meantime

1 of 3

noun (1)

mean·​time ˈmēn-ˌtīm 

: the time before something happens or before a specified period ends

The new computers won't arrive until next week, but we can continue to use the old ones in the meantime.

meantime

2 of 3

adverb

: meanwhile entry 2

meantime he had been attentive to his other interests

—H. R. Warfel

mean time

3 of 3

noun (2)

: time that is based on the motion of the theoretical mean sun

To find local mean time, determine how many degrees of longitude you are from your time-zone standard. (Find your longitude on a map.) Multiply this number by four to get your correction in minutes. If you are east of the standard longitude your correction is a positive number; if you are west it is negative. Apply the correction to standard time to get your local mean time.

—Sky & Telescope

called also mean solar time

Examples of meantime in a Sentence

Adverb

He can come back to work when he's feeling better. Meantime, he should be resting as much as possible.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But red tape means that builders are unlikely to start on site for at least another year and joint venture landlords Ballymore and Hammerson, plus the local civic authorities are all supportive of Boxpark continuing to trade in the meantime. —Mark Faithfull, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024

But an emergency cut in the meantime is unlikely: The Fed has taken such drastic action only a few times in its history — and only in the most dire of economic moments. —Joel Mathis, theweek, 12 Aug. 2024

Adverb

McLaren, meantime, has a real shot at winning this year’s Constructor’s Championships. —Tim Chan, Variety, 25 Oct. 2024

The Harris campaign, meantime, has marshaled a centralized legal team of over half a dozen lawyers to handle election claims. —Olivia Rubin, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2024

Noun

In addition, the platform improves key security metrics—such as mean time to detection and mean time to response—which directly impacts a company's ability to avoid costly breaches and downtime. —Tony Bradley, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

When issues arise, generative AI quickly identifies the root cause and suggests predefined automation procedures for remediation, reducing mean time to recovery (MTTR). —Dave Link, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adverb

circa 1593, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1751, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing meantime

• for the meantime
• in the meantime

Kids Definition

meantime

1 of 2 noun

mean·​time ˈmēn-ˌtīm 

: the time between two events

meantime

2 of 2 adverb

: in the meantime