Time dilation is defined in physics and relativity as the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks. It is caused by either a difference in relative velocity (special relativistic "kinetic" time dilation) or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations (general relativistic gravitational time dilation). When left undefined, "time dilation" usually refers to the effect of velocity.
Because of time dilation, two working clocks will report different times after different accelerations. Time moves slower on the ISS, for example, lagging approximately 0.01 seconds for every 12 Earth months. GPS satellites must compensate for similar bending of spacetime in order to properly coordinate with systems on Earth.
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