temperament is now so widely accepted as standard tuning, musicians do not usually even speak of intervals in terms of ratios.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Related Words

• hiatus
• intermission
• interruption
• layoff
• lull
• spell