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A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.
Examples of millisecond in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Designed for flexibility, the radar can also adjust within milliseconds when enemy tactics shift.
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Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2025
This cycle repeats itself approximately every 10 to 20 milliseconds.
—New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2025
Smoke from primary wildfires along with weather create conditions for lightning, creating a continuous current with durations ranging from tens to hundreds of milliseconds and amplitudes from several tens to a few hundreds of amperes.
—Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Observations of this phenomenon, a powerful flash of radio waves that lasts only about a millisecond, could shed light on one of the most mysterious cosmic phenomena ever studied.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for millisecond
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Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2025
This cycle repeats itself approximately every 10 to 20 milliseconds.
—New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2025
Smoke from primary wildfires along with weather create conditions for lightning, creating a continuous current with durations ranging from tens to hundreds of milliseconds and amplitudes from several tens to a few hundreds of amperes.
—Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Observations of this phenomenon, a powerful flash of radio waves that lasts only about a millisecond, could shed light on one of the most mysterious cosmic phenomena ever studied.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for millisecond
Cite this Entry
“Millisecond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/millisecond. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
millisecond
noun
mil·li·sec·ond
ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd 
also -ənt
: one thousandth of a second
Medical Definition
millisecond
noun
mil·li·sec·ond
ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt
: one thousandth of a second
—abbreviation ms, msec
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