reaction time
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of reaction time
First recorded in 1875–80
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.
The condition could explain why Isak’s knee collapsed, his inability to correct his posture and reduced his reaction time during a fall, Jonathan’s lawyers said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
“The reaction time, the way he’s able to change direction, the speed with which he accelerates, it’s different,” Fenton said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025
But if the exchanges are open when news arrives, reaction time may become more important.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
They identified 29 defined cell types, including immune cells that exhibited differences in their abundance and reaction time between age groups, and muscle stem cells that self-renew in youth but stall out as muscles age.
From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024
For all his contributions, Broadbent’s assumption turned out to be simplistic in much the same way that, before Helmholtz, people thought reaction time was immediate, infinite.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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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.