Illustration of hourglass
hour·glass
ˈau̇(-ə)r-ˌglas 
: an instrument for measuring time consisting of a glass vessel having two compartments from the upper of which a quantity of usually sand runs in an hour into the lower one
: shaped like an hourglass
an hourglass figure
Examples of hourglass in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2024
Black widow spiders can be identified by the red hourglass marking on their abdomens, according to National Geographic.
—Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 28 May 2024
Kate Branch, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2018
Her bright blouse and pants clung to her thick, hourglass figure.
—Aya De Leon, The Root, 22 Apr. 2018
See all Example Sentences for hourglass 
Noun
And the Gibson Girl, which was a famous series of illustrations around the turn of century, very buxom girl, hourglass figure, the fashions around that started to change in the first decade of the 20th century.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2024
Black widow spiders can be identified by the red hourglass marking on their abdomens, according to National Geographic.
—Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 28 May 2024
Adjective
And yet, her body, designed by a man, had a waist equivalent to 18 inches on a real woman; an impossibly thin figure made even more so by her zaftig 39-inch bust and 33-inch hourglass hip measurement.
—Kate Branch, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2018
Her bright blouse and pants clung to her thick, hourglass figure.
—Aya De Leon, The Root, 22 Apr. 2018
See all Example Sentences for hourglass
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hourglass.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hourglass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hourglass. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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