stopwatch

noun

stop·​watch ˈstäp-ˌwäch How to pronounce stopwatch (audio)
: a watch with a hand or a digital display that can be started and stopped at will for exact timing (as of a race)

Examples of stopwatch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There’s more coming, but one of my favorites is a Live Activity for a running stopwatch. David Phelan, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 Today, your average track instructor is stuck sitting on the pit wall with a stopwatch. Tim Stevens, Robb Report, 24 Jan. 2024 Controlling a stopwatch—not normal timer support—is also gone. Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 11 Jan. 2024 Divide the total distance walked by the amount of time (in seconds) on your stopwatch. Leah Groth, Health, 9 Feb. 2024 The prospect might conjure images of a grim Frederick Winslow Taylor-style manager, measuring your movements with a stopwatch. Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2024 Users can also map the same button’s short press function to start a workout, open the stopwatch, measure a dive, turn on the watch flashlight (make the screen very bright using a plain white background), execute a Siri shortcut, drop a waypoint, or start a Backtrack breadcrumb retrace route. Corey Gaskin, Ars Technica, 27 Apr. 2023 My dad has a little stopwatch and enjoys tracking me and analyzing my splits during my races. Nasha Smith, Peoplemag, 27 Dec. 2023 The fourth man used a stopwatch to determine how long the Grunter’s echo took to make it to them. Vanessa Armstrong, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Dec. 2023

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

Word History

First Known Use

1737, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of stopwatch was in 1737

Dictionary Entries Near stopwatch

Cite this Entry

“Stopwatch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stopwatch. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

stopwatch

noun
stop·​watch ˈstäp-ˌwäch How to pronounce stopwatch (audio)
: a watch having a hand or a digital display that can be started and stopped for exact timing (as of a race)

More from Merriam-Webster on stopwatch

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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