Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hourglass"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hourglass \Hour"glass`\, n.
An instrument for measuring time, especially the interval of
an hour. It consists of a glass vessel having two
compartments, from the uppermost of which a quantity of sand,
water, or mercury occupies an hour in running through a small
aperture unto the lower.
Note: A similar instrument measuring any other interval of
time takes its name from the interval measured; as, a
{half-hour glass}, a {half-minute glass}. A
{three-minute glass} is sometimes called an egg-glass,
from being used to time the boiling of eggs.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hourglass
n : a sandglass that runs for sixty minutes
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.