meters

1. 1
   more than onenoun

   Plural of meter.

   The race covered four hundred meters along the outdoor track.

   Electricity meters across the city were upgraded last year.

   Note

   Several nouns share this plural. The meters on a running track and the meters on a utility wall are different words with the same letters. In American spelling the form covers units of length and the measures of verse. Where metre is the spelling for those, they become metres, while devices such as parking and electricity meters keep -er. A dated sense, people who mete or measure, shares the form too.

2. 2
   present tenseverb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of meter.

   The utility company meters every household's gas usage automatically.

   This device meters the amount of medication delivered per hour.

   Note

   The verb behind a utility bill, a postmark and a steady drip: a company meters gas, an office meters its mail, a pump meters fluid. The regulating use reaches beyond liquids, so a storyteller can meter anticipation and a singer can meter breath. The spelling is identical to the noun's plural, so only the sentence tells them apart: the city meters water, but the city's meters were upgraded.

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