Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An instrument using the atmospheric pressure as measured by the change in the boiling point of water to determine land elevations.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A thermometrical barometer for measuring altitudes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physics) An instrument for measuring heights by observation of barometric pressure; esp., one for determining heights by ascertaining the boiling point of water. It consists of a vessel for water, with a lamp for heating it, and an inclosed thermometer for showing the temperature of ebullition.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An instrument that
measures altitude indirectly by measuring theboiling point ofwater (which varies with atmospheric pressure).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an altimeter that uses the boiling point of water to determine land elevation
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Sleeping-bags, "computation bag," hypsometer, "meat block" (a three-inch-square paper pad on which meteorological notes were taken); clothes-bag opened, three ditty-bags passed in and bag retied; a final temperature taken and aneroid read; sledge anchored securely by tow-rope to the ice-axe, and a final look round to see all gear is safely strapped down and snow-tight.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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Besides the astronomical observations, the barometric pressure, temperature, force and direction of the wind, and amount of cloud were noted three times daily; every evening a hypsometer reading was taken.
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Other things we left there were a sextant with a glass horizon, a hypsometer case, three reindeer-skin foot-bags, some kamiks and mits.
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The hypsometer showed 11,070 feet above the sea; we had therefore reached a greater altitude than the Butcher's.
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From 88º 25 'S. the barometer and hypsometer indicated slowly but surely that the plateau was beginning to descend towards the other side.
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The instruments we carried were two sextants and three artificial horizons -- two glass and one mercury -- a hypsometer for measuring heights, and one aneroid.
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The instruments we carried were a theodolite, a hypsometer, two aneroids, one of which was no larger than an ordinary watch, two thermometers, one chronometer watch, one ordinary watch, and one photographic camera (Kodak 3 x 3 inches), adapted for using either plates or films.
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The readings of the hypsometer gave practically the same result day after day; the ascent we were looking for failed to appear.
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From the distance of the sea horizon we guessed our height to be about 1,000 feet, and in the evening the hypsometer showed the guess to be very nearly right.
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I took the observation for longitude and latitude, found the height by hypsometer, and took some photographs.
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