thermometer

American  

[ther-mom-i-ter] / θərˈmɒm ɪ tər /

noun

1. an instrument for measuring temperature, often a sealed glass tube that contains a column of liquid, as mercury, that expands and contracts, or rises and falls, with temperature changes, the temperature being read where the top of the column coincides with a calibrated scale marked on the tube or its frame.

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thermometer British  

/ θəˈmɒmɪtə /

noun

1. an instrument used to measure temperature, esp one in which a thin column of liquid, such as mercury, expands and contracts within a graduated sealed tube See also clinical thermometer gas thermometer resistance thermometer thermocouple pyrometer

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thermometer Scientific  

/ thər-mŏm′ĭ-tər /

1. An instrument used to measure temperature. There are many types of thermometers; the most common consist of a closed, graduated glass tube in which a liquid expands or contracts as the temperature increases or decreases. Other types of thermometers work by detecting changes in the volume or pressure of an enclosed gas or by registering thermoelectric changes in a conductor (such as a thermistor or thermocouple).

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Other Word Forms

• thermometric adjective
• thermometrical adjective
• thermometrically adverb

Etymology

Origin of thermometer

First recorded in 1615–25; thermo- + -meter

Example Sentences

A separate yellow warning for low temperatures and ice has been issued for a wide area, with the thermometer expected to drop to between -2C and -4C.

From BBC

Crowd Cow Frenched Rack of Lamb – A rack of lamb looks fancy but is surprisingly easy to prepare — as long as you have a meat thermometer.

From Salon

Two people in the area fainted as thermometers showed the temperature hitting 97 degrees.

From The Wall Street Journal

The timepiece includes moon phases, an alarm and thermometer and was described as "one of the world's most complicated vintage pocket watches ever made".

From BBC

The approach, known as a penetrating thermometer, integrates emissions across the QGP's entire lifetime to produce an average thermal profile.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• instrument
• thermostat