minute hand

[min-it]

noun

1. the hand that indicates the minutes on a clock or watch, usually longer than the hour hand.

minute hand

/ ˈmɪnɪt /

noun

1. the pointer on a timepiece that indicates minutes, typically the longer hand of two Compare hour hand second hand

Word History and Origins

Origin of minute hand¹

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Using the tip of a sharpened pencil, I delicately push the minute hand of the watch around in a circle, though the hour hand is unmovable, permanently pointing at 11 o’clock.

From Los Angeles Times

The 62-year-old also explained how the clock keeps its time during the year despite the forces of gravity on the minute hand.

From BBC

This clock-inspired design involves placing two nanorods made of Mg at a certain modifiable angle, resembling the hour and minute hands of a clock.

From Science Daily

Two years later, the minute hand moved forward to just 100 seconds before midnight, and this January — the most recent Doomsday Clock announcement — it was, for the first time ever, inched forward to 90 seconds.

From Salon

The only motion was the minute hand and the agitated red star-shaped time indicator on Fischer’s clock.

From Literature