What is "current meter"

Current \Cur"rent\, n. [Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ]

1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion; as, a current of electricity.

   Two such silver currents, when they join, Do glorify the banks that bound them in.
   --Shak.

   The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know.
   --Nichol.

2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc.

   Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity, force, etc., of currents.

   Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel.

   Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the tide.

   Syn: Stream; course. See Stream.

A current meter is oceanographic device for flow measurement by mechanical ( rotor current meter), tilt ( Tilt Current Meter), acoustical ( ADCP) or electrical means.