millimeter

American  

[mil-uh-mee-ter] / ˈmɪl əˌmi tər /

especially British, millimetre

noun

1. a unit of length equal to one thousandth of a meter and equivalent to 0.03937 inch. mm

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millimeter Scientific  

/ mĭl′ə-mē′tər /

1. A unit of length in the metric system equal to 0.001 meter.

2. See Table at measurement

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Other Word Forms

• millimetric adjective

Etymology

Origin of millimeter

First recorded in 1800–10; from French millimètre; milli-, meter ¹

Example Sentences

Only Jonah was in a position to see that she didn’t actually touch it, that she kept a millimeter of air between her fingertips and the rock.

From Literature

The organoids measured several millimeters across and were mature enough to sustain and model traumatic damage.

From Science Daily

It sends acoustic waves through the skull and concentrates them on a precise target, sometimes only a few millimeters wide.

From Science Daily

Another was 10 millimeters — a size when gastroenterologists start to truly worry because larger polyps are more likely to turn into something bad.

From Los Angeles Times

In this environment, the sediment layer grows at a rate of just one thousandth of a millimeter per year.

From Science Daily