thermometer

[ ther-mom-i-ter ]

/ θərˈmɒm ɪ tər /

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See synonyms for: thermometer / thermometers on Thesaurus.com

noun

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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Origin of thermometer

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

OTHER WORDS FROM thermometer

ther·mo·met·ric

[thur-muh-me-trik], /ˌθɜr məˈmɛ trɪk/, ther·mo·met·ri·cal, adjectivether·mo·met·ri·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby thermometer

thermolabile, thermoluminescence, thermoluminescence dating, thermolysis, thermomagnetic, thermometer, thermometric titration, thermometry, thermomotive, thermomotor, thermonasty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use thermometer in a sentence

Look at a thermometer, and you’ll know a lot of what’s worth knowing about any sufficiently large number of molecules around you.
A Physicist’s Approach to Biology Brings Ecological Insights|Gabriel Popkin|October 13, 2020|Quanta Magazine
This smart meat thermometer has two sensors in its single wireless probe—one for internal temperature up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit and another for ambient temperature up to 527 degrees.
These pieces of kitchen gear make excellent gifts|PopSci Commerce Team|October 6, 2020|Popular-Science
Before entering the school, students and visitors have their temperature checked with a forehead-scanning thermometer.
The Learning Curve: One School District Stayed Open – and Didn’t Have Problems|Will Huntsberry|August 13, 2020|Voice of San Diego
In a straightforward race down the thermometer, the hot object would first have to reach the original temperature of the warm object, suggesting that a higher temperature could only add to the cooling time.
A new experiment hints at how hot water can freeze faster than cold|Emily Conover|August 7, 2020|Science News

The department even provides thermometers, following up with cases and contacts each day to ask about their temperature and symptoms.
The U.S. largely wasted time bought by COVID-19 lockdowns. Now what?|Jonathan Lambert|July 1, 2020|Science News
Turn the heat down to 325°F and continue cooking until internal temperature reads 140°F on a thermometer.
Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries|Carla Hall|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's almost impossible to read the thermometer of public opinion when it comes to LaBeouf's recent melt down/revelation.
How Likable Is Alec Baldwin After His ‘New York Magazine’ Confessional?|Amy Zimmerman|February 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Every time the thermometer drops, another anti-science politician mocks climate change as a fallacy.
From Snowy Atlanta to Sunny Sochi, It's All About Global Weirding|Scott Bixby|February 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Most recently, in 2010, iPod creator Tony Fadell launched Nest, a smart thermometer that adjusts to your living habits.
Apple Branches Out. How’d They Do?|Nina Strochlic|December 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
If you have a cooking thermometer, cook until the temperature reaches 175 degrees.
Ricotta Cheese Recipe: How to Make Your Own|Petrit Husenaj|March 15, 2011|DAILY BEAST
One day in April the thermometer suddenly rose to eighteen above the freezing-point of Fahrenheit.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
He is as sensitive to every change in ones voice as the thermometer is to changes in the atmosphere.
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline|Jennie M. Drinkwater
The warmth of the weather now began rapidly to increase; the thermometer at noon ranged as high as 79 degrees.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
The thermometer now ranged between 87 and 89 degrees and the weather was consequently extremely oppressive and sultry.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
The weather very cold, though the thermometer is at 56°, barometer 29–08; a very heavy swell.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham

British Dictionary definitions for thermometer

thermometer

/ (θəˈmɒmɪtə) /

noun

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 tubeSee also clinical thermometer, gas thermometer, resistance thermometer, thermocouple, pyrometer

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

Scientific definitions for thermometer

thermometer

[ thər-mŏm′ĭ-tər ]

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).

thermometer

Origin of thermometer

OTHER WORDS FROM thermometer

Words nearby thermometer

Words related to thermometer

How to use thermometer in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for thermometer

Scientific definitions for thermometer