Standard time

Standard time
Time Time, n.; pl. {Times}. [OE. time, AS. t[=i]ma, akin to t[=i]d time, and to Icel. t[=i]mi, Dan. time an hour, Sw. timme. [root]58. See {Tide}, n.] 1. Duration, considered independently of any system of measurement or any employment of terms which designate limited portions thereof. [1913 Webster]

The time wasteth [i. e. passes away] night and day. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

I know of no ideas . . . that have a better claim to be accounted simple and original than those of space and time. --Reid. [1913 Webster]

2. A particular period or part of duration, whether past, present, or future; a point or portion of duration; as, the time was, or has been; the time is, or will be. [1913 Webster]

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. --Heb. i. 1. [1913 Webster]

3. The period at which any definite event occurred, or person lived; age; period; era; as, the Spanish Armada was destroyed in the time of Queen Elizabeth; -- often in the plural; as, ancient times; modern times. [1913 Webster]

4. The duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal. [1913 Webster]

Believe me, your time is not your own; it belongs to God, to religion, to mankind. --Buckminster. [1913 Webster]

5. A proper time; a season; an opportunity. [1913 Webster]

There is . . . a time to every purpose. --Eccl. iii. 1. [1913 Webster]

The time of figs was not yet. --Mark xi. 13. [1913 Webster]

6. Hour of travail, delivery, or parturition. [1913 Webster]

She was within one month of her time. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster]

7. Performance or occurrence of an action or event, considered with reference to repetition; addition of a number to itself; repetition; as, to double cloth four times; four times four, or sixteen. [1913 Webster]

Summers three times eight save one. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

8. The present life; existence in this world as contrasted with immortal life; definite, as contrasted with infinite, duration. [1913 Webster]

Till time and sin together cease. --Keble. [1913 Webster]

9. (Gram.) Tense. [1913 Webster]

10. (Mus.) The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division; as, common or triple time; the musician keeps good time. [1913 Webster]

Some few lines set unto a solemn time. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]

Note: Time is often used in the formation of compounds, mostly self-explaining; as, time-battered, time-beguiling, time-consecrated, time-consuming, time-enduring, time-killing, time-sanctioned, time-scorner, time-wasting, time-worn, etc. [1913 Webster]

{Absolute time}, time irrespective of local standards or epochs; as, all spectators see a lunar eclipse at the same instant of absolute time.

{Apparent time}, the time of day reckoned by the sun, or so that 12 o'clock at the place is the instant of the transit of the sun's center over the meridian.

{Astronomical time}, mean solar time reckoned by counting the hours continuously up to twenty-four from one noon to the next.

{At times}, at distinct intervals of duration; now and then; as, at times he reads, at other times he rides.

{Civil time}, time as reckoned for the purposes of common life in distinct periods, as years, months, days, hours, etc., the latter, among most modern nations, being divided into two series of twelve each, and reckoned, the first series from midnight to noon, the second, from noon to midnight.

{Common time} (Mil.), the ordinary time of marching, in which ninety steps, each twenty-eight inches in length, are taken in one minute.

{Equation of time}. See under {Equation}, n.

{In time}. (a) In good season; sufficiently early; as, he arrived in time to see the exhibition. (b) After a considerable space of duration; eventually; finally; as, you will in time recover your health and strength.

{Mean time}. See under 4th {Mean}.

{Quick time} (Mil.), time of marching, in which one hundred and twenty steps, each thirty inches in length, are taken in one minute.

{Sidereal time}. See under {Sidereal}.

{Standard time}, the civil time that has been established by law or by general usage over a region or country. In England the standard time is Greenwich mean solar time. In the United States and Canada four kinds of standard time have been adopted by the railroads and accepted by the people, viz., Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time, corresponding severally to the mean local times of the 75th, 90th, 105th, and 120th meridians west from Greenwich, and being therefore five, six, seven, and eight hours slower than Greenwich time.

{Time ball}, a ball arranged to drop from the summit of a pole, to indicate true midday time, as at Greenwich Observatory, England. --Nichol.

{Time bargain} (Com.), a contract made for the sale or purchase of merchandise, or of stock in the public funds, at a certain time in the future.

{Time bill}. Same as {Time-table}. [Eng.]

{Time book}, a book in which is kept a record of the time persons have worked.

{Time detector}, a timepiece provided with a device for registering and indicating the exact time when a watchman visits certain stations in his beat.

{Time enough}, in season; early enough. ``Stanly at Bosworth field, . . . came time enough to save his life.'' --Bacon.

{Time fuse}, a fuse, as for an explosive projectile, which can be so arranged as to ignite the charge at a certain definite interval after being itself ignited.

{Time immemorial}, or {Time out of mind}. (Eng. Law) See under {Immemorial}.

{Time lock}, a lock having clockwork attached, which, when wound up, prevents the bolt from being withdrawn when locked, until a certain interval of time has elapsed.

{Time of day}, salutation appropriate to the times of the day, as ``good morning,'' ``good evening,'' and the like; greeting.

{To kill time}. See under {Kill}, v. t.

{To make time}. (a) To gain time. (b) To occupy or use (a certain) time in doing something; as, the trotting horse made fast time.

{To move against time}, {To run against time}, or {To go against time}, to move, run, or go a given distance without a competitor, in the quickest possible time; or, to accomplish the greatest distance which can be passed over in a given time; as, the horse is to run against time.

{True time}. (a) Mean time as kept by a clock going uniformly. (b) (Astron.) Apparent time as reckoned from the transit of the sun's center over the meridian. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Standard time — is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. The time so set has come to be defined in terms of offsets… …   Wikipedia

  • standard time — Time measured by a standard adapted to mean solar time to convenient use in commerce, business and the ordinary affairs of life, the country being divided into time zones, each zone having as an accepted time, the actual sun time at the middle… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • standard time — UK US noun [U] ► MEASURES the time that is officially used in a country or an area of a country: »In the fall, staff get paid an hour overtime during the return to standard time. → Compare DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME(Cf. ↑daylight saving time), GMT(Cf.… …   Financial and business terms

  • Standard Time — (Einheitszeit in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika). Bis Ende 1883 rechneten die Eisenbahnen der Vereinigten Staaten eine jede für ihr Netz nach Ortszeit. Die hieraus bei der großen Ausdehnung der einzelnen Eisenbahnnetze hervorgehenden… …   Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens

  • standard time — ☆ standard time n. 1. the time in any of the 24 time zones, each an hour apart, into which the earth is divided: it is based on distance east or west of Greenwich, England; the 8 zones of North America (Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain,… …   English World dictionary

  • standard time — n [U] the time to which all clocks in a particular area of the world are set …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • standard time — standard ,time noun uncount the official time in a country or region …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • standard time — the civil time officially adopted for a country or region, usually the civil time of some specific meridian lying within the region. The standard time zones in the U.S. (Atlantic time, Eastern time, Central time, Mountain time, Pacific time,… …   Universalium

  • standard time — noun the official time in a local region (adjusted for location around the Earth); established by law or custom • Syn: ↑civil time, ↑local time • Hypernyms: ↑time • Hyponyms: ↑Atlantic Time, ↑A …   Useful english dictionary

  • standard\ time — • ST • standard time • slow time noun Clock time that is set by law or agreement in a country or in part of a country; especially, in the United States: the clock time used between fall and spring, which is an hour slower than the time used in… …   Словарь американских идиом

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”