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

That’s forcing many shoppers to settle for older models with considerably more miles on the odometer. — Jim Gorzelany, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Today, the Cobra shows just 21,000 miles on its odometer, of which only 1,000 have been added by the team at Blackdog during the past eight years. — Howard Walker, Robb Report, 21 Aug. 2026

To prove the unused car stays that way, participants will be using GoCarma’s smartphone app to keep track of odometer readings. — Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 7 Aug. 2026

Stephen owns a 2003 Hyundai Sonata that has racked up over 548,000 miles according to its odometer. — Charles Singh, USA Today, 31 July 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
• chronometer
• geometer
• hydrometer
• hygrometer
• kilometer
• micrometer
• photometer
• psychrometer
• pycnometer
• pyrometer
• rheometer

Kids Definition

odometer

noun

odom·​e·​ter ō-ˈdäm-ət-ər 

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