thermometer

[ ther-mom-i-ter ]
/ θərˈmɒm ɪ tər /

noun

an instrument for measuring temperature, often a sealed glass tube that contains a column of liquid, as mercury, that expands and contracts, or rises and falls, with temperature changes, the temperature being read where the top of the column coincides with a calibrated scale marked on the tube or its frame.

Origin of thermometer

First recorded in 1615–25; thermo- + -meter

OTHER WORDS FROM thermometer

ther·mo·met·ric [thur-muh-me-trik] /ˌθɜr məˈmɛ trɪk/, ther·mo·met·ri·cal, adjective ther·mo·met·ri·cal·ly, adverb

Example sentences from the Web for thermometer

British Dictionary definitions for thermometer

thermometer
/ (θəˈmɒmɪtə) /

noun

an instrument used to measure temperature, esp one in which a thin column of liquid, such as mercury, expands and contracts within a graduated sealed tube See also clinical thermometer, gas thermometer, resistance thermometer, thermocouple, pyrometer

Medical definitions for thermometer

thermometer
[ thər-mŏmĭ-tər ]

n.

An instrument for measuring temperature.

Scientific definitions for thermometer

thermometer
[ thər-mŏmĭ-tər ]

An instrument used to measure temperature. There are many types of thermometers; the most common consist of a closed, graduated glass tube in which a liquid expands or contracts as the temperature increases or decreases. Other types of thermometers work by detecting changes in the volume or pressure of an enclosed gas or by registering thermoelectric changes in a conductor (such as a thermistor or thermocouple).