a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
<noun.time> it was a sign of the times
an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of division; the product of two numbers is computed
<noun.act> the multiplication of four by three gives twelve four times three equals twelve
Time \Time\, n.; pl. {Times}. [OE. time, AS. t[=i]ma, akin to t[=i]d time, and to Icel. t[=i]mi, Dan. time an hour, Sw. timme. [root]58. See {Tide}, n.] 1. Duration, considered independently of any system of measurement or any employment of terms which designate limited portions thereof.
The time wasteth [i. e. passes away] night and day. --Chaucer.
I know of no ideas . . . that have a better claim to be accounted simple and original than those of space and time. --Reid.
2. A particular period or part of duration, whether past, present, or future; a point or portion of duration; as, the time was, or has been; the time is, or will be.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. --Heb. i. 1.
3. The period at which any definite event occurred, or person lived; age; period; era; as, the Spanish Armada was destroyed in the time of Queen Elizabeth; -- often in the plural; as, ancient times; modern times.
4. The duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal.
Believe me, your time is not your own; it belongs to God, to religion, to mankind. --Buckminster.
5. A proper time; a season; an opportunity.
There is . . . a time to every purpose. --Eccl. iii. 1.
The time of figs was not yet. --Mark xi. 13.
6. Hour of travail, delivery, or parturition.
She was within one month of her time. --Clarendon.
7. Performance or occurrence of an action or event, considered with reference to repetition; addition of a number to itself; repetition; as, to double cloth four times; four times four, or sixteen.
Summers three times eight save one. --Milton.
8. The present life; existence in this world as contrasted with immortal life; definite, as contrasted with infinite, duration.
Till time and sin together cease. --Keble.
9. (Gram.) Tense.
10. (Mus.) The measured duration of sounds; measure; tempo; rate of movement; rhythmical division; as, common or triple time; the musician keeps good time.
Some few lines set unto a solemn time. --Beau. & Fl.
Note: Time is often used in the formation of compounds, mostly self-explaining; as, time-battered, time-beguiling, time-consecrated, time-consuming, time-enduring, time-killing, time-sanctioned, time-scorner, time-wasting, time-worn, etc.
{Absolute time}, time irrespective of local standards or epochs; as, all spectators see a lunar eclipse at the same instant of absolute time.
{Apparent time}, the time of day reckoned by the sun, or so that 12 o'clock at the place is the instant of the transit of the sun's center over the meridian.
{Astronomical time}, mean solar time reckoned by counting the hours continuously up to twenty-four from one noon to the next.
{At times}, at distinct intervals of duration; now and then; as, at times he reads, at other times he rides.
{Civil time}, time as reckoned for the purposes of common life in distinct periods, as years, months, days, hours, etc., the latter, among most modern nations, being divided into two series of twelve each, and reckoned, the first series from midnight to noon, the second, from noon to midnight.
{Common time} (Mil.), the ordinary time of marching, in which ninety steps, each twenty-eight inches in length, are taken in one minute.
{Equation of time}. See under {Equation}, n.
{In time}. (a) In good season; sufficiently early; as, he arrived in time to see the exhibition. (b) After a considerable space of duration; eventually; finally; as, you will in time recover your health and strength.
{Mean time}. See under 4th {Mean}.
{Quick time} (Mil.), time of marching, in which one hundred and twenty steps, each thirty inches in length, are taken in one minute.
{Sidereal time}. See under {Sidereal}.
{Standard time}, the civil time that has been established by law or by general usage over a region or country. In England the standard time is Greenwich mean solar time. In the United States and Canada four kinds of standard time have been adopted by the railroads and accepted by the people, viz., Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time, corresponding severally to the mean local times of the 75th, 90th, 105th, and 120th meridians west from Greenwich, and being therefore five, six, seven, and eight hours slower than Greenwich time.
{Time ball}, a ball arranged to drop from the summit of a pole, to indicate true midday time, as at Greenwich Observatory, England. --Nichol.
{Time bargain} (Com.), a contract made for the sale or purchase of merchandise, or of stock in the public funds, at a certain time in the future.
{Time bill}. Same as {Time-table}. [Eng.]
{Time book}, a book in which is kept a record of the time persons have worked.
{Time detector}, a timepiece provided with a device for registering and indicating the exact time when a watchman visits certain stations in his beat.
{Time enough}, in season; early enough. ``Stanly at Bosworth field, . . . came time enough to save his life.'' --Bacon.
{Time fuse}, a fuse, as for an explosive projectile, which can be so arranged as to ignite the charge at a certain definite interval after being itself ignited.
{Time immemorial}, or {Time out of mind}. (Eng. Law) See under {Immemorial}.
{Time lock}, a lock having clockwork attached, which, when wound up, prevents the bolt from being withdrawn when locked, until a certain interval of time has elapsed.
{Time of day}, salutation appropriate to the times of the day, as ``good morning,'' ``good evening,'' and the like; greeting.
{To kill time}. See under {Kill}, v. t.
{To make time}. (a) To gain time. (b) To occupy or use (a certain) time in doing something; as, the trotting horse made fast time.
{To move against time}, {To run against time}, or {To go against time}, to move, run, or go a given distance without a competitor, in the quickest possible time; or, to accomplish the greatest distance which can be passed over in a given time; as, the horse is to run against time.
{True time}. (a) Mean time as kept by a clock going uniformly. (b) (Astron.) Apparent time as reckoned from the transit of the sun's center over the meridian.
And in case you may have missed it the first 38 times, the Pickle Packers International association is out once again to convince the world of the preserved cucumber's value in everything from elementary education to international policy making.
"Maybe some of us were a little arrogant at times," conceded one Chase investment banker.
In the first 26 weeks of 1990, nearly five times more cases were diagnosed in Washington than during all of 1989, when 55 measles cases were reported, state health officials said.
Mazda has raised the prices on its cars sold in the U.S. nine times since late 1985, when the value of the Japanese yen began climbing against the dollar.
Cubana, in step with the times, has a toll-free 800-number.
HOW'S about this for a snapshot of the times in Britain?
United Parcel Service has announced it will match the delivery and pickup times of overnight delivery competitor Federal Express Corp.
Clorox Co. will do its first sponsorships in recent times this spring: a magic show as well as a drama with family appeal.
But National Power is sticking to its target of reducing dividend cover from 3.3 times to 2.5 times by 1995. Working capital is being released as surplus coal stocks are run down, so there is hardly a shortage of cash.
But National Power is sticking to its target of reducing dividend cover from 3.3 times to 2.5 times by 1995. Working capital is being released as surplus coal stocks are run down, so there is hardly a shortage of cash.
These are trying times for the British pub, that unabashedly romanticized bastion of beer, banter and brotherhood.
BUSINESS INCUBATORS gain ground despite tough economic times.
But the Reserve Officers Association and others say that not using combat reserves is a fierce blow to the morale of these citizen soldiers who train with active units and are required by law to be ready to mobilize in times of crisis.
During the first years of his exile in France, Tarradellas was arrested at least 14 times by the Nazi Gestapo and the French police.
About a third of the staff stopped work at various times Monday morning but resumed after plant officials explained how the bonus was calculated, he said.
In addition, the banks said, the Bank of Delaware Corp. granted PNC Financial an option to purchase up to 1.6 million shares of Bank of Delaware stock at 0.7 times the market price of PNC Financial common stock at the close of business Wednesday.
Mr Francois Leclercq, CTL managing director, said Germany might be added but it was proving difficult to obtain attractive rates for German destinations. Journey times should be about half those by road and much less than the time taken by rail and ferry.
Investors often regard the dollar as a safe haven in times of international tension.
I said, yeah, I've kissed her a few times.
It is buying the stake at a multiple of around 12 times this year's earnings.
Too many times it works." Tougher state laws and more aggressive enforcement have driven many boiler room operators from the Fort Lauderdale area, but Neal estimates about 80 large telemarketing fraud operations still carry on from Miami to Palm Beach.
It should see seven times as far as the most powerful earth-bound scopes.
What is much more worrisome is that a number of recent IPOs are trading at huge multiples of their per-share earnings, in some cases as high as 100 times profit.
To a degree, Quantum represents the new times that have arrived for producers of the so-called commodity plastics that pervade modern life.
The National Enquirer recently ran an article claiming her condition was worse than the White House has let on and that the first lady was in severe pain at times.
I don't feel like a valued customer." AT&T's long-distance network, after decades of reliability, has failed four times in two years.
Salt Lake City police said Mack has used six or more aliases and has been married seven or eight times.
Typical buyers are people in their late 30s and 40s who shared the rebellious spirit of the times and yearn for something more tangible than their memories, says Heise, who recently added a shelf of out-of-print books by the Chicago Seven.
This rises to more than 8 times if about Pounds 3m gains from player sales, notably Paul Gascoigne, are deducted from the forecast.
Fyodor Morgun, head of the State Committee for the Protection of Nature, has said that pollution levels in 102 Soviet cities affecting more than 50 million people are often 10 times higher than Soviet laws permit.