falseticker

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noun

A timeserver that transmits an inaccurate time via the Network Time Protocol.

“Coordinate term: truechimer”

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Meanings

nounfalseticker (plural falsetickers)

plural falsetickers

  1. InternetA timeserver that transmits an inaccurate time via the Network Time Protocol.

    Coordinate term: truechimer

    1 more example

    If a device attempts to ascertain the time by consulting two sources, only one of which smears the second, it will struggle to distinguish a truechimer from a falseticker, and may settle on a minutely incorrect time.

    2022 September 30, Nate Hopper, “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2024

Origin

Compound of false + ticker. Coined by American academic computer engineer David L. Mills.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

falseticker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falseticker

MLA

“falseticker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falseticker. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “falseticker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falseticker.

Source: falseticker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.