Times Jumbo Cryptic 1091

[a.trembath]

Last 2 and please explain parsing. 43 ac A period of time surrounded by dripping ends to pipe and sewer may see it appear (5,5) W?T?R ?E?E?
42d American metric measure almost entirely in error(7) L?T?R?L

[Captain2]

42 Literal

[Captain2]

Water Meter

[Oldred]

water meter -'a term' inside 'wet'+ (pip)e + (sewe)r

[elliemay1]

American spelling of litre is liter , almost entirely=al(l)

[Oldred]

literal - liter + al(l)

[dannyk13]

2d.Water meter ( a term in wet+ (pip)e + (sewe)r

[Captain2]

...and

American metric measure = LITER (not litre)
Almost entirely = AL(l)

[a.trembath]

Thanks Oldred - but why "literal"

[a.trembath]

Thanks elliemay1

[Oldred]

literal - a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind

[Captain2]

Last definition here



lit·er·al (lĭt′ər-əl)
adj.
1. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words.
2. Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation.
3. Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.
4. Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters: literal notation.
5. Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.
n. Computer Science
A letter or symbol that stands for itself as opposed to a feature, function, or entity associated with it in a programming language: $ can be a symbol that refers to the end of a line, but as a literal, it is a dollar sign.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litterālis, of letters, from Latin littera, lītera, letter; see letter.]
lit′er·al·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
literal (ˈlɪtərəl)
adj
1. in exact accordance with or limited to the primary or explicit meaning of a word or text
2. word for word
3. dull, factual, or prosaic
4. consisting of, concerning, or indicated by letters
5. true; actual
6. (Mathematics) maths containing or using coefficients and constants represented by letters: ax² + b is a literal expression. Compare numerical3a
n
7. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) Also called: literal error a misprint or misspelling in a text