释义 |
chronometer|krəʊˈnɒmɪtə(r), krɒ-| [f. Gr. χρόνο-ς time + µέτρον measure.] 1. An instrument for measuring time; spec. applied to time-keepers adjusted to keep accurate time in all variations of temperature. They differ from watches in having a more perfect escapement and a compensation balance, and are used for determining longitude at sea, and for other exact observation. to rate a chronometer: to compare its daily loss or gain with the true time. Some watches are named half-chronometers.
[1715Kersey, Chronometrum or Chronoscopium Perpendiculum, a Pendulum to measure Time with.] a1735Derham (J.), According to observation made with a pendulum chronometer. 1780J. Arnold (title), Account..of a Pocket Chronometer, made on a new construction. 1787Bonnycastle Astron. x. 159 Method for finding the longitude of places..by means of a chronometer. 1812Woodhouse Astron. viii. 49 The time of the transit is to be marked by a clock or chronometer. 1855Emerson Misc. Fort. Repub. Wks. (Bohn) III. 387 The sailors sail by chronometers that do not lose two or three seconds in a year. b. transf. and fig. ‘Time-measurer.’
1836Card. Wiseman Sc. Relig. I. vi. 360 Deluc was the first..to observe and collect such data, to which he gave the name of Chronometers. 1872Yeats Tech. Hist. Comm. 190 Sun and stars, whose rising and setting formed the grand chronometer of Nature. †2. Mus. An instrument for indicating the time or movement of a composition; a metronome.
1837Penny Cycl. VII. 135/2 The musical chronometer is by no means a modern contrivance. 3. attrib. and Comb., as chronometer-balance, chronometer-box, chronometer-maker; chronometer-escapement, an escapement in which the free movement of the balance is opposed by the wheels at only one point in a complete oscillation.
1878Markham Gt. Frozen Sea v. 63 A *chronometer-box was picked up, but empty.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., The *chronometer escapement..is the most perfect, delicate, and satisfactory in its operation, of all the escapements.
1837Penny Cycl. VII. 135/2 The most eminent *chronometer-makers in this country. |