Meaning & use

meter

noun·Everyday

The base unit of length in the metric system, equal to about 3.28 feet.

See it in a sentence

The community pool is exactly twenty-five meters long from end to end.

Runners lined up to compete in the hundred-meter dash at the stadium.

A note on using this word

British English spells this word metre; American English uses meter, also the spelling for measuring devices.

Words with a similar meaning

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Another way to use it

2. noun

A device that measures and records the quantity of something, such as gas, electricity, or time.

The technician read the electricity meter mounted on the side of the house.

3. noun

The rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

The poem's steady meter gave it a musical, almost marching quality.

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