timer
(ˈtaɪmə(r))
[f. time v. and n. + -er1.]
† 1. One who is skilled in time or measure; a musician. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1500 in Grose, etc. Antiq. Rep. (1809) IV. 407 How may a mysmovede tymere judge a trew instrument? |
2. One who appoints or fixes the time for an action, event, etc.
| 1841 Lowell Ode ii. 3 [The Poet] fits his singing, like a cunning timer, To all men's prides and fancies as they pass. |
3. a. A watch or clock, with reference to its time-keeping qualities; a (good or bad) time-keeper. b. One who times clocks, etc., i.e. who keeps them to exact time. c. One who marks the time in athletics, etc.; = time-keeper 2 c.
| 1884 Graphic 20 Sept. 303/2 Guaranteed good Timers. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 14 The want of constancy in the force of the balance spring..is one of the chief difficulties of the timer. 1890 Century Mag. June 205/2 The English are partial to a single watch in the hands of an experienced timer, but to make a record in this country requires the presence of three timers or measurers. 1891 Cycling 21 Feb. 82, I am aware that timers of professional events in the Midlands use the old-fashioned type. |
d. An instrument for automatically timing a process or activating a device at a set time or set times; a time-switch; egg-timer: see egg n. 7; oven timer: see oven n. 4.
| 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 266/1 Stem wind, jeweled horse timer. This timer is operated from the crown by merely pressing down the..mechanism. 1939 C. Morley Kitty Foyle i. 9 They worked right round the clock..making some kind of timers for shells. 1953 R. Chandler Long Good-Bye ii. 25, I stirred the coffee and covered it. I set my timer for three minutes... The bell of the timer went just as I got back. 1961 Which? Dec. 335/1 Two..were clockwork dial timers, similar to kitchen timers, which have to be wound up by rotating the dial. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. Dec. 225 The timer was preset so that the signals for all shock options were of three seconds duration, with a 15-second intertrial interval. 1977 New Yorker 27 June 89/1 Attached to the timer of the bomb was a note. 1982 Listener 15 July 34/3 These timers are perfectly adequate for some domestic tasks, like..switching lights on and off in a house to fool..burglars. |
4. As the second element in combinations, as full-timer, half-timer, old-timer, two-timer; fast timer, one who or that which completes a race, etc. in fast time.
| 1891 Daily News 28 Dec. 3/5 The fastest timers ran in the deciding round. 1903 Motor. Ann. 163 In the mile race the fastest timers in the different classes were [etc.]. |