Word.ws English Dictionary

time candle

time candle noun: a candle that burns at a uniform rate and is used to measure the passage of time.

Noun

time candle (plural time candles)

  1. (uncommon) A candle that burns at a uniform rate and is used to measure the passage of time.
    • Some "knappers" still employ time-candles in lieu of clocks and watches, wherewith to reckon the working hours.1906, H.G. Archer, “The Oldest Industry In England”, in The Wide World Magazine, An Illustrated Monthly of True Narrative, Adventure, Travel, Customs and Sport, volume 16
    • This particular use of the time candle, however, is problematic.1928, “How Hamilton Watch Uses The Historical Display”, in Advertising & Selling, volume 12, page 69

Forms of time candle

pluraltime candles

Questions about time candle

What does time candle mean?
Time candle means a candle that burns at a uniform rate and is used to measure the passage of time.
What part of speech is time candle?
Time candle is a noun.
What is the plural of time candle?
The plural of time candle is time candles.

Words near time candle in the dictionary

  1. time books
  2. time box
  3. time boxes
  4. time burglar
  5. time burglars
  6. time candle
  7. time candles
  8. time capsule
  9. time capsules
  10. time card
  11. time cards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: time candle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “time candle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/time_candle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.