Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An instrument for determining elevation, especially an aneroid barometer used in aircraft that senses pressure changes accompanying changes in altitude.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An instrument for measuring altitudes, as a quadrant, sextant, or theodolite.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An instrument for taking altitudes, as a quadrant, sextant, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An apparatus for measuring altitude.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an instrument that measures the height above ground; used in navigation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin altus, high; see al- in Indo-European roots + –meter.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined based on Latin altus ("high") + meter.

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Examples

  • An altimeter measures the distance from the satellite, where the altimeter is placed, to the surface of the Earth.

    Archive 2009-02-01 Bente Lilja Bye 2009

  • The Service Release limits operations involved in these activities to: no prolonged flights over water; no flights with sand filters fitted; no night flights using night vision devices; no flights where the radar altimeter is to be relied upon, and; no take-off, landing or operations close to the ground above 5000 foot pressure altitude.

    Toothless tigers Richard 2006

  • A standard altimeter could not tell the astronauts when they reached their perilune because an altimeter was an instrument that determined altitude based on changes in atmospheric pressure and the Moon has no atmosphere.

    First Man James R. Hansen 2005

  • A standard altimeter could not tell the astronauts when they reached their perilune because an altimeter was an instrument that determined altitude based on changes in atmospheric pressure and the Moon has no atmosphere.

    First Man James R. Hansen 2005

  • So we teach a very unique course called altimeter navigation, and when the soldier learns to figure out exactly where he is on that line of advance by comparing the altimeter to the contoural lines on the map, very precise, and also very helpful for weather prediction.

    CNN Transcript Dec 4, 2001 2001

  • They were landing on runway 21 and the altimeter was the same.

    An Eclectic Mind 2009

  • In order for a bomb like this to go off in mid-flight, considering it was in cargo, it would have had to have some kind of automatic detonator built into it, like an altimeter switch that would set it off at a certain altitude or a timer.

    Suspect In Custody As Bomb Investigation Goes On 2010

  • I like the Casio Triple Sensor watch, with compass, altimeter and barometer/thermometer.

    Whats your favoret high-teck survival gear? What site or store can you get it at? Thanks. 2009

  • I like the Casio Triple Sensor watch, with compass, altimeter and barometer/thermometer.

    Whats your favoret high-teck survival gear? What site or store can you get it at? Thanks. 2009

  • The TS3 also includes a compass, altimeter and barometer, which may be helpful for hiking or tracking hurricanes.

    Panasonic unveils new Lumix cameras with GPS, 3D 2011

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