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 55-inch screen housed the multimedia system, driver display and important features like headlights and trip odometer settings. —Scotty Reiss, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

In 2028, all EV drivers will be required to enroll in the pay-per-mile program, with odometers read at annual inspections. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025

Only two of the cars have actually been driven, including the F1, which has around 1,100 miles on the odometer, and a P1 GTR that was run on the track. —Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 28 Aug. 2025

The car’s odometer breezed past 300,000 kilometers, or more than 186,000 miles, in short order. —James Mirtle, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025

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)