From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmeterme‧ter1 /ˈmiːtə $ -ər/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 TMDa machine that measures and shows the amount of something you have used or the amount of money that you must paywater/gas/electricity meter A man came to read the electricity meter. The taxi driver left the meter running while I ran in to pick up my bags.2 a machine that measures the level of somethingsound-level/light etc meter3 (also parking meter) a machine which you put money into when you park your car next to it4 the American spelling of metre
Examples from the Corpus
meter• Heating is normally charged separately, often by coin meter.• Their invention was an electricity meter controlled by signals from the power company.• a gas meter• The four Brent and two Ninian meters measure the incoming oil from offshore.• Each time Joe Consumer retrieves a file from a commercial server, the payment meter is ticking.• the taxi meter• The City has installed 300 of the meters in West Portal to test their reliability.• Token meters are also available from most gas regions.read ... meter• Read meters and dials of various types.• Is Big Brother reading your meter?• Electricity: read meter on arrival and departure - cost is ten pence per unit to cover standing charge as well as unit cost.• Gas: First, read the meter.• Manville glanced over the driver's shoulder, reading the meter.• Electricity, gas and water companies have sought many years for a way to read meters without visiting the customer's premises.• The utilities also have announced they will read meters every other month and use an estimate between readings.sound-level/light etc meter• A light meter can be used to assess the level of lighting present.• A sound-level meter could be a substitute for the friend.• For me, it is the accuracy of the Nikon light meter that really sets it apart.• A Weston light meter in a leather case dangled from his neck like an amulet. metermeter2 verb [transitive] TMTPto measure how much of something is used, and how much you must pay for it, by using a meter All our water is metered now.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
meter• The gas is metered and they send you a bill every three months.• Water use is metered in most Sacramento homes.• They've introduced a system of metering the amount of water used in a household.-meter-meter /miːtə, mɪtə $ -tər/ suffix [in nouns] TMan instrument for measuring something a thermometer (=an instrument for measuring heat)Examples from the Corpus
-meter• a kilometer• a millimeter• an altimeterFrom Longman Business Dictionarymeterme‧ter1 /ˈmiːtə-ər/ noun [countable]1a machine that measures and shows the amount of something you have used or the amount of money that you must payA new gas meter had to be installed before the building permit would be granted.The revenue from parking meters in the town fell 40% in the last fiscal year.2the American spelling of METREmetermeter2 verb [transitive] to measure the supply of gas, electricity etc being provided, using a meterThe San Jose Water Co. meters the water use of the entire county.→ See Verb tableOrigin -meter French -mètre, from Greek metron “measure” meter1 (1800-1900) → -METER 