standard time

noun

: the time of a region or country that is established by law or general usage as civil time (see civil sense 5)

… the advent of the railway system and its demand for accurate timetables created the need for standard time and GMT became the legal standard time of Britain in 1880.

—John Sallnow

specifically : the mean time of a meridian that is a multiple of 15 arbitrarily applied to a local area or to one of the 24 time zones and designated as a number of hours earlier or later than Greenwich Mean Time

At a little after nine Central Standard Time on the night of Monday, April 13, 1970 there was, high in the western sky, a tiny flare of light that in some respects resembled a star exploding far away in our galaxy.

—Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.

Examples of standard time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy approves it, Georgia could permanently move to the Atlantic standard time zone. —Dan Raby, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026

In 2023, three bills were filed to establish a permanent standard time in Massachusetts, but all failed to gain traction. —Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 17 Mar. 2026

Most of us observe daylight saving time by moving clocks one hour ahead in the spring and one hour back to standard time in the fall. —Rosie Colosi, NBC news, 9 Mar. 2026

For early risers and those who may like to squeeze in exercise before work, standard time could serve them better, whereas after-work busies benefit from extra light in the evening. —Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for standard time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime

Kids Definition

standard time

noun

: the time established by law or by general usage over a region or country