: 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
Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 16 Apr. 2025
Fans impatiently awaited this new LP, clinging to every leak, YouTube exclusive release, Instagram post, or feature that Carti did in the meantime.
—Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
Petitioning for the primary, meantime, started late last month and must be completed by April 3, giving her team a short window of time to complete the labor intensive signature process required to get on the June 24 ballot.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 Mar. 2025
Shailesh Manjrekar, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been reinstated as acting president in the mean time.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for meantime
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Noun
However, music lovers could look towards other streaming sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, or Apple Music to listen to their favorite tunes in the meantime.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 16 Apr. 2025
Fans impatiently awaited this new LP, clinging to every leak, YouTube exclusive release, Instagram post, or feature that Carti did in the meantime.
—Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Adverb
Smoke, meantime, braces himself for his own bittersweet reunion.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
Petitioning for the primary, meantime, started late last month and must be completed by April 3, giving her team a short window of time to complete the labor intensive signature process required to get on the June 24 ballot.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 Mar. 2025
Noun
For telecommunications providers, agents monitor service quality, identify degradation patterns and implement remediation strategies autonomously, significantly reducing mean time to repair.
—Shailesh Manjrekar, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been reinstated as acting president in the mean time.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Apr. 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 5 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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