(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.

abbreviation astriction astringency bottleneck cervix circumscription coarctation compactedness compaction compression compressure concentration condensation consolidation constriction constringency contraction contracture curtailment decrease diminuendo hourglass figure isthmus knitting narrow place narrowing neck puckering pursing reduction shortening solidification stranglement strangulation striction stricture systole wasp waist wrinkling