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definitions

stopwatch

[stop-woch]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stopwatch ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a watch with a hand or hands that can be stopped or started at any instant, used for precise timing, as in races.

Origin of stopwatch

First recorded in 1730–40; stop + watch
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stopwatch

timepiece, wristwatch, alarm, timer, chronometer, ticker, dial, clock, watch, calendar, chronograph, repeater, metronome, pendulum, horologe, chronoscope, gnomon, sundial, clepsydra, hourglass

Examples from the Web for stopwatch

Historical Examples of stopwatch

  • He never looked at Natica, nor at the Hartopp; but he tossed me a stopwatch and told me to keep time.

  • The stopwatch which measures every movement in fractions of a second has become the symbol of this new economic period.

  • Come soon to England and bring your automobile, and we will conspire against you with a policeman and a stopwatch.

    A Maker of History

    E. Phillips Oppenheim

  • Suiting action to word, he took up his stopwatch and set the needle swinging.

    The Skylark of Space

    Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby

  • I don't think I can answer that question accurately, because the time approximation, without a stopwatch, would be difficult.

    Warren Commission (6 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15)

    The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for stopwatch

stopwatch

noun

a type of watch used for timing events, such as sporting events, accurately, having a device for stopping the hand or hands instantly
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
Word Origin and History for stopwatch
n.

also stop-watch, 1737, from stop (v.) + watch (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper