Word forms: plural metresregional note: in AM, use meter
1. countable noun [num NOUN]
A metre is a metric unit of length equal to 100 centimetres.
She set a world record in the 100 metre sprint at her national championships.
The tunnel is 10 metres wide and 600 metres long.
[Also + of]
2. variable noun
In the study of poetry, metre is the regular and rhythmic arrangement of syllables according to particular patterns.
[technical]
They must each compose a poem in strict alliterative metre.
All of the poems are written in traditional metres and rhyme schemes.
metre in British English1
or US meter (ˈmiːtə)
noun
1.
a metric unit of length equal to approximately 1.094 yards
2.
the basic SI unit of length; the length of the path travelled by light in free space during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second. In 1983 this definition replaced the previous one based on krypton-86, which in turn had replaced the definition based on the platinum-iridium metre bar kept in Paris
Symbol: m
Word origin
C18: from French; see metre2
metre in British English2
or US meter (ˈmiːtə)
noun
1. prosody
the rhythmic arrangement of syllables in verse, usually according to the number and kind of feet in a line
2. music another word (esp US) for time (sense 22)
Word origin
C14: from Latin metrum, from Greek metron measure
metre in American English
(ˈmitər)
noun
British
meter1
Examples of 'metre' in a sentence
metre
Just one metre would have done it.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They can grow up to one metre in length.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The fly half stood alone on the right of the field, five metres in from touch.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I went to the same window and clung to an air vent ten metres above the ground.
The Sun (2016)
I was delighted because it was her first time over ten metres.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Large compost heaps often get too hot, so aim for a heap of one cubic metre in volume.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Free range hens enjoy unlimited daytime access to runs that have vegetation, and at least four square metres of outside space per bird.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
He wanted to have space, 70 metres to run into ahead of him.
The Sun (2016)
With time up, Bath had to opt for the scrum five metres out.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They build dams on streams less than ten metres wide that block the streams.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Visitors under one metre in height enter the park free of charge.
The Sun (2014)
These can grow up to three metres in length.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It is not all about winning the glorious turnovers five metres from your line.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
You were getting blown three metres off line and it was dangerous.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Some horses that had somehow escaped the butchers were munching grass within ten metres of us.
Stewart, Bob (Lt-Col) Broken Lives (1993)
Understand form and rhyme and metre.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
What they got was a road eight metres wide with a cheaper, less durable surface.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Will another 5,000 metres runner win this year?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The second property is 150 sq metres.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Moscow will buy 500 million cubic metres of gas annually from next year.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The rare Vietnamese reptiles will grow to about a metre long.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Two years earlier he was sixth in the fastest 100 metres of all time.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The sign on the roof is 14 metres wide and three metres high.
The Sun (2010)
Not one white man makes it into the top 50 fastest 100 metres runners in history.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This fabulous wool Audrey design costs 110 per sq metre.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Typically, rhymes, metres and morals must come strict and clear.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
Word lists with
metre
Metric system
In other languages
metre
British English: metre /ˈmiːtə/ NOUN
A metre is a unit of length equal to 100 centimetres.