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

Beutner, on his video, also turns his aim at City Hall, high housing costs, rising parking meter rates and a big increase in trash pickup fees for homeowners and smaller apartment buildings.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2025

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

“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

Publicly, however, the parking meter had to stay so long as the mayor, the council, and the police force were locked in a life-and-death struggle with Onofre Martinez.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols