Definition: meter

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

meter
     n 1: the basic unit of length adopted under the System
          International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards) [syn:
           metre, m]
     2: any of various measuring instruments for measuring a
        quantity
     3: (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse [syn: measure,
         beat, cadence]
     4: rhythm as given by division into parts of equal time [syn: time]
     v 1: measure with a meter; "meter the flow of water"
     2: stamp with a meter indicating the postage; "meter the mail"

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

-meter \-me"ter\ [L. metrum measure, or the allied Gr. ?. See
   Meter rhythm.]
   A suffix denoting that by which anything is measured; as,
   barometer, chronometer, dynamometer.
Meter \Me"ter\, n. [From Mete to measure.]
   1. One who, or that which, metes or measures. See
      Coal-meter.

   2. An instrument for measuring, and usually for recording
      automatically, the quantity measured.

   Dry meter, a gas meter having measuring chambers, with
      flexible walls, which expand and contract like bellows and
      measure the gas by filling and emptying.

   W?t meter, a gas meter in which the revolution of a
      chambered drum in water measures the gas passing through
      it.
Meter \Me"ter\, n.
   A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is
   attached in order to strengthen it.
Meter \Me"ter\, Metre \Me"tre\, n. [OE. metre, F. m[`e]tre, L.
   metrum, fr. Gr. ?; akin to Skr. m[=a] to measure. See Mete
   to measure.]
   1. Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses,
      stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on
      number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm;
      measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical
      arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter.

            The only strict antithesis to prose is meter.
                                                  --Wordsworth.

   2. A poem. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia).

   3. A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the
      standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights
      and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly,
      the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to
      the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an
      arc of a meridian. See Metric system, under Metric.

   Common meter (Hymnol.), four iambic verses, or lines,
      making a stanza, the first and third having each four
      feet, and the second and fourth each three feet; --
      usually indicated by the initials C.M.

   Long meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines of four feet
      each, four verses usually making a stanza; -- commonly
      indicated by the initials L. M.

   Short meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines, the first,
      second, and fourth having each three feet, and the third
      four feet. The stanza usually consists of four lines, but
      is sometimes doubled. Short meter is indicated by the
      initials S. M.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

meter

   <spelling> US spelling of "metre".

   (1998-02-07)