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leap second

   Also found in: Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
leap second
n.
A second of time, as measured by an atomic clock, added to or omitted from official timekeeping systems annually to compensate for changes in the rotation of the earth.
leap second
n
(Mathematics & Measurements / Units) a second added to or removed from a scale for reckoning time on one particular occasion, to synchronize it with another scale
leap second  (lp)
A second of time, as measured by an atomic clock, added to or omitted from official timekeeping systems annually to compensate for changes in the rotation of the Earth. See more at coordinated universal time.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.leap second - a second (as measured by an atomic clock) added to or subtracted from Greenwich Mean Time in order to compensate for slowing in the Earth's rotation
s, sec, second - 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
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In order for our civil time (UTC based on TAI) to keep "in step" with the changing earth rotational speed, UT1 leap seconds are added to the year from time to time to compensate for this slowing down.
Earthly matters by Gulf Daily News (Manama, Bahrain)
As the final countdown, which very correctly observed the leap second, reached its end the crowd spontaneously burst into a few lines of "Auld Lang Syne".
Seeing in the IYA2009 by Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
SILENT movie actor Harold Lloyd demonstrates one way of fixing the leap second.
SUNDAY SESSION by Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland)
 
 
 
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