Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hourglass

/ˈaʊəɡlɑːs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.92 in modern English

Syllables: hour-glass
IPA: /ˈaʊəɡlɑːs/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A clock made of two glass vessels connected by a narrow passage through which sand flows.

noun

A cursor, often shaped like an hourglass, indicating that the computer is busy.

verb

To display the cursor as an hourglass indicating that the computer is busy or processing.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"After each game turn, invert the hourglass to reset the time limit for the next player."
"The sands of thy short life are spent this hour, / And no hand in the universe can turn / Thy hourglass, if these gummed leaves be burnt / Ere thou canst mount up these immortal steps."
"When I right click the desktop display to check Display Properties, it hangs and shows me only the hourglass instead of the display menu."
"I have an ADP that I use for reporting that I have used for about a year. I only use it every 3 months, and it has worked up until now. This morning I tried using it, but after trying to open the report, it hourglassed and then showed a "Timeout expired" error. I searched this message and found out how to set the timeout limit, and set it to 300 seconds. Still the same message."

Etymology

From hour + glass.

Usage

Intransitive verb

Inflected Forms

hourglasses (plural) hourglasses (present, singular) hourglassing (participle, present) hourglassed (participle, past) hourglassed (past)

Derived Forms

hourglassed hourglassing

Phrases

hourglass corset hourglass dolphin hourglass drum hourglass figure hourglass-shaped tempus fugit

Frequently Paired Words

⌛ ⏳ tempus fugit beach ball

Synonyms

sandglass sand timer watch glass egg timer

Questions

How do you pronounce hourglass?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈaʊəɡlɑːs/.
What does hourglass mean?: A clock made of two glass vessels connected by a narrow passage through which sand flows.
Where does hourglass come from?: From hour + glass.

How to pronounce hourglass

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hourglass”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈaʊəɡlɑːs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hourglass”.
Repeat and practice — Say “hourglass” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.