odometer

noun

odom·​e·​ter ō-ˈdä-mə-tər 

: an instrument for measuring the distance traveled (as by a vehicle)

Did you know?

Odometer includes the root from the Greek word hodos, meaning "road" or "trip". An odometer shares space on your dashboard with a speedometer, a tachometer, and maybe a "tripmeter". The odometer is what crooked car salesmen tamper with when they want to reduce the mileage a car registers as having traveled. One of life's little pleasures is watching the odometer as all the numbers change at the same time.

Examples of odometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In between the old-school clocks, a discreet LCD panel contains a gas gauge, coolant temp display, gear position, traction control status, odometer, two trip meters and even gas mileage information. —William Roberson, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2024

Each of the trio up for sale has barely been driven, with only the Speedster having more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2024

And change isn’t always for the better, with every day another click on James’ odometer that will, in one of the NBA’s great mysteries, eventually max out. —Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2024

It’s changed hands just once over the year—the seller acquired the vehicle in 2004—and has just 3,237 miles on the odometer. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French odomètre, from Greek hodometron, from hodos way, road + metron measure — more at measure

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

odometer

noun

odom·​e·​ter ō-ˈdäm-ət-ər 

: an instrument for measuring distance traveled (as by a vehicle)