clockworkn.adj.

Brit.

/ˈklɒkwəːk/, U.S.

/ˈklɑkˌwərk/

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: clock n.¹, work n.

Etymology: < clock n.¹ + work n.

A. n.

a. The mechanism or works of a mechanical clock or watch, including trains of wheels and pinions with interlocking teeth, set in motion by weights or by a spring; such mechanisms collectively; (also) the making or repairing of these. Formerly sometimes spec.: (a) the mechanism of the striking part of a clock, as distinct from the timekeeping part; (b) the works of a (large) clock with weights, as distinct from those of a watch driven by a spring. Cf. watchwork n. a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of

nut1428

peise1428

plumbc1450

Jack1498

clockwork1516

larum1542

Jack of the clockhouse1563

watch-wheel1568

work1570

plummeta1578

Jack of the clock1581

snail-cam1591

snail-work1591

pointer1596

quarter jack1604

mainspring1605

winder1606

notch-wheel1611

fusee1622

count-wheel1647

jack-wheel1647

frame1658

arbor1659

balance1660

fuse1674

hour-figure1675

stop1675

pallet1676

regulator1676

cock1678

movement1678

detent1688

savage1690

clock1696

pinwheel1696

starred wheel1696

swing-wheel1696

warning-wheel1696

watch1696

watch-part1696

hoop-wheel1704

hour-wheel1704

snail1714

step-wheel1714

tide-work1739

train1751

crutch1753

cannon pinion1764

rising board1769

remontoire1774

escapement1779

clock jack1784

locking plate1786

scapement1789

motion work1795

anchor escapement1798

scape1798

star-wheel1798

recoil escapement1800

recoiling pallet1801

recoiling scapement1801

cannon1802

hammer-tail1805

recoiling escapement1805

bottle jack1810

renovating spring1812

quarter-boy1815

pin tooth1817

solar wheel1819

impulse-teeth1825

pendulum wheel1825

pallet arbor1826

rewinder1826

rack hook1829

snail-wheel1831

quarter bell1832

tow1834

star pulley1836

watch train1838

clock train1843

raising-piece1843

wheelwork1843

gravity escapement1850

jumper1850

vertical escapement1850

time train1853

pin pallet1860

spade1862

dead well1867

stop-work1869

ringer1873

strike-or-silent1875

warning-piece1875

guard-pin1879

pendulum cock1881

warning-lever1881

beat-pin1883

fusee-piece1884

fusee-snail1884

shutter1884

tourbillion1884

tumbler1884

virgule1884

foliot1899

grasshopper1899

grasshopper escapement1899

trunk1899

pin lever1908

clock spring1933

1516 Rye Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquarian Horol. (1976) Winter 50/2 Item paid to the man thatt made the cloke werke and dyell.

1662 S. Patrick Brief Acct. Latitude-men 15 The farmer..desired this Artificer to show him the nature of Clockwork, and what was requisite to make up a perfect Clock.

1748 J. Colson tr. J. A. Nollet Lect. in Exper. Philos. 102 A Workman skilled in Clock-Work, in Mathematical Instruments, in Goldsmiths Work, &c. never fails to case-harden his Work.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 374 Clock-work, originally imported those wheels, pinions, and other mechanism, which constituted the striking part, or what was formerly called the clock part of a movement for measuring time.

1856 Frank Leslie's N.Y. Jrnl. Sept. 188/2 The wheels commonly used in watch and clockwork are formed from thin sheets of metal, usually brass, which are cut into circular plates.

1949 Country Life Ann. 110/3 The earliest of Tompion's clocks show an experimental character in their clockwork.

1999 S. Brand Clock of Long Now x. 57 The ‘gifted amateur’ horologist Denison designed big Ben's clockwork.

b. Mechanical apparatus similar to the mechanism of a clock, used in other devices; the operation of this.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > other specific mechanisms

stop?1523

clockwork1652

sector1715

rackwork1755

scapement1789

scape1798

safety catch1827

controller1836

dog1840

Geneva stop1841

Maltese cross1852

throw-off1852

gearhead1869

tripper1870

Scotch yoke1880

Geneva movement1881

belt-tightener1882

watch1882

selector1890

Geneva wheel1891

throw-out1894

Geneva motion1897

horse-geara1899

Geneva mechanism1903

safety catch1904

Geneva drive1913

Geneva1919

Possum1961

1652 Mercurius Democritus No. 2. 16 It is a most cunning device to be jack'd up out of the Thames by a piece of clock-work, and placed on Powls-steeple.

1663 S. Pepys Diary 6 Aug. (1971) IV. 264 A puppet-play in Lincolnes Inn fields; where there was the Story of Holofernes and other clockwork, well done.

1712 J. Arbuthnot Law is Bottomless-pit xii. 22 A Puppet mov'd by Clock-work.

1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 10 Oct. (1965) I. 279 A large cabinet full of curiosities of Clock Work..one of which..was a Crawfish.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 98 A silver triumphal car..which moves by clock-work about the room.

1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 572/1 Clock-work has been applied to lamps..to light them at a specific prearranged time.

1952 J. A. Steers et al. Lake's Physical Geogr. (ed. 3) i. vii. 81 There is a small ventilating fan operated by clockwork.

2008 B. Lavery In which they Served iii. 87 If he was of a mechanical bent, a middle-class boy might have a model train, powered by either clockwork or electricity.

a. figurative. The way in which something functions; the workings of something.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > [noun] > system or way of proceeding > a particular > details of

clockwork1618

mechanics1850

1618 S. Ward Iethro's Iustice of Peace 57 Thus we see in this curious clockwork of Iustice, the least pin or wheele amisse may distemper & disorder all.

1657 T. Jordan Walks Islington & Hogsdon Prol. sig. A3^v Lest I betray The Plot, and shew the Clock work of the play.

1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §60 The clockwork of nature..is so wonderfully fine and subtle.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 218 The play of vegetative, and vital clockworks.

1834 Metropolitan Sept. 1 The anatomist..ascertains all the wheels and clock-works of the heart.

1975 Daily Mail 14 Apr. 21/1 Elizabeth, an hour of pure joy, completely out of key with most of the collection although still dependent on class and income for the clockwork of its plot.

2015 Daily Tel. 19 Mar. 26/4 Other features of the heavens are far more complex than the orbits of moons and planets—the ‘clockwork’ of the solar system that Newton and his successors so well delineated.

b. In figurative and similative use, denoting something or someone likened to clockwork or the motion of clockwork in being mechanical, automatic, or characterized by regularity or precision. Cf. as regular as clockwork, like clockwork.

ΚΠ

1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned i. ii. 21 Their Religion was a kind of clock-work..moving in a certain order, but without life or sense.

1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 181 This jewel of a valet, this matchless piece of clock-work.

1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xii. 107 All is clockwork, all is order.

1935 E. Paul & C. Paul tr. E. Ludwig Hindenburg v. 338 The whole thing [sc. the conquest of Prussia]..went by clockwork.

2009 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Mar. 22/3 Our conviction that the mind is a digital computer..is on a par with the seventeenth-century conviction that the body is an exquisite piece of clockwork.

B. adj.

1. Resembling clockwork or the motion of clockwork in being mechanical, automatic, or characterized by regularity or precision.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals

continualc1530

periodical1585

termly1594

clock-like1609

terminal1610

stated1611

regular1639

periodic1661

clockwork1679

recursive1766

clockwork-like1875

tidal1876

seasonal1880

1679 tr. T. A. d'Aubigné Hell Illuminated ii. i. 89 I have taught him all his Clock-work Motions to a hair.

a1764 R. Lloyd To G. Colman in Poet. Wks. (1774) I. 116 A kind of clock-work talking.

1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 529 The clockwork tintinnabulum of rhyme.

1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance II. xxv. 273 A very..quiet, old-fashioned family—quite clock-work in our ways and hours.

1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Dec. 583 A pattern of clock-work punctuality and concentrated energies.

1990 Times 24 Nov. 1/2 His stories combine the outré with clockwork precision of plot.

2001 Vanity Fair Nov. 164/1 The plunky guitars and clockwork drumming in the Sun sessions carry a familiar twang of front-porch jam sessions.

2. Driven by clockwork; spec. designating a toy or other device which begins moving or working when it is wound up with a key. Cf. sense A. 1b, wind-up adj. 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [adjective] > driving mechanism

clockwork1764

belted1868

belt-driven1883

1764 London Chron. 12–14 Jan. 43/2 He..strikes his clock work bells.

1775 E. Carter Let. 11 Dec. in Series of Lett. E. Carter & C. Talbot (1809) IV. xciii. 138 It is treating her as children do a clockwork toy, which they never think has diverted them long enough till they have forced and broken all the springs.

1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Prol. 4 Round the lake A little clock-work steamer paddling plied.

1904 E. Anstruther Lady in Waiting viii. 137 He stopped with a jerk like a clockwork toy.

2014 Times 10 Oct. (Arts on Friday section) 16/2 Items of interest include a clockwork music box.

Phrases

P1. (as) regular (also regularly) as clockwork: (a) adj. very regular; that does something predictably at the same time or in the same way; (b) adv. very regularly; predictably at the same time or in the same way.

ΚΠ

1758 Lloyd's Evening Post 21–23 June 599/3 The administration of justice, and other parts of civil government, is as regular as clockwork.

1789 H. Walpole Reminiscences (1924) vii. 29 The king's last years passed as regularly as clock-work.

1829 Lady's Mag. Dec. 629/1 He comes to us as regular as clock-work for his mutton.

1835 C. Dickens in Bell's Life in London 25 Oct. Regular as clock-work—breakfast at nine—dress & tittivate a little.

1920 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 6 Apr. 8/3 He heard her go in the morning, and from behind his curtain watched her return at night. She was as regular as clockwork.

2008 D. Donnellan in J. Benedetti tr. K. Stanislavski Actor's Work p. ix Regular as clockwork..the dog would trot to the door and wait there patiently.

P2. like clockwork.

a. With mechanical regularity; predictably at the same time or in the same way.

ΚΠ

1775 M. Culley Jrnl. in M. Culley & G. Culley Trav. Jrnls. & Lett. (2002) 88 Everything moves like clockwork, such is the order and regularity.

1837 Globe (Washington, D.C.) 21 Nov. The Louisville rider reaches the post office every night like clock-work.

1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 38 I go to church like clockwork, and pay my pew-rent.

2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Oct. b1/3 Every year like clockwork, analysts start out bizarrely optimistic about future results.

b. Without difficulties or problems, smoothly and easily; as planned or expected.

ΚΠ

1826 Wilmingtonian & Delaware Advertiser 8 June All went like clock work at home; the family expenditures were carefully made; not a farthing was wasted.

1895 Argosy Dec. 231/1 If he is enabled to open the door, and one of us is ready with the bombs to drive the lions out, all will go like clockwork.

1927 F. M. Thrasher Gang iii. xv. 283 Very carefully worked-out signals were then to be given by boys stationed at every eighty yards... All was arranged to work like clockwork.

2002 Jewish Chron. 2 Aug. 63/1 Over 50 multi-lingual leaders and trainers made sure everything ran like clockwork.

Compounds

clockwork universe n. (in cosmology) a universe in which actions are conceived as occurring mechanistically and predictably according to physical laws devised by a creator.

ΚΠ

a1895 J. P. Coyle Spirit in Lit. & Life (1896) 134 Jesus..cannot be satisfied with a merely impersonal, clockwork universe, ruled by dead law.

1950 William & Mary Q. 7 279 The final contrast between the hierarchical Aristotelian universe permeated with ‘spirits’ and the clockwork universe of Newton is strikingly presented.

2015 P. Davies in M. Brooks Chance iv. 148 Two major developments of the 20th century have..put paid to the idea of a clockwork universe. First there was quantum mechanics... Then along came chaos theory.

Derivatives

ˈclockwork-like adv. and adj. (a) adv. in the manner of clockwork; with mechanical regularity; (b) adj. resembling clockwork or the motion of clockwork; that happens regularly or predictably at the same time or in the same way.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > periodically

termlya1450

by circuit1601

revolvingly1611

tide-wise1611

periodically1646

statedly1658

regularly1665

regular1704

clockwork-like1761

the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals

continualc1530

periodical1585

termly1594

clock-like1609

terminal1610

stated1611

regular1639

periodic1661

clockwork1679

recursive1766

clockwork-like1875

tidal1876

seasonal1880

1761 C. Churchill Night 2 The body's dull Machine; Which, clock-work like, with the same equal pace, Still travels on thro' life's insipid space.

1875 Shamrock 19 June 608/2 His clockwork-like life still went its even round.

1904 Cornishman 14 Feb. 8/3 S. Y. Williams and Brewer fed their forward with clockwork-like precision.

1995 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 July 18/4 Lavinia dances alone, clockwork-like, to an irritating little waltz.

2009 Vanity Fair Apr. 103/2 Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities..was a legend on Wall Street for..the clockwork-like returns of 10 to 12 percent a year from its private-investment arm.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	clockwork
释义	clockworkn.adj. Brit. /ˈklɒkwəːk/, U.S. /ˈklɑkˌwərk/ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: clock n.¹, work n. Etymology: < clock n.¹ + work n. A. n. 1. a. The mechanism or works of a mechanical clock or watch, including trains of wheels and pinions with interlocking teeth, set in motion by weights or by a spring; such mechanisms collectively; (also) the making or repairing of these. Formerly sometimes spec.: (a) the mechanism of the striking part of a clock, as distinct from the timekeeping part; (b) the works of a (large) clock with weights, as distinct from those of a watch driven by a spring. Cf. watchwork n. a. ΘΚΠ the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of nut1428 peise1428 plumbc1450 Jack1498 clockwork1516 larum1542 Jack of the clockhouse1563 watch-wheel1568 work1570 plummeta1578 Jack of the clock1581 snail-cam1591 snail-work1591 pointer1596 quarter jack1604 mainspring1605 winder1606 notch-wheel1611 fusee1622 count-wheel1647 jack-wheel1647 frame1658 arbor1659 balance1660 fuse1674 hour-figure1675 stop1675 pallet1676 regulator1676 cock1678 movement1678 detent1688 savage1690 clock1696 pinwheel1696 starred wheel1696 swing-wheel1696 warning-wheel1696 watch1696 watch-part1696 hoop-wheel1704 hour-wheel1704 snail1714 step-wheel1714 tide-work1739 train1751 crutch1753 cannon pinion1764 rising board1769 remontoire1774 escapement1779 clock jack1784 locking plate1786 scapement1789 motion work1795 anchor escapement1798 scape1798 star-wheel1798 recoil escapement1800 recoiling pallet1801 recoiling scapement1801 cannon1802 hammer-tail1805 recoiling escapement1805 bottle jack1810 renovating spring1812 quarter-boy1815 pin tooth1817 solar wheel1819 impulse-teeth1825 pendulum wheel1825 pallet arbor1826 rewinder1826 rack hook1829 snail-wheel1831 quarter bell1832 tow1834 star pulley1836 watch train1838 clock train1843 raising-piece1843 wheelwork1843 gravity escapement1850 jumper1850 vertical escapement1850 time train1853 pin pallet1860 spade1862 dead well1867 stop-work1869 ringer1873 strike-or-silent1875 warning-piece1875 guard-pin1879 pendulum cock1881 warning-lever1881 beat-pin1883 fusee-piece1884 fusee-snail1884 shutter1884 tourbillion1884 tumbler1884 virgule1884 foliot1899 grasshopper1899 grasshopper escapement1899 trunk1899 pin lever1908 clock spring1933 1516 Rye Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquarian Horol. (1976) Winter 50/2 Item paid to the man thatt made the cloke werke and dyell. 1662 S. Patrick Brief Acct. Latitude-men 15 The farmer..desired this Artificer to show him the nature of Clockwork, and what was requisite to make up a perfect Clock. 1748 J. Colson tr. J. A. Nollet Lect. in Exper. Philos. 102 A Workman skilled in Clock-Work, in Mathematical Instruments, in Goldsmiths Work, &c. never fails to case-harden his Work. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 374 Clock-work, originally imported those wheels, pinions, and other mechanism, which constituted the striking part, or what was formerly called the clock part of a movement for measuring time. 1856 Frank Leslie's N.Y. Jrnl. Sept. 188/2 The wheels commonly used in watch and clockwork are formed from thin sheets of metal, usually brass, which are cut into circular plates. 1949 Country Life Ann. 110/3 The earliest of Tompion's clocks show an experimental character in their clockwork. 1999 S. Brand Clock of Long Now x. 57 The ‘gifted amateur’ horologist Denison designed big Ben's clockwork. b. Mechanical apparatus similar to the mechanism of a clock, used in other devices; the operation of this. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > other specific mechanisms stop?1523 clockwork1652 sector1715 rackwork1755 scapement1789 scape1798 safety catch1827 controller1836 dog1840 Geneva stop1841 Maltese cross1852 throw-off1852 gearhead1869 tripper1870 Scotch yoke1880 Geneva movement1881 belt-tightener1882 watch1882 selector1890 Geneva wheel1891 throw-out1894 Geneva motion1897 horse-geara1899 Geneva mechanism1903 safety catch1904 Geneva drive1913 Geneva1919 Possum1961 1652 Mercurius Democritus No. 2. 16 It is a most cunning device to be jack'd up out of the Thames by a piece of clock-work, and placed on Powls-steeple. 1663 S. Pepys Diary 6 Aug. (1971) IV. 264 A puppet-play in Lincolnes Inn fields; where there was the Story of Holofernes and other clockwork, well done. 1712 J. Arbuthnot Law is Bottomless-pit xii. 22 A Puppet mov'd by Clock-work. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 10 Oct. (1965) I. 279 A large cabinet full of curiosities of Clock Work..one of which..was a Crawfish. 1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 98 A silver triumphal car..which moves by clock-work about the room. 1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 572/1 Clock-work has been applied to lamps..to light them at a specific prearranged time. 1952 J. A. Steers et al. Lake's Physical Geogr. (ed. 3) i. vii. 81 There is a small ventilating fan operated by clockwork. 2008 B. Lavery In which they Served iii. 87 If he was of a mechanical bent, a middle-class boy might have a model train, powered by either clockwork or electricity. 2. a. figurative. The way in which something functions; the workings of something. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > [noun] > system or way of proceeding > a particular > details of clockwork1618 mechanics1850 1618 S. Ward Iethro's Iustice of Peace 57 Thus we see in this curious clockwork of Iustice, the least pin or wheele amisse may distemper & disorder all. 1657 T. Jordan Walks Islington & Hogsdon Prol. sig. A3^v Lest I betray The Plot, and shew the Clock work of the play. 1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §60 The clockwork of nature..is so wonderfully fine and subtle. a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 218 The play of vegetative, and vital clockworks. 1834 Metropolitan Sept. 1 The anatomist..ascertains all the wheels and clock-works of the heart. 1975 Daily Mail 14 Apr. 21/1 Elizabeth, an hour of pure joy, completely out of key with most of the collection although still dependent on class and income for the clockwork of its plot. 2015 Daily Tel. 19 Mar. 26/4 Other features of the heavens are far more complex than the orbits of moons and planets—the ‘clockwork’ of the solar system that Newton and his successors so well delineated. b. In figurative and similative use, denoting something or someone likened to clockwork or the motion of clockwork in being mechanical, automatic, or characterized by regularity or precision. Cf. as regular as clockwork, like clockwork. ΚΠ 1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned i. ii. 21 Their Religion was a kind of clock-work..moving in a certain order, but without life or sense. 1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 181 This jewel of a valet, this matchless piece of clock-work. 1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xii. 107 All is clockwork, all is order. 1935 E. Paul & C. Paul tr. E. Ludwig Hindenburg v. 338 The whole thing [sc. the conquest of Prussia]..went by clockwork. 2009 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Mar. 22/3 Our conviction that the mind is a digital computer..is on a par with the seventeenth-century conviction that the body is an exquisite piece of clockwork. B. adj. 1. Resembling clockwork or the motion of clockwork in being mechanical, automatic, or characterized by regularity or precision. ΘΚΠ the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals continualc1530 periodical1585 termly1594 clock-like1609 terminal1610 stated1611 regular1639 periodic1661 clockwork1679 recursive1766 clockwork-like1875 tidal1876 seasonal1880 1679 tr. T. A. d'Aubigné Hell Illuminated ii. i. 89 I have taught him all his Clock-work Motions to a hair. a1764 R. Lloyd To G. Colman in Poet. Wks. (1774) I. 116 A kind of clock-work talking. 1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 529 The clockwork tintinnabulum of rhyme. 1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance II. xxv. 273 A very..quiet, old-fashioned family—quite clock-work in our ways and hours. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Dec. 583 A pattern of clock-work punctuality and concentrated energies. 1990 Times 24 Nov. 1/2 His stories combine the outré with clockwork precision of plot. 2001 Vanity Fair Nov. 164/1 The plunky guitars and clockwork drumming in the Sun sessions carry a familiar twang of front-porch jam sessions. 2. Driven by clockwork; spec. designating a toy or other device which begins moving or working when it is wound up with a key. Cf. sense A. 1b, wind-up adj. 1. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [adjective] > driving mechanism clockwork1764 belted1868 belt-driven1883 1764 London Chron. 12–14 Jan. 43/2 He..strikes his clock work bells. 1775 E. Carter Let. 11 Dec. in Series of Lett. E. Carter & C. Talbot (1809) IV. xciii. 138 It is treating her as children do a clockwork toy, which they never think has diverted them long enough till they have forced and broken all the springs. 1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Prol. 4 Round the lake A little clock-work steamer paddling plied. 1904 E. Anstruther Lady in Waiting viii. 137 He stopped with a jerk like a clockwork toy. 2014 Times 10 Oct. (Arts on Friday section) 16/2 Items of interest include a clockwork music box. Phrases P1. (as) regular (also regularly) as clockwork: (a) adj. very regular; that does something predictably at the same time or in the same way; (b) adv. very regularly; predictably at the same time or in the same way. ΚΠ 1758 Lloyd's Evening Post 21–23 June 599/3 The administration of justice, and other parts of civil government, is as regular as clockwork. 1789 H. Walpole Reminiscences (1924) vii. 29 The king's last years passed as regularly as clock-work. 1829 Lady's Mag. Dec. 629/1 He comes to us as regular as clock-work for his mutton. 1835 C. Dickens in Bell's Life in London 25 Oct. Regular as clock-work—breakfast at nine—dress & tittivate a little. 1920 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 6 Apr. 8/3 He heard her go in the morning, and from behind his curtain watched her return at night. She was as regular as clockwork. 2008 D. Donnellan in J. Benedetti tr. K. Stanislavski Actor's Work p. ix Regular as clockwork..the dog would trot to the door and wait there patiently. P2. like clockwork. a. With mechanical regularity; predictably at the same time or in the same way. ΚΠ 1775 M. Culley Jrnl. in M. Culley & G. Culley Trav. Jrnls. & Lett. (2002) 88 Everything moves like clockwork, such is the order and regularity. 1837 Globe (Washington, D.C.) 21 Nov. The Louisville rider reaches the post office every night like clock-work. 1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 38 I go to church like clockwork, and pay my pew-rent. 2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Oct. b1/3 Every year like clockwork, analysts start out bizarrely optimistic about future results. b. Without difficulties or problems, smoothly and easily; as planned or expected. ΚΠ 1826 Wilmingtonian & Delaware Advertiser 8 June All went like clock work at home; the family expenditures were carefully made; not a farthing was wasted. 1895 Argosy Dec. 231/1 If he is enabled to open the door, and one of us is ready with the bombs to drive the lions out, all will go like clockwork. 1927 F. M. Thrasher Gang iii. xv. 283 Very carefully worked-out signals were then to be given by boys stationed at every eighty yards... All was arranged to work like clockwork. 2002 Jewish Chron. 2 Aug. 63/1 Over 50 multi-lingual leaders and trainers made sure everything ran like clockwork. Compounds clockwork universe n. (in cosmology) a universe in which actions are conceived as occurring mechanistically and predictably according to physical laws devised by a creator. ΚΠ a1895 J. P. Coyle Spirit in Lit. & Life (1896) 134 Jesus..cannot be satisfied with a merely impersonal, clockwork universe, ruled by dead law. 1950 William & Mary Q. 7 279 The final contrast between the hierarchical Aristotelian universe permeated with ‘spirits’ and the clockwork universe of Newton is strikingly presented. 2015 P. Davies in M. Brooks Chance iv. 148 Two major developments of the 20th century have..put paid to the idea of a clockwork universe. First there was quantum mechanics... Then along came chaos theory. Derivatives ˈclockwork-like adv. and adj. (a) adv. in the manner of clockwork; with mechanical regularity; (b) adj. resembling clockwork or the motion of clockwork; that happens regularly or predictably at the same time or in the same way. ΘΚΠ the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > periodically termlya1450 by circuit1601 revolvingly1611 tide-wise1611 periodically1646 statedly1658 regularly1665 regular1704 clockwork-like1761 the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals continualc1530 periodical1585 termly1594 clock-like1609 terminal1610 stated1611 regular1639 periodic1661 clockwork1679 recursive1766 clockwork-like1875 tidal1876 seasonal1880 1761 C. Churchill Night 2 The body's dull Machine; Which, clock-work like, with the same equal pace, Still travels on thro' life's insipid space. 1875 Shamrock 19 June 608/2 His clockwork-like life still went its even round. 1904 Cornishman 14 Feb. 8/3 S. Y. Williams and Brewer fed their forward with clockwork-like precision. 1995 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 July 18/4 Lavinia dances alone, clockwork-like, to an irritating little waltz. 2009 Vanity Fair Apr. 103/2 Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities..was a legend on Wall Street for..the clockwork-like returns of 10 to 12 percent a year from its private-investment arm. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.adj.1516
随便看	in speed in spirit in spirit and in truth in spirit and truth in spirits in spite in spite maugre a person's beard in spite of in spite of a person's beard in spite of a person's head in spite of despite one's teeth in spite of etc one's teeth in spite of maugre one's teeth in spite of minerva in spite of one's nose in spite of one's teeth in spite of spite in sport in spots in sprotes in squads in stale in stamp in star in state