: the time before something happens or before a specified period ends
The new computers won't arrive until next week, but we can continue to use the old ones in the meantime.
: meanwhile entry 2
meantime he had been attentive to his other interests—
H. R. Warfel
H. R. Warfel
: time that is based on the motion of the theoretical mean sun
To find local mean time, determine how many degrees of longitude you are from your time-zone standard. (Find your longitude on a map.) Multiply this number by four to get your correction in minutes. If you are east of the standard longitude your correction is a positive number; if you are west it is negative. Apply the correction to standard time to get your local mean time.—Sky & Telescope
Sky & Telescopecalled also mean solar time
Examples of meantime in a Sentence
Adverb
He can come back to work when he's feeling better. Meantime, he should be resting as much as possible.
Recent Examples on the Web
PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
Trump reiterated to Welker that children can get by with fewer dolls or pencils in the meantime while the transition happens.
—Jared Gans, The Hill, 4 May 2025
Tim Chan, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
Smoke, meantime, braces himself for his own bittersweet reunion.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
Roi Cohen, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Worsening their plight, anti-migrant policies in both Washington and Islamabad mean time is running out to find a safe alternative, including a looming deadline at the end of this month.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for meantime
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Noun
The developers of Photo Variants eventually intend to offer a premium version of the app with AI features, such as auto-masking and background removal, but this free version needs work in the meantime.
—PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
Trump reiterated to Welker that children can get by with fewer dolls or pencils in the meantime while the transition happens.
—Jared Gans, The Hill, 4 May 2025
Adverb
The Sling Blue tier, meantime, is also $10 off for your first month.
—Tim Chan, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
Smoke, meantime, braces himself for his own bittersweet reunion.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
Noun
Or, rather than focusing on mean time to respond, emphasize mean time to impact, showing how quickly an unpatched vulnerability or exposure could negatively impact the bottom line.
—Roi Cohen, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Worsening their plight, anti-migrant policies in both Washington and Islamabad mean time is running out to find a safe alternative, including a looming deadline at the end of this month.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for meantime
Cite this Entry
“Meantime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meantime. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
meantime
1 of 2 noun
mean·time
ˈmēn-ˌtīm 
: the time between two events
meantime
2 of 2 adverb
: in the meantime
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