millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmi-lə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt

: one thousandth of a second

Did you know?

A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.

Examples of millisecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Though he’s not exactly known for his prowess with the puck, Middleton decided to float a fluttering pass from deep in the defensive zone, which Hinostroza literally caught in stride a millisecond before entering the offensive zone. —Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 30 Jan. 2026

This gaze, lasting at least 100 milliseconds but no more than a few seconds, is laser-focused. —Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026

System response times reach three to four milliseconds. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Jan. 2026

These cues allow for near-instant handoffs from speaker to speaker—clocked at from 200-500 milliseconds, said MacLeitch in an email response to questions. —R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for millisecond

• femtosecond
• microsecond
• nanosecond
• picosecond
• beckoned
• reckoned
• second
• seconde

Kids Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd 

also -ənt

: one thousandth of a second

Medical Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt 

: one thousandth of a second

—abbreviation ms, msec