millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmi-lə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt

: one thousandth of a second

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A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.

Examples of millisecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The gel reaches 90 percent of its peak voltage in 13 milliseconds and drops to 10 percent in 49 milliseconds, demonstrating efficient charge transfer. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025

Enjoy every millisecond of life. —Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025

And the exposure to bright artificial flashes of light, even for milliseconds, can not only disrupt human circadian rhythms, leading to less and lower-quality sleep, but has also been linked to certain types of cancers in humans. —Big Think, 15 Oct. 2025

Quant firms react in milliseconds. —Richard Torrenzano, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for millisecond

• femtosecond
• microsecond
• nanosecond
• picosecond
• beckoned
• reckoned
• second
• seconde

Kids Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd 

 also  -ənt

: one thousandth of a second

Medical Definition

millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt 

: one thousandth of a second

—abbreviation ms, msec