parking meter

American  

noun

parking meters plural

1. a mechanical device for registering and collecting payment for the length of time that a vehicle occupies a parking space, consisting typically of a timer, actuated by a coin that a driver deposits upon parking, set in a headpiece mounted on a pole.

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parking meter British  

noun

1. a timing device, usually coin-operated, that indicates how long a vehicle may be left parked

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• parking meters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of parking meter

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Dismissing the claim, Deputy District Judge Nathan Smith said the contract between Excel and Mr Barton "was not concluded until he read the terms and conditions next to the parking meter".

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2025

Other pieces of her work, like a giant parking meter, pill box and a concrete-stump-turned-enlarged-prescription-bottle, were created in her Skid Row art studio and have dotted L.A.’s urban landscape in the past.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2024

“He arrived at the intersection of American history, where he put a quarter in the parking meter of destiny, leaving the car, looking to avoid stepping in the urine puddle of jurisprudence.”

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2024

In 2008, in order to offset a budget crisis, the city council leased the parking meter system to a company called Chicago Parking Meters LLC, owned by Morgan Stanley and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2024

In fact, since it was first installed at a cost of two hundred and thirty-six dollars to the Milagro exchequer, that parking meter had received only fourteen dimes, eight nickels, and eleven pennies.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols