timer
Americannoun
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timers
plural
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a person or thing that times.
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a person who measures or records time.
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a device for indicating or measuring elapsed time, as a stopwatch.
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a device for controlling machinery, appliances, or the like, in a specified way at a predetermined time.
Please put the roast in the oven and set the timer to cook it for two hours.
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(in an internal-combustion engine) a set of points actuated by a cam, which causes the spark for igniting the charge at the instant required.
noun
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a device for measuring, recording, or indicating time
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a switch or regulator that causes a mechanism to operate at a specific time or at predetermined intervals
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a person or thing that times
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of timer
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.
See Examples For:
The second flaw is that corporate America is a poor stock-market timer.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Prosecutors said one of the phones had a 15-minute timer ready to start, while another displayed an ominous message from an unknown number — “we will be awaiting your call.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
But there’s nothing like listening to your tiny baby screaming on the other side of the door while waiting for a timer to go off so you can go comfort them.
From Slate ● May 3, 2026
"I started doing it on my granny's kitchen floor and begged my mum for a timer mat and cup," Ivy said.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Daniel sets his phone timer for four minutes and takes both Natasha's hands in his.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
The cooking part was over, the timers went off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Critics say the app’s countdown timers, amped-up chat feeds and other elements encourage impulse overspending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
If the timers once again rush for the exits in the wake of that weakness, they will in effect have given the bull market another lease on life.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
On numerous occasions this year, those timers became optimistic enough to nearly trigger a contrarian sell signal — only to pull back just in time.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
I guess a lot of them were on automatic timers.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
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.
