time stamp

noun

variants or timestamp
plural time stamps or timestamps
1
: a stamping device used for recording the date and time of day on a document, envelope, etc. (as to indicate when it was received or sent out)
2
a
: an indication of the date and time stamped on a document, envelope, etc.
Problem was, a later check of the time stamp on the motion indicated that it had been filed nearly 40 minutes after Heinrich appeared before Wolf.Thanassis Cambanis
b
: an indication of the date and time recorded as part of a digital signal or file (such as an email, digital photograph, radio broadcast, or text message) indicating the time of creation, transmission, etc.
When you share that viral video, it carries a time stamp.Cosmopolitan
… highlighted a seeming discrepancy between the timestamps of the phone records and surveillance video, with the surveillance video suggesting the shooting happened a moment or two earlier than the phone records.Patrick Kernan
time-stamp transitive verb
time-stamped; time-stamping; time-stamps
The repository also contains time-stamped versions of your code … Jeff Jurvis

Examples of time stamp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But the time stamps in the logs can help determine if an officer fired excessively and can flag suspicious events that deserve closer scrutiny. Nate Rosenfield, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2025 In one case, a teacher from Nazareth says she was arrested and held blindfolded in a police car overnight, her hands and feet cuffed, for posting a video of herself on TikTok dancing with a time stamp of Oct. 7. Dina Kraft, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Jan. 2025 For instance, a system might automatically archive relevant but old data, such as branding documents or engineering files, based on age or activity time stamps rather than their actual significance—something only a human could interpret. Sean Nathaniel, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024 There were no time stamps: Residents who woke up to errant evacuation alerts Friday had no idea the warnings were a day old. Holly Yan, CNN, 16 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for time stamp 

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of time stamp was in 1855

Dictionary Entries Near time stamp

Cite this Entry

“Time stamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20stamp. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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