atomic clock

noun

: a precision clock that depends for its operation on an electrical oscillator regulated by the natural vibration frequencies of an atomic system (such as a beam of cesium atoms)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

By 1949, the first atomic clock was up and running. —Tom Vanderbilt, Harper’s Magazine , 13 Mar. 2023

But instead of figuring out a unique time zone for the station, scientists rely on Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, which is reportedly based on atomic clocks. —Caitlin Mcfall, Fox News, 1 Mar. 2023

The second is defined by a process that occurs in the nucleus of a cesium-155 atom—a process that atomic clocks can calculate with stunning accuracy. —Rahul Rao, Popular Science, 20 Feb. 2023

The sensors’ accuracy at measuring time makes atomic clocks inside many GPS satellites tick–literally. —Kristin M. Gilkes, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2023

Technically, the ideal measure of time would come from an atomic clock in the vacuum of space, where there’s essentially no gravity. —WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023

An atomic clock based on a fountain of atoms. —Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2022

Using data from the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, timeanddate.com says 2020 boasted 28 of the world’s shortest days on record since the introduction of the atomic clock in the 1960s made the measurement more scientifically accurate. —Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 1 Aug. 2022

In quantum mechanics, the concept of time itself is deeply complicated, said Jun Ye, a physicist who created the world’s most precise atomic clock, a project of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder. —New York Times, 1 Jan. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

atomic clock

noun

: an extremely exact clock that depends for its operation on the natural vibrations of atoms (as of cesium)