millisecond

noun

mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmi-lə-ˌse-kənd How to pronounce millisecond (audio)
-kənt
: one thousandth of a second

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A millisecond isn't long enough for the blink of an eye, but a few milliseconds may determine the winner of a swim race or a hundred-yard dash. With the ever-increasing speed of modern technology, even a millisecond has started to seem a little sluggish; computer operations are now measured in nanoseconds—that is, billionths of a second.

Examples of millisecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Compared with the participants assigned a set goal in the first experiment, the participants assigned increasingly more difficult goals in the second experiment had faster reaction times by an average of 45 milliseconds – about a 10% improvement. Matthew Robison, Discover Magazine, 2 Mar. 2024 The researchers report measured relaxation times for valley states in excess of 500 milliseconds, presenting promising coherence properties for future valley qubits. IEEE Spectrum, 30 Jan. 2024 His solution aligned computers to within tens of milliseconds. Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 19 Jan. 2024 When each pixel during the scanning process was given 5 milliseconds to collect photons, the new de-noising algorithm reduced the root mean square error—a measure of its deviation from a perfect image—of reconstructed images by about eightfold. IEEE Spectrum, 1 Feb. 2024 These new contacts ensure a de-bounce time of typically less than 1 millisecond and are even able to support polling rates of 1KHz and beyond. PCMAG, 27 Jan. 2024 At present, the emission timing of an emitter is restricted by the radiation time determined by spontaneous emission of the ion—about 1 millisecond. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Jan. 2024 With or without an odor being introduced, every few hundred milliseconds, mice would switch between different types of movement—rearing, bobbing their heads, turning. Popular Science, 10 Jan. 2024 For now, the title of each video indicates down to the millisecond what time the clips start. Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'millisecond.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of millisecond was in 1909

Dictionary Entries Near millisecond

Cite this Entry

“Millisecond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/millisecond. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

millisecond

noun
mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd How to pronounce millisecond (audio)
 also  -ənt
: one thousandth of a second

Medical Definition

millisecond

noun
mil·​li·​sec·​ond ˈmil-ə-ˌsek-ənd, -ənt How to pronounce millisecond (audio)
: one thousandth of a second
abbreviation ms, msec
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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