metre1
/ˈmiːtə
/(US meter , abbreviation m)
noun
1The fundamental unit of length in the metric system, equal to 100 centimetres or approximately 39.37 inches: sit two metres away from the TV screen the wall was less than a metre high...
- The oddest thing was losing the feet and inches and changing to metres and centimetres.
- Squid come in all sizes, from a centimetre to over a metre in length, and the life cycles of different species vary greatly.
- Individual coal balls range from a few centimetres to over a metre in length.
1.1 (—— metres) A race over a specified number of metres: the 200 metres...
- Jerome Young ran a very evenly paced race in the 400 metres final - and that was the secret to his victory.
- The concern is that five races before the 1,500 metres final may take the edge off Holmes.
- Kelly Holmes is the Olympic 800 metres champion after her dramatic win in the final tonight.
Derivatives
metreage
- This, of course, takes up considerable square metreage, to say nothing of all the other facilities which he and his alliance propose.
- But after that, the meterage for subsequent distances will be reduced from 125 metres to 113 metres, under which the standard fare for a 2.5-mile journey will rise from £4.60 to £4.80 an increase of 4.16 per cent.
- In terms of fabric, there is the potential to save thousands when you think of the meterage involved in curtains and sofa covers.
Origin
Late 18th century: from French mètre, from Greek metron 'measure'.
Rhymes
metre2
/ˈmiːtə/(US meter)
noun
1The rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line: the Horatian ode has an intricate governing metre [mass noun]: unexpected changes of stress and metre...
- For in addition to these more typical forms one finds catalogued in EV an amazing variety of stanzaic forms, line lengths, meters, and rhyme schemes.
- His first works are called the Eclogues, a collection of pastoral poetry done in the same meter as the Aeneid (dactylic hexameter).
- You are constrained by a specific meter, a specific rhyme scheme, and a specific length.
1.1The basic rhythmic pattern of beats in a piece of music: a dance song in fast quadratic metre Prokofiev’s complex metres...
- The simple melody derived from a pentatonic scale and the prevailing dotted rhythm in compound duple meter elicit the feeling of a slow, graceful Korean traditional dance.
- Once students can associate the syllables, they would need additional practice recognizing the tonality or meter of familiar music.
- The meter, complexity of rhythms created by dotted rhythms, triplets and irregular accents manifest the spirit of Korean peasant dance and music.
Origin
Old English, reinforced in Middle English by Old French metre, from Latin metrum, from Greek metron 'measure'.