n. a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations; "in England they call a period a stop"

n. the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause; "the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation"; "a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped"--Hippocrates; "the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females"--Aristotle

n. the end or completion of something; "death put a period to his endeavors"; "a change soon put a period to my tranquility"

n. (ice hockey) one of three divisions into which play is divided in hockey games

n. [a specified division or duration of time]

n. the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past

n. the present; "they are up to date"; "we haven't heard from them to date"

n. the complete duration of something; "the job was finished in the span of an hour"

n. the time during which a school holds classes; "they had to shorten the school term"

n. a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party began"

n. a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition; "he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good weather"; "a patch of bad weather"

n. an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "in a mo"; "it only takes a minute"; "in just a bit"

n. a contest or fight (especially between boxers or wrestlers)

n. a coming to an end of a contract period; "the expiry of his driver's license"

n. an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs; "the never-ending cycle of the seasons"

n. a time for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else); "it's my go"; "a spell of work"