sandglass

Thân thiện

A teacher uses a sandglass to time a short classroom activity.

Definition

Noun: A simple time-measuring device consisting of two glass bulbs connected by a narrow neck. Time is measured by the duration it takes for a specific quantity of fine sand to flow from the upper bulb into the lower one.

Usage

The word "sandglass" is a countable noun. It refers to the physical instrument itself. It is often used in historical or descriptive contexts.

Examples

• The captain used a sandglass to time the ship's watches.
• In the laboratory, they employed a one-minute sandglass for the experiment.
• The antique sandglass on the shelf was more decorative than functional.

Advanced Usage

• "To turn the sandglass": This phrase describes the action of inverting the device to start a new time measurement cycle.
  • The referee turned the sandglass to signal the start of the player's allotted time for a move.

Variants and Related Words

• Hourglass (n): A specific type of sandglass traditionally designed to measure one hour. While often used interchangeably, "hourglass" is more common in modern English for the iconic shape, whereas "sandglass" is a more general term for any sand-timer.
  • The hourglass figure is a classic silhouette.

Synonyms

• Sand timer: A more modern, descriptive synonym.
• Egg timer: A small sandglass traditionally used for timing the boiling of eggs.

Different Meanings

The word "sandglass" has only one primary meaning as defined above. It is not commonly used in other contexts or as part of idioms.

Học thuật

Noun

1. timepiece in which the passage of time is indicated by the flow of sand from one transparent container to another through a narrow passage