THERMOMETER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thermometer mean? 

• THERMOMETER (noun)
  The noun THERMOMETER has 1 sense:

1. measuring instrument for measuring temperature

  Familiarity information: THERMOMETER used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THERMOMETER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Measuring instrument for measuring temperature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thermometer" is a kind of...):

measuring device; measuring instrument; measuring system (instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something)

Meronyms (parts of "thermometer"):

capillary; capillary tube; capillary tubing (a tube of small internal diameter; holds liquid by capillary action)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thermometer"):

pyrometer (a thermometer designed to measure high temperatures)

wet-bulb thermometer (a thermometer with a bulb that is covered with moist muslin; used in a psychrometer to measure humidity)

thermopile (a kind of thermometer for measuring heat radiation; consists of several thermocouple junctions in series)

thermograph; thermometrograph (a thermometer that records temperature variations on a graph as a function of time)

electric thermometer; thermel; thermoelectric thermometer (a thermometer that uses thermoelectric current to measure temperature)

thermocouple; thermocouple junction (a kind of thermometer consisting of two wires of different metals that are joined at both ends; one junction is at the temperature to be measured and the other is held at a fixed lower temperature; the current generated in the circuit is proportional to the temperature difference)

telethermometer (a thermometer that registers the temperature at some distant point)

self-registering thermometer (a thermometer that records the temperature automatically)

reversing thermometer (a thermometer that registers the temperature in deep waters)

platinum thermometer; resistance thermometer (thermometer that measures temperature by changes in the resistance of a spiral of platinum wire)

Reaumur thermometer (an alcohol thermometer calibrated in degrees Reaumur)

alcohol-in-glass thermometer; alcohol thermometer (thermometer consisting of a glass capillary tube marked with degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit and containing alcohol which rises or falls as it expands or contracts with changes in temperature)

oven thermometer (a thermometer that registers the temperature inside an oven)

mercury-in-glass thermometer; mercury thermometer (thermometer consisting of mercury contained in a bulb at the bottom of a graduated sealed glass capillary tube marked in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit; mercury expands with a rise in temperature causing a thin thread of mercury to rise in the tube)

meat thermometer (a thermometer that is inserted into the center of a roast (with the top away from the heat source); used to measure how well done the meat is)

maximum and minimum thermometer (thermometer that records the highest and lowest temperatures reached during a period of time)

air thermometer; gas thermometer (thermometer that measures temperature by changes in the pressure of a gas kept at constant volume)

Fahrenheit thermometer (a thermometer calibrated in degrees Fahrenheit)

dry-bulb thermometer (an ordinary thermometer with a dry bulb; used to measure the air temperature)

cryometer (a thermometer designed to measure low temperatures)

Centigrade thermometer (a thermometer calibrated in degrees centigrade)

candy thermometer (a thermometer used to determine the temperature of candy syrups during cooking)

Derivation:

thermometric (of or relating to thermometry)

 Context examples 

For myself, my term of service in India had trained me to stand heat better than cold, and a thermometer at ninety was no hardship.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Metallic mercury is used in glass thermometers, silver dental fillings, and button batteries.

(Mercury, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)

"Only if Brooke is going to be a thermometer, I must mind and have fair weather for him to report."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The thermometer was down to twenty-five below zero, and a chill wind was blowing which drove the frost through clothes and flesh to the bones.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

But a cold snap was on, the thermometer registering fifty below zero, and each time he broke through he was compelled for very life to build a fire and dry his garments.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It is commonly used in thermometers and amalgams, and has been used as an ingredient in some homeopathic medicines and in very small amounts as a preservative in viral vaccines.

(Mercury, NCI Dictionary)

And you're responsible for it, what of your man, who is always the erected, the vitalized inorganic, the latest of the ephemera, the creature of temperature strutting his little space on the thermometer.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A scale marked off like a thermometer from 0 to 100 that is used to help people indicate how good or bad their health state is; the best state that can be imagined is marked 100 and the worst state that can be imagined is marked 0.

(Health State Thermometer Scale, NCI Thesaurus)

I'll stay in this cabin for a week, unless the thermometer rises at least to fifty below.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Seventy-four below zero by spirit thermometer on the sled.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)