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

Analyzing the digital assets in an ad used to take anywhere from a few seconds to minutes or even longer, but now, Sharma said that can happen in milliseconds. —ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026

Within milliseconds or minutes, temperatures can skyrocket to 1,292-1,832 °F (700-1,000 °C). —New Atlas, 15 Apr. 2026

In the milliseconds before a collision, truck drivers are often powerless to avert disaster. —Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

For example, a 1,000Hz rate reports 1,000 times per second (every 1 millisecond). —Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 12 Apr. 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