standard time

noun

: the time of a region or country that is established by law or general usage as civil time (see civil sense 5)
… the advent of the railway system and its demand for accurate timetables created the need for standard time and GMT became the legal standard time of Britain in 1880.John Sallnow
specifically : the mean time of a meridian that is a multiple of 15 arbitrarily applied to a local area or to one of the 24 time zones and designated as a number of hours earlier or later than Greenwich Mean Time
At a little after nine Central Standard Time on the night of Monday, April 13, 1970 there was, high in the western sky, a tiny flare of light that in some respects resembled a star exploding far away in our galaxy. Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.

Examples of standard time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
When do clocks return to standard time? Chris Sims, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Oct. 2025 In several of the states these cities are found in, lawmakers have tried to lock the clock on either permanent daylight saving or standard time. Addy Bink, The Hill, 5 Oct. 2025 The Uniform Time Act allows states to choose whether to participate in daylight saving time or stay in standard time all year. Hannah Poukish september 23, Sacbee.com, 23 Sep. 2025 The law also established a standard time and allowed the federal government to create five time zones. Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 23 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for standard time

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of standard time was in 1809

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Cite this Entry

“Standard time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/standard%20time. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

standard time

noun
: the time established by law or by general usage over a region or country

More from Merriam-Webster on standard time

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