parking meter
12
2.3
- noun
- /ˈpɑrkɪŋ ˈmiːtər/
:
parquímetro
- After finding a spot, I put coins into the parking meter for an hour of parking.
- feed the parking meter
- pay the parking meter
- quarters for the parking meter
She's up on the sidewalk knocking the parking meters over, trying to kill me.
- She's up on the sidewalk knocking the parking meters over, trying to kill me.
- What the happened to that parking meter?
Examples
-
Come on, Jimmy, there must be an unpaid parking meter around here somewhere, huh?
-
A woman holds up a child while he feeds a coin into a parking meter, giggling like he won something.
Fiction book (1997) -
You have a question about the parking meters?
-
There was a parking meter right there.
-
At least when they had the regular parking meters, people would usually park their cars in the lines.
Blog text (24) -
You know, I just realized I didn't put any money in the parking meter.
-
He's in front of the hardware store, and he leans against a parking meter.
Fiction book (1995) -
On the sidewalk beyond it, a man (LEE) stands putting coins in a parking meter.
Fiction book (1992) -
Many city buildings and city-owned parking lots were renovated; parking meters, water meters, and fire hydrants were replaced or repaired.
Academic text (2017) -
So instead of parking meters, you'll plug in, you'll pay your parking meter and a charging fee, and the and the city will make money that way.
Synonyms
127
3.2
A device that measures how much gas, water, or electricity you use
How Strict
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable because 'meter' denotes an instrument that measures or indicates quantity/time and 'parking' specifies what is being measured (parking time/payment). This noun+noun compounding follows regular English composition patterns and has close equivalents in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Parking meter comes from the simple idea of a small street machine that measures how long you may leave a car in one place. Early coin-operated machines worked like clocks: you put money in and the meter showed how much time was left for parking, so today a parking meter tells you when your time runs out and collects payment.