nanosecond
noun
Did you know?
The nonserious use of nanosecond is probably much more common than the proper technical use. In measurement terms such as nanosecond, nanogram, and nanometer, nano- means "billionth;" in other kinds of words, its meaning isn't quite so precise. In computers, the speed of reading and writing to random access memory (RAM) is measured in nanoseconds. By comparison, the speed of reading or writing to a hard drive or a CD-ROM player, or for information to travel over the Internet, is measured in milliseconds (thousandths of a second), which are a million times longer than nanoseconds.
Examples of nanosecond in a Sentence
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2025
The former would trade places with the latter in a nanosecond, and the reverse isn’t remotely true.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 11 July 2025
The Charlotte Hornets forward did not spend a nanosecond in France since the 2024-25 regular season wrapped up in April.
—Charlotte Observer, 9 July 2025
While incredibly bright, the event only lasted less than 30 nanoseconds.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for nanosecond
Cite this Entry
“Nanosecond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nanosecond. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nanosecond
noun
Medical Definition
nanosecond
noun
Share