- an instrument used to measure temperature, esp one in which a thin column of liquid, such as mercury, expands and contracts within a graduated sealed tube
See also clinical thermometer, gas thermometer, resistance thermometer, thermocouple, pyrometer
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ther•mom•e•ter /θɚˈmɑmɪtɚ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Meteorology, Physicsan instrument for measuring temperature.
ther•mom•e•ter
(thər mom′i tər),USA pronunciation n.
ther•mo•met•ric
(thûr′mə me′trik),USA pronunciation ther′mo•met′ri•cal, adj.
ther′mo•met′ri•cal•ly, adv.
- Meteorology, Physicsan instrument for measuring temperature, often a sealed glass tube that contains a column of liquid, as mercury, that expands and contracts, or rises and falls, with temperature changes, the temperature being read where the top of the column coincides with a calibrated scale marked on the tube or its frame.
- 1615–25; thermo- + -meter
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
thermometer /θəˈmɒmɪtə/ n
'thermometer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Beckmann
- clinical thermometer
- Fahrenheit
- gas thermometer
- graduate
- ground frost
- oral
- pyrometer
- resistance
- resistance thermometer
- thermograph
- wet-and-dry-bulb thermometer
- Atmos clock
- bulb
- calibrate
- Celsius
- centigrade
- cryometer
- degree
- divide
- dry-bulb thermometer
- Fahr.
- indicate
- kilometer
- maximum thermometer
- minimum thermometer
- pycnometer
- read
- Réaumur
- register
- telethermometer
- therm
- thermobarometer
- thermocouple
- thermoelectric thermometer
- wet-bulb thermometer
- zero
- scale
- sensitive
- show
- sling psychrometer