period
/ˈpɪɚ.i.əd/ noun A1- A length of time. · There was a period of confusion following the announcement.· You'll be on probation for a six-month period.
- A length of time in history seen as a single coherent entity; an epoch, era. · Food rationing continued in the post-war period.
- The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).
- A decisive end to something; a stop.
- The length of time during which the same characteristics of a periodic phenomenon recur, such as the repetition of a wave or the rotation of a planet.
- Female menstruation; an episode of this. · When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.
- The set of symptoms associated with menstruation, even if not accompanied by menstruation; an episode of these symptoms.
- A section of an artist's, writer's (etc.) career distinguished by a given quality, preoccupation etc. · This is one of the last paintings Picasso created during his Blue Period.
Plural periods
From the library
“I resolved to set out, and did set out at that very instant, carrying with me the beginning of my great work, the unity of the Italian kingdom; but for some time the imperial police (who at this period, quite contrary to what Napoleon desired so soon as he had a son born to him, wished for a partition of provinces) had their eyes on me; and my hasty departure, the cause of which they were unable to guess, having aroused their suspicions, I was arrested at the very moment I was leaving Piombino.
In an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion, I have endeavoured to give some account of my strange experiences in his company from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the “Study in Scarlet,” up to the time of his interference in the matter of the “Naval Treaty”—an interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication.
Even his iron constitution, however, had broken down under the strain of an investigation which had extended over two months, during which period he had never worked less than fifteen hours a day, and had more than once, as he assured me, kept to his task for five days at a stretch.
It was at this period I learned that the destiny which seemed subservient to every wish formed by Napoleon, had bestowed on him a son, named king of Rome even in his cradle.
Other matches
Learn period in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.