: 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.
: meanwhile entry 2
meantime he had been attentive to his other interests—
H. R. Warfel
H. R. Warfel
: 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
Sky & Telescopecalled 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
Sarah Anderson, Oc Register, 9 June 2025
And there was still an interruption in funds being paid in the meantime that was preventing ALIMA from doing their work.
—Ari Daniel, NPR, 13 May 2025
Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
Swinson, meantime, could be a real steal if New England can bring out the best version of him.
—Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2025
Security teams can no longer be measured by the mean time to detection or how quickly threats are identified, as that is just the beginning of security investigations.
—Marcus Fowler, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for meantime
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Noun
Regardless, there are multiple things the state can do in the meantime to address the problem proactively.
—Sarah Anderson, Oc Register, 9 June 2025
And there was still an interruption in funds being paid in the meantime that was preventing ALIMA from doing their work.
—Ari Daniel, NPR, 13 May 2025
Adverb
Tiafoe, meantime, beat Germany’s Altmaier in straight sets and is the first American man since Agassi in 1995 to reach the quarters without dropping a set.
—Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
Swinson, meantime, could be a real steal if New England can bring out the best version of him.
—Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Noun
Longer days mean time to visit more distant places such as beach parks, inland reserves, the mountain trails in Cleveland National Forest, Cuyamaca Rancho or Palomar Mountain state parks.
—Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2025
Security teams can no longer be measured by the mean time to detection or how quickly threats are identified, as that is just the beginning of security investigations.
—Marcus Fowler, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for meantime
Cite this Entry
“Meantime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meantime. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
meantime
1 of 2 noun
mean·time
ˈmēn-ˌtīm 
: the time between two events
meantime
2 of 2 adverb
: in the meantime
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