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leap second

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noun
  1. an extra second intercalated into the world's timekeeping system about once a year, made necessary by the gradual slowing down of the earth's rotation.
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Origin of leap second

First recorded in 1970–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for leap second

leap second

noun
  1. a second added to or removed from a scale for reckoning time on one particular occasion, to synchronize it with another scale
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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
leap second in Science

leap second

[lēp]
  1. A second of time, as measured by an atomic clock, added to or omitted from official timekeeping systems annually to compensate for changes in the rotation of the Earth. See more at coordinated universal time.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
leap second in Culture

leap second

A second inserted into the year to make up for the fact that the Earth's rotation is slowing down.

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Note

Scientists know when to insert a leap second by comparing the Earth's rotation to an atomic clock.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.