odometer

noun

odom·​e·​ter ō-ˈdä-mə-tər 

: an instrument for measuring the distance traveled (as by a vehicle)

Did you know?

Odometer includes the root from the Greek word hodos, meaning "road" or "trip". An odometer shares space on your dashboard with a speedometer, a tachometer, and maybe a "tripmeter". The odometer is what crooked car salesmen tamper with when they want to reduce the mileage a car registers as having traveled. One of life's little pleasures is watching the odometer as all the numbers change at the same time.

Examples of odometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The odometer lists 13,000 km, or roughly 8,000 miles, but the seller notes that the vehicle’s total mileage is unknown. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 23 Feb. 2026

Mile Auto doesn't use those methods and instead asks drivers to snap a picture of their odometer and upload it once a month. —Liz Knueven, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026

Historically, the lead actor Oscar goes to men with a few more miles on the odometer. —Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026

Some taxpayers recommend taking a snap of your car’s odometer. —Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French odomètre, from Greek hodometron, from hodos way, road + metron measure — more at measure

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for odometer

• barometer
• bolometer
• chronometer
• geometer
• hydrometer
• hygrometer
• kilometer
• micrometer
• photometer
• psychrometer
• pycnometer
• pyrometer

Kids Definition

odometer

noun

odom·​e·​ter ō-ˈdäm-ət-ər 

: an instrument for measuring distance traveled (as by a vehicle)