timer: Meaning and Definition of

tim•er

1. a person or thing that times.
2. a person who measures or records time.
3. a device for indicating or measuring elapsed time, as a stopwatch.
4. a device for controlling machinery, appliances, or the like, in a specified way at a predetermined time: Please put the roast in the oven and set the timer to cook it for two hours.
5. (in an internal-combustion engine) a set of points actuated by a cam, which causes the spark for igniting the charge at the instant required.