timer

US/ˈtaɪmɚ/

nounB12 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,257 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: timers

A timer is a device that measures a set period and signals when it is up. Set a timer, the timer went off, a kitchen timer.

It covers the ringing thing on a kitchen counter, the countdown on a phone, and the switch that turns a light or a heating system on at a chosen hour — a timer switch, put the lamp on a timer. Note the difference from a stopwatch, which counts up, and a clock, which tells the time. And in the phrase old-timer or first-timer, timer means a person and comes from a completely different construction.

Definitions of timer

1nountimerA device that measures a set period and signals the end of it.B1
“Set the timer for twenty-five minutes.”
- Said"Set the timer for twelve minutes and don't trust your memory."
- WrittenThe timer rang while she was on the phone, and the biscuits paid for the call.
- UsedUse a timer for eggs; half a minute is the difference between soft and chalk.
- ContrastA timer, not a clock. A clock tells you the time; a timer tells you when the time is up. clock →
- Not thisA watch is not a timer, though it counts the same. Timers ring.
- Exchange"Was that the timer?""Yes. Get the bread out."
- SimplyThe timer goes off. The cake is ready.
Patternset the timer for + time · the timer goes off / rings · a kitchen / egg timer · on a timer
2nounswitchA switch that turns something on or off at a set time.B1
“The heating is on a timer and comes on at six.”

timer is a measuring device.

Remember it

TIMEr → it counts the TIME

It is time + er: it counts the time down and rings when the eggs are done.

hooks ontotime

Where it comes from

Middle English
tyme
English
time
English, today
timer

From time + -er. time comes from Middle English tyme. From Middle English tyme, time, from Old English tīma (“time, period, space of time, season, lifetime, fixed time, favorable time, opportunity”), from Proto-West Germanic tīmō, from Proto-Germanic tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European deh₂imō, from Proto-Indo-European deh₂y- (“to divide”). Related to tide. Not related to Latin tempus. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of timer

1nountimerA device that measures a set period and signals the end of it.B1

“Set the timer for twenty-five minutes.”

Said"Set the timer for twelve minutes and don't trust your memory."
WrittenThe timer rang while she was on the phone, and the biscuits paid for the call.
UsedUse a timer for eggs; half a minute is the difference between soft and chalk.
ContrastA timer, not a clock. A clock tells you the time; a timer tells you when the time is up. clock →
Not thisA watch is not a timer, though it counts the same. Timers ring.
Exchange"Was that the timer?""Yes. Get the bread out."
SimplyThe timer goes off. The cake is ready.

Patternset the timer for + time · the timer goes off / rings · a kitchen / egg timer · on a timer

2nounswitchA switch that turns something on or off at a set time.B1

“The heating is on a timer and comes on at six.”

timer is a measuring device.