Thermometer Meaning
/θəˈmɒm.ɪ.tə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn apparatus used to measure temperature.
Sentence Examples
The nurse took his temperature with a thermometer.
The thermometer went down below zero.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The nurse in the hospital used a ____ to check the patient's body temperature.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please use the digital ____ to check the oven's temperature before you put the fresh bread inside today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French thermomètre; equivalent to thermo- + -meter.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction."
— 1835, John Ross, James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1, pages 284–5:
"On the wall were hanging thermometers, barometers, and hydrometers, and every other sort of ometer, numberless, dusty, and mysterious; […]"
— 1843, John Holmes Agnew, Eclectic Museum of Foreign Literature, Science and Art:
"Elsewhere, professionals could enthuse over new precision instruments capable, for instance, of measuring weights down to a tenth of a milligram, or over a host of self-registering thermometers and barometers, microscopes, typewriters, calculators and all sorts of technical and musical devices, including automatic concertinas, edeophones, auto-harps, bigophones and other long-forgotten objects."
— 1978, Jan Romein, The Watershed of Two Eras: Europe in 1900, page 303:
"The brothers had thrust the thermometer between two circuit boards in order to look for hot spots inside m zero. The thermometer’s dial was marked “Beef Rare—Ham—Beef Med—Pork.” “You want to keep the machine below ‘Pork,’” Gregory remarked."
— 1992 March 2, Richard Preston, “The Mountains of Pi”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2020:
"There are, of course, smart speakers (which roughly a quarter of American homes have) and smart thermostats, as well as smart thermometers, smart mattress covers, smart coffee makers, smart doorbells, and even, yes, smart toasters."
— 2018 December 18, Joe Pinsker, “The Coming Commodification of Life at Home”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2019:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The nurse in the hospital used a ____ to check the patient's body temperature.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please use the digital ____ to check the oven's temperature before you put the fresh bread inside today.