time travel

1 of 2

noun

: the hypothetical practice of traveling into the past or future (as by using a time machine or magic)

Time travel is a popular device in fantasy novels. Sometimes people return to yesteryear to meet their ancestors or famous personages or just to see a physical setting in some earlier form. And their journey into the past may vary from an act as simple as walking through a door to the conjuring up of a mystic force with a magic talisman.

—Stephen Krensky

—often used before another noun

time travel fiction/movies

Thankfully, the film doesn't take its time travel mechanics too seriously …

—Sawyer Hill

time travel

2 of 2

verb

variants or time-travel

ˈtīm-ˌtra-vəl 

time traveled or time-traveled also time travelled or time-travelled; time traveling or time-traveling also time travelling or time-travelling; time travels or time-travels

intransitive verb

: to travel into the past or future (as in a fictional story) : to engage in time travel

… the musical imagines that Betty Boop, an actress in films of the 1920s, time travels to present-day Manhattan …

—Michael Paulson

—sometimes used figuratively

… her thoughts time-traveled to the … music scene of 1970s London, when she was in her early 20s …

—Mark Pothier

time traveler noun

or time traveller

plural time travelers or time travellers

Examples of time travel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In science fiction stories about time travel, there’s often a kind of shimmer, a ripple, or a portal, not unlike a mirror. — Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026

Roberts adds that viewers will learn more about how time travel works within the world of Outlander and its capabilities throughout the new season. — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1914, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1937, in the meaning defined above