timer
Americannoun
-
a person or thing that times.
-
a person who measures or records time.
-
a device for indicating or measuring elapsed time, as a stopwatch.
-
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.
-
(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
-
a device for measuring, recording, or indicating time
-
a switch or regulator that causes a mechanism to operate at a specific time or at predetermined intervals
-
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.
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
Again, the egg timer really works only in a single direction.
From Slate • May 5, 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
This can end up hurting long-term returns, with the timer underperforming an investor who stayed put.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026
She propped her camera on a five-gallon-size rumpled jerry can that at one time contained cooking oil, and set the timer.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
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.
