metre
1 Britishnoun
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a metric unit of length equal to approximately 1.094 yards
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the basic SI unit of length; the length of the path travelled by light in free space during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second. In 1983 this definition replaced the previous one based on krypton-86, which in turn had replaced the definition based on the platinum-iridium metre bar kept in Paris
noun
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prosody the rhythmic arrangement of syllables in verse, usually according to the number and kind of feet in a line
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music another word (esp US) for time
Etymology
Origin of metre1
C18: from French; see metre ²
Origin of metre2
C14: from Latin metrum, from Greek metron measure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some monitors there recorded levels of PM2.5 -- particles small enough to enter the bloodstream and linked to diseases like cancer -- of over 900 micrograms per cubic metre.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
"It's very sandy ground, access, 7,000 metre cubed of material in there approximately, but that's not when you've dug the hole - when you dig the hole and refill it, you could double that."
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026
In front of me suspended a metre in the air, in a Google facility in Santa Barbara California, is Willow.
From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026
Georgios estimates the snake was under a metre long, but many details remain uncertain.
From Science Daily • Dec. 31, 2025
Showed them the jets through which at every twelfth metre from zero to 2040 it was automatically injected.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
