Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

minute hand

[min-it]
noun
  1. the hand that indicates the minutes on a clock or watch, usually longer than the hour hand.
Show More

Origin of minute hand

First recorded in 1720–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for minute hand

Historical Examples of minute hand

  • I did; the minute-hand was exactly there, under the point of that Cupid's foot.

    The Room in the Dragon Volant

    J. Sheridan LeFanu

  • His conversation does not show the minute-hand, but he strikes the hour very correctly.

    Familiar Quotations

    John Bartlett

  • At last the minute-hand reached the highest point of the dial.

    Over the Teacups

    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

  • He sat looking at the minute-hand of the eviscerated Mission clock.

  • In the doing of which they held the minute-hand, and disturbed the clock's economy.

British Dictionary definitions for minute hand

minute hand

noun
  1. the pointer on a timepiece that indicates minutes, typically the longer hand of twoCompare hour hand, second hand
Show More
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