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Definition of metronome
: an device designed to mark exact time by a regularly repeated tick
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metronome was our Word of the Day on 08/18/2008. Hear the podcast!
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Recent Examples of metronome from the Web
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Like a metronome, the lead seemed to change with every possession early in the final period.
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Sports are the metronome that paces their daily lives.
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The metronome of my breath, the monotony of lap after turn after lap, is like meditation to me.
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Carrie Ann wants her not to dance like a metronome.
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Mark Reynolds, hitting home runs at a metronome clip, has made a habit of jogging around the bases.
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But for evenings to hum like this at Mimi’s, much depends on Chicken Delicious, 74, who is the conductor of festivities, the metronome to which things swing.
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Isaac Newton imagined time as a sort of cosmic metronome, relentlessly ticking away at a steady pace for all eternity.
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An included metronome keeps the beat to keep each part on time.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'metronome'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
The patent for the metronome was entered in 1816: "John Malzl [sic], of Poland-street, Middlesex, Machinist; for an instrument . . . which he denominates a Metronome, or musical time-keeper." The courts, however, later proved that the aforementioned Johann Maelzel copied a pendulum design of Dietrich Winkel, making Winkel the actual inventor. Nonetheless, Maelzel was the more successful marketer of the metronome and even has a notation named after him. The "M.M." in notations like "M.M. = 60" stands for "Maelzel's metronome" and indicates a tempo of 60 beats per minute or a beat per tick of the metronome as it ticks 60 times, in the case of our example. The name of the invention itself is based on the Greek words metron, meaning "measure," and nomos, meaning "law."
Illustration of metronome
Origin and Etymology of metronome
Greek metron + -nomos controlling, from nomos law — more at nimble
METRONOME Defined for English Language Learners
metronome
playDefinition of metronome for English Language Learners
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: a device that makes a regular, repeated sound to show a musician how fast a piece of music should be played
METRONOME Defined for Kids
metronome
playDefinition of metronome for Students
: a device that ticks in a regular pattern to help a musician play a piece of music at the proper speed
Learn More about metronome
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See words that rhyme with metronome Spanish Central: Translation of metronome Nglish: Translation of metronome for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of metronome for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about metronome
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