time1 nountime2 verb
timetime1 /taɪm/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 
WORD ORIGINtime1
Origin:
Old English timaEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- After a time, I began to feel more relaxed.
- All systems settle down after a time.
- At one time, Hakami was ranked 32nd in the world.
- Bill had lost his job, and it was a difficult time for him.
- Check with the museum for opening times at www.musart.co.
- Could I have the times of the trains to Birmingham please?
- Do you remember that time Tim got really drunk at Sarah's party?
- Do you remember the time when Dad lost the car keys?
- Drugs can alter our understanding of time and space.
- Entrance fees to the exhibit have been reduced for the time being.
- Every time I met her, she asked me about the children.
- For a time, the 1,600 seater hall was home to a Saturday night film show, before being converted to a night club.
- Give us a call next time you're in town.
- He chatted to us for a time, then left.
- He played for Barcelona for four years, and during that time they won two major competitions.
- How much time do you think they'll need to paint the house?
- I've got to get this to the video store by closing time.
- I've heard Jessie play a number of times, and I think he's great.
- I didn't really enjoy my time in Boston.
- I really enjoyed my time at university.
THESAURUSa time when something happens
a time when something happens or when you should do something: · The last time I saw her she was in high school.· It’s time for you to go to bed.· The best time to visit Scotland is in late May.
a time when something happens. Occasion is more formal than time: · They have been seen together on several occasions.· The last occasion the two teams met, the Giants won easily.
a particular point in time when something happens: · At that moment (=at exactly that time), the door bell rang.· The next moment she was gone.
a particular time during a longer period of time: · At one point during the play she completely forgot her lines.· the lowest point of the holiday
a long time a long period of time, especially many months or years: · They’ve been married a long time – nearly 30 years.· The house has been empty for a long time.
continuing for the whole day, night, year etc – used especially to emphasize that it is a long time: · It’s going to take me all night to finish this essay.· He’s in London all week, and only comes home at the weekends.
many hours, weeks, months, or years – used to emphasize that it is a long time, or much longer than it should be: · It’s years since I rode a bike.· My wife had to wait months for a hospital appointment.
especially British English informal a very long time: · I’ve been standing here for ages.· The software takes ages to load.· They’ve lived there for ages.
(also some time) a fairly long time: · I hadn’t seen Paul for a while, and he’d completely changed.· It may be some time before the company starts to make a profit.
American English a very long time: · For the longest time, my daughter wasn’t reading at all.· It took me the longest time to figure out how to work the sunroof in this car.
a short time a short time: · I’ll call you back in a minute.· Can I show you something? It will only take a moment.
a very short time: · I’ll be ready in a second.· Just a second – I can’t find my wallet.
written a very short time: · In an instant, they were gone.· He paused for an instant.
a short period of time, especially a few hours, days, or weeks: · I’ve been to Tokyo, but I was only there for a short while.· I saw him a little while ago.
Longman Language Activatorwhen you ask what time it is to ask someone to tell you the time: · She was walking home near Colbayns School when a man approached her and asked her the time.· She was distracted for a moment by someone asking the time.· Go and ask Dad what time it is.· If you've got a watch, why are you asking what time it is?
also what's the time? British spoken say this to ask someone you are with to tell you the time: · "What time is it?" "Just after four o'clock."· What's the time? Is it after 10?
British /do you have the time? American spoken say this to ask someone the time, when you do not know whether they have a watch: · Sorry to trouble you, but do you have the time?have the right time: · Does anyone have the right time here?have the time on you British: · Excuse me! Have you got the time on you please?
British /what time do you have? American spoken say this when you are asking someone who has a watch, especially because you think your own watch may be wrong: · What time do you make it, Emma? My watch has stopped.· What time do you have, Dave? I don't want to miss my plane.
ways of saying what time it is use this when the time is exactly a particular hour: · It's 5 o'clock.· It's exactly 10 o'clock.
also just gone British use this when the time is a little before or after a particular hour: · It's just before 6.· It's just after 10 o'clock.· It's just gone midnight. (=just after)
also of American use this to say that the time is a particular number of minutes before a particular hour: · It's ten to six.· It doesn't get dark until about twenty to ten.· It's a quarter of eleven.· Joe, by the ten of eight you're going upstairs and that's only about a half hour from now.
also after American use this to say that the time is a particular number of minutes after a particular hour: · It's quarter past four.· It's ten after five.· It's quarter after eight, and Laurie's showing up at nine.· It's half past two.
British use this to say that it is almost a particular time, especially when you are guessing what time it might be: · It's getting on for five o'clock.· I should think it's getting on for ten by now.
British informal use this to say that it is exactly a particular time: · "What time is it?" "Bang on midnight."· I make it dead on half past by my watch.· We finished bang on eight, and we were back home by nine.
a time when something happens a time when someone does something or something happens -- use this especially to talk about something that happens more than once: · Do you remember that time Tim got really drunk at Sarah's party?· Play it really loud this time.the only/same/last etc time: · The last time we ate meat was at Thanksgiving.· The only time I've seen him with a girl was that party at Mike's place.· Give us a call next time you're in town.· That was around the same time that I met Linda.the first/second/third etc time: · Is this the first time you've played pool?· Sandra, that's the third time I've asked you to keep quiet.· Alex won the 100 metres for the fifth time in a row (=he won five times, and no one else won the race in between).four/six/several etc times: · This is my favourite film - I've seen it five times.· It's silly -- I've met him several times, but I can never remember his name.a number of times formal (=use this to say something happened several times): · She's been to Greece a number of times.· I've heard Jessie play a number of times, and I think he's great.every/each time: · Every time I met her, she asked me about the children.time when: · Do you remember the time when Dad lost the car keys?
formal a time when something happens: on one/that etc occasion: · The witness said that on both occasions he noticed Davis because of his heavily tattooed arms.· On one occasion, Anna fainted while out shopping with friends.· She had met Zahid on a previous occasion.on numerous/several occasions (=use this to emphasize that something happened many times): · I've suggested that she should move on numerous occasions, but she never takes any notice.· I remember Michael sleeping in your room on several occasions and mom not knowing about it.
an exact time when something happens, during a longer process or series of events: · The play went well, apart from one embarrassing moment when I dropped a cup.· At several points during the meeting, Adler threatened to walk out.· My most special moment with dad was when I was announced as the winner of Junior Beauty Contest.moment/point in time: · At that precise moment in time, Binh walked in.
what hour, day etc something happens the particular minute or hour of the day when something is planned to happen, or the particular minute or hour that it happened in the past: the time of something: · Could I have the times of the trains to Birmingham please?· This leaflet lists the dates and times of all the concerts.· The police are still trying to establish the exact time of her death.what time?: · What time did you see the man leave the bus station?· What time do you usually start in the mornings?· What time is the news on?departure/arrival time (=the time when a train, plane, etc leaves or arrives): · The departure times are posted on our website.· The plane's estimated arrival time is 19:45.opening/closing time (=the time when a shop, office etc opens or closes): · We went into a cafe and sat there until closing time.· I've got to get this to the video store by closing time.opening times (=the normal times when a shop is open): · Check with the museum for opening times at www.musart.co.lunchtime/dinnertime etc (=the time when you have a meal): · Robbie! It's suppertime!time of year/day etc: · The winds are pretty strong at this time of year.· There won't be much traffic on the roads at this time of night.by that time (=after a particular hour of the day or night has passed): · Well, most people had gone to bed by that time of night.· She apologized for being late, but by that time I was really annoyed with her.
the day, month, or year when something is planned to happen, or happened: · Do you know the date when the house was built?· We still haven't received notification of the exam date.the date(s) of something: · Give me the dates of the American War of Independence.· June 9th is the date of the European elections.date for: · We need to arrange a date for the next meeting.· A date for his release has not yet been agreed.set a date (for something) (=choose a particular date): · Have they set a date for the wedding yet?birth date/date of birth (=the date on which someone was born): · It helps if you provide your birth date and Social Security number.· Could I have your name and your date of birth please?start date (=the date when something begins, especially a job): · I later received confirmation of my new job in a letter indicating the start date.closing date (=the date when a competition, offer etc ends): · The closing date for entries is 3 March 2001.expiry dateBritish /expiration date American (=the date on which something can no longer be used): · Key in your credit card details, including the expiration date of the card.· Are you sure these yoghurts are ok? Have you checked the expiry date?launch/release date (=the date when a new product, film, etc is shown to people): · "Snow White" had a December release date to capture the Christmas market.
a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens: · I'd like to return something to your store - what are your hours?office/opening/business hours (=when an office, shop etc is open): · Our telephone hotline is open during regular business hours.visiting hours (=when you can visit someone in the hospital): · Visiting hours are from 2 to 5 every day.after hours (=after an office, shop etc is closed): · After hours callers can leave a voicemail message.out of hours British (=before or after the usual business hours): · What was Tom doing in the office out of hours?
a particular period or point of time during the day or night: at this hour (=very late at night or early in the morning): · Sir, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour.at some ungodly hour informal (=very late or very early): · We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch our train.at all hours: · There's something happening on our street at all hours of the day and night.lunch/dinner hour: · I hate telemarketers who call during the dinner hour.
a word meaning the time, day, or date that something is planned to happen, used especially when you are considering how suitable this is: timing of: · The voter survey is crucial to the timing of the election.
use this with hours and minutes of the day, special holidays, or the beginning or end of a period of time: at six o'clock/half-past four/midnight/lunchtime etc: · He starts work at 10, and finishes at 6:30.· Would you like to go to the sandwich bar at lunchtime?· I have a hospital appointment at 9.00 am.at Christmas/Easter/New Year: · We get a week's holiday at Easter.· What are you doing at Christmas?at the end/beginning/start (of something): · Frank joined the navy at the beginning of the war.· We get paid at the end of the week.· The students all do a short test at the start of term.
use this with particular days: · The team holds a meeting on the first Monday of every month.· I tried to catch him on the last day of term, but he'd already left.on Monday/Tuesday night/Friday evening etc: · We're going out for dinner on Friday.· Are you doing anything special on Saturday night?on August 12th/March 2nd etc: · She was born on May 12, 1913.· The course starts on 14 October.on my birthday/their wedding day/Valentine's day etc: · Did you call dad on Father's Day?· Aren't you coming here on Christmas Day?on Thursdays/Fridays etcalso on a Thursday/Friday etc British (=every Thursday, Friday etc): · Her husband takes her shopping on a Saturday to Asda.· We always go to the pub on Fridays.
use this with parts of the day, particular years, or particular months, and seasons of the year: in the morning/afternoon/evening: · I'm usually too tired to cook a meal in the evening.· We didn't get to bed until 3 o'clock in the morning.first thing in the morning (=very early in the morning): · I want to be ready to leave first thing in the morning.in 1892/2001 etc: · In 2004, the Olympic Games will be held in Athens.in the fifties/sixties/1990s etc (=from 1950 to 1959, 1960 to 1969 etc): · He did a lot of abstract art in the sixties, but he's moved on since then.in January/February/the autumn etc: · I came to England in the summer of 1995.· The series returns in the autumn.· "How old is Philip now?" "He's four in December".
use this to say how far back in the past something happened: 5 minutes/an hour/100 years etc ago: · Michael left the office 20 minutes ago.· "When did you hurt your back?" "About a fortnight ago."· My daughter was married just over a year ago.a long time ago: · I met your father once, a long time ago.a short time ago/a little while ago: · Did you see that program about genetics that was on a little while ago?a minute/moment ago: · I had my keys a minute ago, and now I can't find them.not so long ago (=used to say that something was quite a short time ago): · We went down to see a show in London not so long ago.how long ago? (=used to ask how far back in the past something happened): · How long ago was that, Dad?· How long ago did you buy the computer?
at exactly a particular time and not any earlier or later: · On the stroke of midnight, the British flag was lowered for the last time over Delhi.· The judge entered the courtroom at the stroke of nine.
a list of times of trains, classes, or activities British /schedule American a list that shows the times when something will happen, for example when planes or buses leave, or when classes at school take place: · Teachers will be giving out copies of the new timetable in the first class today.· Train services shown in this timetable are subject to alteration or cancellation at short notice.· After I'd found my room, I sat down to look carefully at my schedule.bus/train etc timetable: · The train schedules are all on the website now.TV/radio schedule: · The events have been arranged to match TV schedules.timetable of: · I'd like a schedule of flights from Boston to New York.
a detailed plan of activities that have been organized, showing for example the times when someone will do something, or the times when activities will start and finish: · The President's schedule includes a two-day visit to St Petersburg.· The flight was cancelled, and that really messed our schedule up.schedule for: · Do you have a schedule for the tour?· What's the schedule for today's meeting?according to schedule: · The director was given a budget of $10 million and so far the film seems to be going according to schedule.ahead of/behind schedule (=earlier/later than the time that was planned): · I know, we're a week behind schedule already.on schedule (=at the time that was planned): · The building should be completed on schedule.stick/keep to a schedule: · It's important that everyone on the project keeps to the schedule.work/training etc schedule: · Do you have a work schedule for this week, Doreen?· Various minor ailments can interfere with your training schedule.busy schedule (=when there is a lot to do): · She took time out of a busy schedule to talk to us.tight schedule (=when there is not very much time to do things): · With this new project in the offing, I'm going to be working to a very tight schedule.
a plan that shows when parts of an important and long process, especially a political one, will happen: · Party leaders met to discuss a new constitution and an electoral timetable.timetable for: · Their purpose would be to set a timetable for the conversion of British cars to low-octane fuel. · He gave no indication of a timetable for the approval of the changes.
to arrange a time for something to happen to arrange for an activity or event to happen at a particular time: · Monday's performance of St Matthew's Passion is scheduled to start at 7.30 pm.· If you schedule your practice routine to include one exercise a week, you should learn the musical scale pretty quickly.schedule something for tomorrow/next week/Dec 4 etc: · I've scheduled a meeting for tomorrow. I hope everyone can attend.· The first game is provisionally scheduled for January 26.
to arrange for an activity or event to happen at a particular time , especially because this is the most suitable or convenient time: · The meditation class will be timed so that it does not coincide with the noisier exercise classes.· The release of the document was shrewdly timed.time something for 12 noon/12.45 etc: · Stephen timed his arrival for exactly six o'clock.· The first track race is timed for 11.15.
to arrange a time for something to happen, especially when you may want to change this later: pencil in something: · Political commentators are pencilling in July 30th, August 6th or August 13th as possible election dates. pencil something in: · we'll pencil May 15 in as a reserve date.pencil something in for Dec 4/next week etc: · Greg's pencilled the sale in for December 15 .· The band are pencilled in for a show in the King's Hall on January 18.
how long something continues use this to ask about or talk about how many minutes, hours, days, or years something continues for: · How long have you been waiting?· I don't know how long the repair will last, but it should get you home.· How long are you going to be in the bathroom?· How long have you two known each other?· So how long did you live on Long Island?
use this to say how long something continues: for an hour/two days/a long time etc: · "How long did you live in Spain?" "Oh, for about three years."· We seem to have been waiting for ages.· We talked for a while.· Omar's been learning English for two years now.· I only worked there for three months.
all the time from a time or event in the past until now: · I've had this car since 1992.· I've been smoking since I was 14.· Graham's become a lot more confident since he finished his training.· I saw her this morning, but I haven't seen her since.ever since: · Jack has had a fascination with cars ever since he was four.· They bought the caravan last summer, and they've had trouble with it ever since.
also till especially spoken if something happens until or till a time or event, it continues and then stops at that time or event: · David worked as a teacher until 1989.· I'll be at home until 5:30 if you want to phone me.· She polished the car until it shone.· I didn't learn to drive until I was 31.· The library's only open till five on Saturdays.· Just wait till I've finished my coffee.
also from ... till ... especially spoken use this to say that something starts happening at one time or event and continues until another time or event: · I have a class Monday from five o'clock till eight o'clock at night.· I lived there from the age of 14 until I went to college.· Max edited the paper from 1950 until he retired in 1989.
use this to say that something starts at a particular time and stops at a later time: from May to September/from 9 am to 5 pm etc: · Eisenhower was President from 1952 to 1956.· I'm going to use the computer lab from eight to ten Friday morning.· My plan is to train seriously from January to July.
American: May through September/Monday through Friday etc starting in May and continuing until September, starting on Monday and continuing until and including Friday, etc: · The store is open Monday through Saturday.· "When will you be away?" "The 17th through the 19th."
written starting on Monday and continuing until and including Friday, starting at 6 o'clock and continuing until 8 o'clock etc - used on signs and notices: · Visit the exhibition of modern art, open every day, 9:30-6:00.· A special fishing licence is required for the season (May-September).
the period of time that something lasts or takes: a considerable/reasonable length of time · The noise went on for a considerable length of time.· Make sure that the speakers only talk for a reasonable length of time, so that everyone gets a chance to take part.length of time (that) · Dress the wound quickly, to reduce the length of time it is exposed to infection.the length of time it takes to do something · Typically, the length of time it takes an adult to fall asleep is 10 to 15 minutes.
formal the length of time that something lasts for: · Zoe's temper tantrums had increased both in volume and duration.two years'/a month's etc duration: · After a long voyage of two years' duration, he arrived in Canton in 1669.· These workshops, usually of one or two days' duration, bring teachers and industrial managers together.duration of: · The doctor will ask you about the duration and frequency of your headaches.· He refused to comment on his salary or the duration of his contract.for the duration (of something): · It was decided that we would stay with my cousins for the duration of the war.
the period of time during which something develops or exists, especially as compared with another period that is much longer or shorter: · Compared to how long it took for the Universe to evolve, our human time scale is tiny.· Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by a number of processes that operate on different time scales.· In today's computer industry, the whole time scale of new product development is far shorter than it was 10 years ago.
a short time a very short time: · Can I show you something? It'll only take a minute.· Luke thought for a moment and then said: "Would you like to come too?"· Can you turn that off a minute (=for a minute) ?in a minute/moment: · Yes, I'm coming in a moment.a minute/moment ago: · Helen was here a minute ago. You've just missed her.for a minute/moment: · If you'd been quiet for a minute, I'd explain what happened.
also a sec informal spoken a very short time - use this especially when asking someone to wait for a short time: · Just a second - I think it's on the desk upstairs.for a second/sec: · For a second there, I forgot what it was called.in a second/sec: · Hang on, I'll be with you in a sec.
a short time: · "How long will it take?" "Oh, not long - just a couple of hours."· I saw her not long ago.not long before/after: · His book was published not long after he died.· It wasn't long before Gemma lost all interest in the new puppy. not long to go (=used to say that something will happen in a short time): · "When's the baby due?" "Three weeks, so there's not long to go."won't be long (=use this to say that someone or something will come or return soon): · I'm popping to the shop, I won't be long.· Supper won't be long.
especially British, spoken a short time: · Wait a bit, I've nearly finished.· I sat down, and after a bit, the phone rang.· Do you mind looking after the kids for a bit while I go out?
a short period of time, during or after which something happens: · Bob's only worked here for a short while, about six months I think.· It always takes a little while to get used to the climate.a little/short while ago: · He was on the telly a short while ago.
a short period of time during which a lot of things happen: in/within a short space of time: · It's amazing how much you can learn in such a short space of time.· In the brief space of time since the war ended, citizens have managed to rebuild over half the city.· She had gained an awful lot of journalistic experience within a short space of time.
a long time · They've been married for 30 years - that's a long time.· It takes me a long time to really trust people.for a long time · The house has been empty for a long time.· Have you been waiting here for a long time?in a long time · It's the worst cold I've had in a long time.· I haven't worn this dress in such a long time.a long time ago · He died a long time ago.· The accident happened such a long time ago that I can't remember much about it.a very long time/a long, long time · I've had those books for a long, long time.· It's very well built and should last a very long time.
· It has long been recognized that a high-fat diet can cause heart problems.· She's convinced that Grandmother is not going to live long.· The journey took longer than I thought it would.long before/after (=a long time before/after) · Long after the war, the wreckage of his plane was discovered.· She was wearing fake fur long before it became fashionable.for long (=for a long time) · Have you been working here for long?· The phone rang for so long, I hung up in the end.long ago · I guess it didn't happen very long ago.take (somebody) so long · Why is it taking so long?· I bet it doesn't take your mom so long to make an apple pie.
continuing for the whole day, night, year etc -- use this especially to emphasize that it is a long time: · It's going to take us all night to finish marking these papers!· He's in London all week, and only comes home at the weekends.all day/week etc long: · I've been working all day long.· Susie, you must have been on the phone all night long!
many hours, weeks, or years -- use this to emphasize the length of time, or to say that it is much longer than you think it should be: · It's years since I rode a bike.· My wife had to wait months for a hospital appointment.for years/hours etc: · I lived there for years.in years/hours etc: · That's one of the best films I've seen in years.
especially British, spoken a very long time: · It seems like ages since we had a holiday.take (somebody) ages: · This software takes ages to load.· It took him ages to guess who it was in the photo.for ages: · I've been waiting here for ages.ages ago: · "When did you last see Barbara?" "Oh, ages ago."ages and ages (=use this to emphasize how long something takes or lasts): · It's the first time for ages and ages he's taken me out.
British informal a long time, use this especially to say that something happened a very long time ago: for donkey's years/ages: · Some of these medicines have been in the stockroom for donkey's years.· That's been going on for donkey's ages -- didn't you know?donkey's years/ages ago: · We used to play golf together, but that was donkey's years ago.
American a very long time: · It took me the longest time to figure out how to work the sunroof in this car.· For the longest time, I thought Nathan was Asian.
a period of time especially written a particular length of time with a beginning and an end: period of: · These accounts are drawn up for a period of 52 weeks.· After a brief period of independence, Belorussia came under Soviet rule.for a period: · You shouldn't sit in front of a computer screen for long periods without a break.· Anne had difficulty holding down a job for any period of time.period of time: · The work had to be completed within a limited period of time.long/short period: · The company expects a growth in profitability over a longer period.· Then, within a short period, his mother, father, and brother all died.a ten-day/three-year etc period: · The money can be paid back over a five-year period.· The researchers observed mothers and their new infants for a three-day period.over a period: · The restoration of the ceiling was completed over a period of two years.during a period: · During this period, Tanya was making very little money.· black immigration into Britain during the post-war period
a period of time - use this especially to talk about a period in the past, or when you are not saying whether the period was long or short: · Bill had lost his job, and it was a difficult time for him.· I really enjoyed my time at university.at one time (=at a period of time in the past, but not now): · At one time, Hakami was ranked 32nd in the world.· Martin had been at one time a student at Leiden University in the Netherlands.for the time being (=for a short period of time, starting now): · You can stay in the spare room for the time being, until you find a place.· Entrance fees to the exhibit have been reduced for the time being.during that/this time: · He played for Barcelona for four years, and during that time they won two major competitions.for a time: · He chatted to us for a time, then left.· For a time, the 1,600 seater hall was home to a Saturday night film show, before being converted to a night club.after a time: · After a time, I began to feel more relaxed.· All systems settle down after a time.
a length of time that is officially fixed for someone's period of responsibility or power, for someone's period in prison, or for a business contract: · Mr Toplak had just started his term as vice-president of the company.· The Socialists are hoping to secure another term in government.· The bank says that they can extend the term of our mortgage.first/second etc term: · General Herrera was elected to a third term of office as President.· He hopes to visit China during his second term in office.7-year/2-month etc term: · He recently completed a two-year term as chairman.term of imprisonment (=formal): · Political dissidents are sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.prison/jail term: · She had her jail term cut for good behaviour.term of/in office (=term for holding an official position): · He is halfway into his term of office.· The Democrats are hoping to deny him a third term in office.fixed term (=when the term of a business or employment contract is set to a particular length): · The managers were all hired for a fixed term.serve a term: · Malik is now serving a three-year term in prison.· Elected members of the House of Assembly serve a six-year term.
a period of several weeks or months, at the same time every year, during which a particular activity takes place: · The Bulls would consider re-signing him next season.the 2001/2001-02 etc season: · Smith should own the record outright by the third or fourth game of the 2001 season.breeding/hunting/fishing/baseball etc season: · When does the baseball season start?· Foxes become very noisy at the height of the mating season.· The latest challenge is to promote the LSO's winter concert season.
a period of time between other periods, especially one during which there is not much activity or no interruptions: · During their worst stretch of 1996, the Padres lost 19 of their 23 games.· He spent several brief stretches in jail for minor offences.· This is the last game in a four-day stretch here at the Forum.stretch of time: · Sometimes between battles, there were long stretches of time when nothing happened.
informal a period of time doing a particular job or course, often quite a short period: · After a stint in the army, Bill worked in sales.· Krem began his career with the Victoria Symphony, followed by stints with orchestras in Winnipeg and Quebec.stint of: · Dimascio was promoted after serving a stint of five years as a sergeant pilot.a five-year/six-day etc stint: · He has changed his schedule to a three-day stint, which starts Friday.short/brief stint: · Rick was fired in August after a brief stint with a Portland courier service.do/serve a stint: · She served a two-year stint as an aide to Congressman Jim McNulty.· We should thank Mary for the long stint she's done as party treasurer.
a period of a particular type of activity, weather etc, usually a short period: · After a brief spell in the army, I returned to teaching.spell of: · He's had a spell of bad luck recently.a cold/wet/dry etc spell: · We had another cold spell last week.
British a short period of trouble, difficulty, or unhappiness, experienced by someone who is usually happy, successful etc: go through a bad patch (=experience a period of trouble etc): · He went through a bad patch after his wife died, but now he seems to be back to normal.hit a bad patch (=start to experience a period of trouble etc): · The team aren't doing so well at the moment are they? They seem to have hit a bad patch.
a period of time in history a particular period of time in history, especially a period that is studied as a historical subject: · Which period of history are you studying at the moment?· We will be examining some original documents from the period.the Roman/Tudor etc period: · Many of Britain's roads were built originally in the Roman period.· This chapter will focus primarily on the Neolithic period in Europe.
a period of time in history that is remembered because of important political, religious, or artistic events and achievements, that make it different from other periods: era in/of: · an exciting era in technological sophistication· We live in an era of breathtaking change.end of an era: · When Charles De Gaulle died, it seemed like the end of an era.a new era: · The treaty marks the dawn of a new era in East--West relations.the Roman/Christian/Stalin/McCarthy etc era: · archaeological remains dating from the late Roman era· During the McCarthy era, hundreds of innocent US citizens were persecuted for their beliefs.
a period of time in history that represents a particular stage in the development of civilization or machines and tools: age of: · Newton lived in an age of exploration and discovery.· In this age of the Internet, finding a job can be much easier.Stone Age/Nuclear Age etc: · These simple tools were used for hunting in the Stone Age.· the architecture of the industrial agegolden age (=the period considered to be the best, the most successful etc): · Many consider the '30s and '40s to be the golden age of Hollywood movies.
the right time or a good time to do something the best time to do something, when you are most likely to get the result that you want: · Yes, I'm going to ask him - I'm just waiting for the right time.the right time to do something: · It seemed like the right time to start planning something new.· I don't think it's the right time to tell Jeff.the right time of day/year: · If you get here at the right time of day, you might get to see the birds feeding.· This really isn't the right time of the year to start working on the house.
a suitable or convenient time: · I'd like to come on Saturday - would that be a good time?a good time for: · 11 o'clock would be quite a good time for me, if you can make it.a good time to do something: · Now is a good time to start applying for jobs.· Right after the Easter break is a good time to visit Florida.· I'll be here all day Friday, so when would be a good time to meet?
if something comes at the right time or comes at a good time , it happens when you need or want it to happen: · I lost my job last month, so this offer has come at just the right time.· Well, you're news comes at a good time, Helen.
an expression meaning to be the right time to do something important, use this especially when you are advising someone what they should do: be the time to do something: · If you're going to buy a house, now's the time to do it.be the time for: · The reason I'm saying "no" is because right now is not the time for making a mess in here.
the ability to choose the right time to do something, especially when this is a skill you have learned or practised: · When you're a comedian, timing is very important.· He eventually played in another 28 games, but his timing and rhythm never returned.good/perfect etc timing: · "Well, life's just full of surprises," she retorted, with a comic's perfect timing.· You guys have good timing, we just started to eat.sense of timing (=the ability to choose the right time to do something, especially when this is a natural ability that you have): · Even at the end, George Burns never lost his impeccable sense of timing.
actions, decisions etc that are timely happen at the right time, especially with the result that they prevent something bad from happening: · The Government's intervention was timely and may have prevented economic disaster.· The database will provide timely and accurate information on the current status of the business.· The fighting in the Ardennes came as a timely reminder that the West still needed the Russian army.
done at the right time so that it is likely to have a successful result: · She took a sip of water during a well-timed pause, and waited for my reply.· Wallace made a well-timed run through the midfield, collected the pass and scored with a low shot.· The conference is well timed since most companies will have their third-quarter profits in by now.
formal a time when you are most likely to be successful, or a time which is convenient: · For those who are waiting for the most opportune time to invest in a home, this is an excellent time to do that.· This seemed like an opportune moment to ask the government to mount a tree-planting program.
the wrong time or a bad time for something a time when you should not do something, because you will probably not be successful: · It's a case of the right idea at the wrong time.the wrong time to do something: · I think this is the wrong time to ask for a pay increase.· It seemed like the wrong time in my life to risk making yet another major change.
a time when something is not convenient or likely to be successful or that will cause problems: · I really would like to come, but I'm afraid this is a bad time.to do something: · If it's not a good time to talk, I can call back.
to happen at a time when something it not likely to be successful or that will cause problems: · These economic problems have come at the wrong time for the Republican Party.· The widening trade gap is coming at a bad time for the president.· The COE's resignation has not come at a good time for the company.
an expression meaning to be the wrong time to do something, use this especially when you are telling someone what they should do or how they should behave: be no time/not be the time for: · This is no time for that kind of talk. If you can't be decent, keep your mouth shut.· It's not the time for politeness and etiquette when there are lives at stake.be no time/not be the time to do something: · This was not the time to get angry, but Jodie couldn't help herself.
done at the wrong time so that it is likely to have an unsuccessful result: · Wilkins' outburst could not have been more ill-timed.· Resentment over the chairman's badly timed remarks is growing.· The gesture was sincere, but ill-timed.
formal a bad time, especially because it is inconvenient : · He had wanted to visit the troops over Christmas, but the general said it would be an inopportune time.· He always seems to say exactly the wrong thing at the most inopportune moment.
at the same time · Charlie and I arrived at the same time.· Are you supposed to press these two buttons at the same time?· We've launched an appeal, and at the same time we are sending out supplies, shelters, and blankets.at the same time as · His wife had a baby at the same time as Elaine.· You must have been at Harvard at the same time as I was.all at the same time (=when you do several things at the same time) · So you want to talk to them, identify that they are a candidate, and then give them the test all at the same time?
if two or more people or things do the same thing together , they do it at the same time and usually in the same place: · The Baltimore and Boston trains came in together.· Three runners crossed the line together.
if two or more things happen at once , they happen at the same time and this is annoying or causes problems: · I can't understand what you're saying when you both talk at once.· You're trying to do too many things at once.· Anyone know the answer? Don't all shout at once, put your hand up.all at once: · You can't have three weeks' holiday all at once, you'll have to take them separately.
if someone does two or more things at one time , they do them at the same time, especially if this is difficult or impressive: · This word processor allows you to work with two documents at one time.· There aren't many places around here where you can cater for fifty or so people at one time.· You feel like you are going in twelve different directions at one time.all at one time: · See, I can lock the doors all at one time.
if two or more things happen simultaneously , they happen at exactly the same time: · The system can simultaneously search up to 16 databases.· People can't write and listen simultaneously.· Video-conferencing enables us to address audiences all over the nation simultaneously.
while something else is happening also whilst British during the same period of time that something is happening: · I bought a magazine while I was waiting for the train.· Did you get a lot of work done whilst the kids were out?· I'll just make a phone call while you finish the dishes.· He was afraid he'd have another fit whilst he was driving.
while something else is happening: · Leave the vegetables to simmer, and meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil.· Three helicopters scanned the area; the soldiers meanwhile were looking into back gardens, dustbins, and under hedgerows.
if something happens as something else is happening, it happens at the same time: · As we were leaving, Carole and her friends arrived.· There was a shocked silence as he spoke.· The sensor uses an infrared beam to "read" a vehicle's exhaust emissions as it drives past.just as (=at exactly the same time as): · He ran into the road just as a car was coming.· The phone rang just as he stepped out of the shower.as soon as: · As soon as I pulled in, the engine went dead.· I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
to happen or do things at the same time if something coincides with something else, or if two things coincide , they happen at the same time as each other, usually by chance: · When our vacations coincided, we often holidayed together.coincide with: · His speech coincided with the release of a report on the New England economy.· I had to cancel our lunch date, as it coincided with my hospital appointment.timed/arranged to coincide (=arranged so that something coincides): · The exhibition was timed to coincide with the anniversary celebrations.· They have arranged the launch to coincide with the start of the college term.
if one event clashes with another, or if two events clash , they are arranged to happen at the same time, and this usually causes problems or is inconvenient: · We can go to both classes if they don't clash.clash with: · We've rescheduled the next meeting -- it clashed with a conference that most of us will be attending.· "Are you watching Family Fortunes tonight?" "No, it clashes with the Tina Turner interview on Channel 3."
to arrange an event so that it happens at the same time as something else, because this helps you in some way: · His publishers have tied the release in with his new television series.· AIDS education can be tied in with existing health education programs.
to try to do two or more things at the same time, even though this is difficult and you are very busy: · The film is about a maintenance man who juggles three jobs to provide for his family.· suburban working mothers who juggle careers, families, and after-school sportsjuggle something and something: · I don't think any man can ever understand the difficulties of juggling motherhood and politics.juggle something with something: · With school starting, Anna will have to juggle her love of swimming with her homework.
to have enough time to do something · If you have time, I could show you around the rest of the house.· Do you think we have the time?have time/have the time to do something · Few agencies have the time or the staff to train new employees.· She put the phone down before I had time to reply.· Just leave it on my desk till I have time to deal with it.have time/have the time for · Do you have time for a quick drink?· Perhaps next year I'll have more time for gardening.
use this to say there is enough time for someone to do something: · We thought we'd go to the museum, and maybe have some lunch too, if there's time.· If you hurry there should be time for a little shopping.· I guess there's time for a bedtime story, Lauren.there is time for somebody to do something: · There's still time for you to change your mind, you know.· Is there time for me to wash my hair before we leave?there is time to do something: · I don't think there's time to paint the whole wall today.
use this to mean "when you have a small amount of spare time during a period when you are very busy", especially when you are asking someone to do something: · When you have a minute, Josie, I'd like to talk to you.· Do you have a minute? I have a couple of questions to ask.· These letters are ready for you to sign when you have a moment.have a spare moment/minute: · If you have a spare moment, could you read through my essay?· It's quite rare that I have a spare minute these days.
use this to say that there is still enough time for someone to do something: it's not too late to do something: · If you haven't got roses in your garden, it's not too late to plant now.· It's still not too late to get a flu vaccine.it's not too late for somebody to do something: · He insists it's not too late for United to win the cup, though he admits it will be an uphill struggle.
to have very little time to do something: have (very) little time/not have much time for · I don't have much time for visiting, parties and so on.have (very) little time/not have much time to do something · We had very little time to train for the big game.· I'm afraid I have had very little time to entertain you or introduce you to anyone.· "Have you decided yet?" "I've not had much time to think about it."
to have very little time to do something, especially because you have a lot of things to do: · If you're short of time, I recommend seeing at least the museum and the cathedral.· She was puzzled, but too short of time to argue with him.run short of time: · As we're running short of time, let me end with just one example of what I mean.
to have very little time to do something, especially with the result that you have to do it very quickly: · I was pressed for time in my few days in Sydney, and did not have the opportunity to explore the city.· It's probably best to avoid the main roads unless you're really pushed for time.
to not have enough time to do something · I'll look at it later. I haven't got time at the moment.· Harold was supposed to organize the trip, but he just didn't have the time.not have (the) time/have no time to do something · I didn't have time to take a shower this morning.· I haven't had time to write those letters yet.· We won't have time to practice tonight.not have (the) time/have no time for · I don't have time for lunch.· She says she has no time for relaxation.
use this to say that there is not enough time for someone to do something: there is no time to do something: · The train was about to leave, and there was no time to buy a ticket.· There's no time to go through all these applications this morning.there is no time for: · Look, there's no time for that now. We have to get moving.
to be unable to finish doing something within the time that you have to do it in: · I'm sorry, we seem to have run out of time. Thanks to everyone who took part.· I have to finish this by tomorrow, and I'm running out of time.
when a period of time passes · Three weeks passed, and Max had still not found a job.· Years passed before she could bring herself to call me "Frank" without the "Mister".· Hardly a week goes by when I do not think of you.time passes/goes by · The side effects tend to subside as time passes.· I was trying to calculate how much time had gone by since I heard the scream.
formal if a period of time elapses, it passes, especially between two events: elapse before/since/between: · Nine years elapsed before he produced his eighth symphony.· It seems remarkable that nearly thirty years has elapsed since there was a major museum exhibition in the city.· A surprisingly long time had elapsed between the discovery of the body and the arrival of the police.
the process of time passing over a long period, especially when people or things change during this time - used especially in stories or descriptions: · Two children, a successful marriage, and the passage of time had helped Maisie to forget her unhappy childhood.· The early recordings have hardly stood up well to the passage of time.· The passing of time did little to lessen his grief.with the passage of time: · Behaviour and social attitudes change with the passing of time.· These ancient settlements have perished with the passage of time.
time passes quickly · The rest of the weekend went too quickly -- he wanted it to last forever.· Today can't go fast enough for me.· The summer seems to have come and gone so quickly.make something go faster/more quickly (=to make work, a journey etc seem to take less time than it really does) · Reading on the train makes the journey go more quickly.· It's great having you to talk to. It makes the time go faster.
if a period of time flies by , it seems to pass very quickly, especially when you have been very busy or enjoying yourself: · The afternoon flew by as they went through the next scene together.· Hours can fly by as I write, and I don't even notice.· Time is flying by quickly now and it seems impossible that there are only three months left.
use this when you are surprised at how quickly the time has passed, especially when you have been enjoying yourself: · Is Richard eight already? Doesn't time fly?· "Hasn't the afternoon passed quickly?" said Carol. "Time flies when you're having fun."
if the minutes, the hours, time etc tick away , it passes, especially when you must do something before a particular time or when you are frightened or nervous: · He had to watch the minutes tick away while the emergency services tried to locate him. · Aware of how the minutes were ticking away, Julia desperately scribbled down the last few answers.
time passes slowly · The rest of the day went very slowly for Anne.· The lesson lasted all morning, and seemed to go even more slowly than usual.
if time drags , it seems to pass very slowly, especially because you are bored: · Why do physics lessons always seem to drag?drag by/on: · The day dragged on, and there was still no sign of Jake.· As time dragged on, I gradually got worse.· As the months drag by, you find out who your real friends are.
at approximately a particular time or date also around especially American a little later or a little earlier than a particular time or date: · It's two-thirty. They should be arriving about now.· The cathedral was completed in about the middle of the 16th century.· About six months ago he suffered a major heart attack.· I picked Sue up around eight o' clock.· I don't remember the exact date of the party, but it must have been around the first of December.round about especially British: · He left the house round about four o'clock.· The job should be finished round about March next year.
a little later or a little earlier than a particular time or date. Approximately is a little more formal than about or around and is used especially in written English: · The gate will close approximately two minutes before the train leaves.· Tours start approximately every 15-20 minutes in summer.
: some time after/before/around/between/in etc at a time in the past - use this when you do not know exactly when or it is not important exactly when: · The burglary must have happened some time after 8:00 p.m.· His third symphony was written some time between 1750 and 1753.· The clinic was closed some time in the early nineties.
: at 10 o'clock or thereabouts/in the 1950s or thereabouts etc use this after a time, date etc that is not exact, especially when it is not important to know the exact time, date etc: · They're old apartments, built in the 1930s or thereabouts.· The book will be published in May or thereabouts.
: circa 1920/1850/1492 etc use this when you are saying when something happened in history: · The manuscripts date from circa 400 B.C.· a Robert Adam mansion, built circa 1778· The picture shows Tsar Nicholas, circa 1914.
during the whole of an event or period of time: all the time (that) · I couldn't really enjoy my holiday because I was sick all the time I was there.· All the time I was talking to him he just sat and stared at the television.
during all of a particular period of time, especially when this is a long time: · Lester was sickly all through his childhood.· Yvonne lived in Switzerland throughout the war.
during all of the day, night, summer etc: · It often rains here all day long.· The music coming from the apartment upstairs kept me awake all night long.
if a particular situation has existed all along , it has existed all the time right from the beginning, although you may not have known about it: · I spent over an hour looking for my keys, and they were in my purse all along.be right all along: · He realized that she'd been right all along.
if an event or something that you do is good, bad etc from start to finish , it is like that from the time it begins until it ends: · It was an awful day at work - problems from start to finish.· The whole thing was a disaster from beginning to end.
happening all the time, without stopping or changing all the time without changing: · The temperature of the lake is always below fifty-five degrees.· Ron is always in a bad mood in the morning.· Our upstairs neighbor always keeps to himself. We hardly know him at all.
· Gabrielle talks about her kids all the time.· The couple upstairs argue all the time.· I don't have to wear my glasses all the time - just for reading.
all the time while something is happening - use this about something annoying or surprising: · He talked about himself the whole time I was with him.· We realized that Duncan had been standing there the whole time.
all the time - used especially in official notices and rules: · Carry your passport with you at all times.· Keep your hotel door locked at all times.
all the time, continuously: · Shelly constantly tries to impress her boss.· She constantly criticizes my cooking.
all the time and never likely to change: · Hardy was permanently banned from professional figure skating.· It's such a dangerous neighborhood that the windows of some stores are permanently barricaded.
: perennial problem/concern/struggle etc one which people are concerned with all the time, and have been concerned with for a long time: · High unemployment rates are a perennial problem in several European countries.· Severe and unpredictable weather is a perennial danger for mountain climbers.
: unfailing support/loyalty/good humour etc support, loyalty etc that you can depend on because it never changes or grows weaker even when there is trouble or difficulty: · I'd like to thank you all for your unfailing love and support.· Peter's unfailing humour made him popular with his fellow workers.
happening or done all the time without stopping, in a way that is very annoying: · Julia became irritated by the child's incessant talking.· The incessant buzz of conversation filled the student cafeteria.
every day for a long time - use this especially to say that someone keeps doing something difficult, tiring, or boring for a long time, or that something keeps happening for a long time: · Henry did the same thing, day in and day out, for over thirty years.· Investigators are working day in, day out to determine the cause of the crash.
spoken said in order to emphasize that something happens all the time, especially something that is annoying: · It seems like we've been going to meetings morning, noon, and night lately.
informal all the time without stopping: · We're here to help you 24/7.· The deadline is next week, so everyone in the office is working 24/7.
a time or arrangement that causes difficulties · I'm afraid he's come at an inconvenient time.inconvenient/not convenient for · I can call you back later if it's not convenient for you to talk now.· They discussed moving the office to a new building downtown but it wasn't convenient for most of the staff.it is inconvenient to do something · If you find it inconvenient to come to the office, we can email the files to you.
especially spoken a time that is not convenient because you are busy or you have made other plans: · Sorry - have I come at a bad time?
spoken if something, especially an arrangement, time, date etc is bad for or is no good for you, it is not convenient because you have other plans: · Saturdays are no good for me. Could we play Fridays instead?· Would it be bad for you if we met at my house instead of yours?
if something is awkward or difficult , it is inconvenient to do it, especially because it would interrupt something else: · Robson's resignation comes at an awkward time for the company.· Things are a bit difficult at the moment. Can I call you back this afternoon?
to have problems when you are trying to do something if you have difficulty when you are trying to do something, you cannot easily do it: have difficulty/trouble (in) doing something: · It was obvious the patient was having great difficulty breathing.have difficulty/trouble with something: · A lot of Japanese students of English have trouble with the pronunciation of "b's and "v's.
to not be able to do something easily, especially because you do not have enough ability or skill: · I found the course difficult at first, but it gradually got easier.find it difficult to do something: · She always found it difficult to keep up with the rest of the class.
if you do something with difficulty , you can do it, but only by using all your strength, all your determination etc: · She spoke with difficulty, choking back her tears.
to find it difficult to do something, especially because there are unexpected problems or because you have difficulty persuading other people: · I tried to find the house but I had such a hard time, I decided to give up.have a hard time doing something: · I'm still having a hard time getting the company to pay me.
if you can hardly or can barely do something, especially something physical, it is so difficult that you almost cannot do it: · By the end of the day she could hardly walk.· The smell was so bad that I could barely force myself to stay in the room.
if a situation or job is too much for someone , it is too difficult for them to deal with: · All the bullying and back-stabbing in the office was simply too much for him.· The job was too much for any single manager to cope with.
if something is a struggle you have to try very hard and even suffer in order to do it: · Clark lived 112 days on the artificial heart, and each day was a struggle.· She managed to get her money out of the welfare office, but only after a struggle.it is a struggle (for somebody) to do something: · It was a struggle for my mother to understand our lifestyle, but she tried very hard.it is a struggle doing something: · It was a struggle trying to feed a family of five on my salary.
if you say someone would be hard put or hard pressed to do something, you doubt that they would be able to do it because you think it is too difficult: · The two girls look so similar that you'd be hard put to tell the difference between them.· The governor will be hard pressed to find more money for schools while dealing with a $6 billion budget deficit.
also have your work cut out informal to have to work very hard if you are going to succeed in doing something: · I'll have my work cut out to get this design finished by this afternoon.· Rice hopes to break the record during tonight's game, but he'll have his work cut out for him.
informal to have to start doing something difficult such as a new job without people making it easier for you because you are new: · When I first started teaching I was really thrown in at the deep end -- I had a class of forty six-year-olds all on my own.
British spoken if you have a job doing something , it takes a lot of time or a lot of effort, and you may not be able to do it: · You'll have a job persuading him to give you any more money.· There was some kind of festival going on, and we had a job finding somewhere to park the car.
to not like something or someone · John doesn't like garlic.· Why did you invite Claire? You know I don't like her.not like doing something · My girlfriend doesn't like camping.· I don't like walking home alone at night.not like something/somebody very much · Mum didn't like Mark very much when she first met him.
written to think someone or something is very unpleasant: · Eldridge was a quiet man who disliked social occasions.· She now seriously disliked her former friend.dislike doing something: · I dislike having to get up so early in the morning.dislike somebody/something intensely (=dislike them very much): · Muriel disliked Paul intensely.
spoken to think that something is not very good or that someone is not very good at something: · You don't think much of Carol, do you?· The hotel was okay, though I didn't think much of the food.· I don't think much of The Beatles, to be quite honest.
British informal to not like something, although you do not think it is very bad or very unpleasant: · Actually, I'm not very keen on modern art.· George had never been particularly fond of small children.
if someone is not your type , they are not the kind of person you usually like or enjoy being with: · Rob isn't her type at all.· "What do you think of Michael?" "He looks a bit rough - he's not really my type."
also not be somebody's cup of tea British informal to not be the kind of thing that you enjoy - use this about activities, films, books etc: · Tennis is not my thing.· Horror films aren't really my cup of tea.
use this to say that something is not the type of thing that you like or that you think is good: · It seems that the music wasn't exactly to his taste.· The food wasn't really to my liking - it all tasted rather salty.
to dislike a person, their attitude, or their behaviour and have no respect for them: · I've no time for that kind of attitude.· My father had no time for complainers.· He has no time for players who aren't completely dedicated.
to be unwilling to accept a particular situation, suggestion, or type of behaviour, because you think it is annoying: · Nancy doesn't take kindly to being corrected.· He didn't take very kindly to being disturbed in the middle of the night.
before the usual or expected time if something happens early , it happens before the usual time or the most suitable time; if someone is early , they arrive before the time they are expected to: · I finished work early today.· If you plant the seeds too early they won't grow.· After an early lunch, we started the meeting at one o'clock.· Everyone was deeply shocked by his early death at the age of forty-five.be early (for something) (=arrive early): · You're early - I wasn't expecting you till seven.· I'm sorry, I'm a bit early for my appointment.seven months/three days etc early (=seven months/three days etc earlier than expected): · Our first child was born eight weeks early.
earlier than the time when you have arranged or expect to do something: · We will try to complete the building ahead of time.· Visas must be obtained ahead of time, and it may take several weeks to get them in order.· You can always prepare the salad ahead of time and refrigerate it.
earlier than the officially agreed time: · Due to the economy's strong recovery, Mexico will repay ahead of schedule the last installment of a $13.5 billion loan.six months/two weeks/a year etc ahead of schedule: · The renovation of the school has just been completed three months ahead of schedule.
early enough, so that you do not have to rush, or so that you have time to get ready: · I like to get all my Christmas presents bought and sent in good time.in good time for: · It is important to arrive in good time for your interview.
if you arrive somewhere or finish something with time to spare , you arrive or finish before the time when you have to arrive or finish: · In spite of the bad traffic, we reached London with plenty of time to spare.with ten minutes/half an hour etc to spare: · I finished the test with just two minutes to spare (=two minutes before the end).
to enjoy doing something to get pleasure from doing something: · Did you enjoy the party?enjoy doing something: · My father always enjoyed playing golf at weekends.enjoy yourself (=do things that make you feel happy): · The park was full of people enjoying themselves in the sunshine.thoroughly/greatly enjoy: · Thanks for a lovely evening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.· Most of the students said that they had really enjoyed the day out.enjoy every minute/moment of something: · It was a wonderful vacation - we enjoyed every minute of it.enjoy something immensely especially British: · Parts of the play were extremely funny. I enjoyed it immensely.
to enjoy doing something, especially something that you do regularly or for a long time: · I don't like meetings, especially if they go on for too long.like doing something: · We liked living abroad. It was a wonderful experience.like to do something (=do something often or regularly because you enjoy it): · Nick likes to relax and read a book in the evenings.
especially spoken to enjoy doing something very much and get a lot of pleasure out of it: · Cassie works in the theatre, and she really loves it.love doing something: · Ben loves swimming, playing tennis, those kinds of thing.love to do something (=do something often or regularly because you enjoy it a lot): · She loved to sit in the park and feed the ducks.
especially spoken to enjoy yourself very much when you are with other people: · We had a great time last night - you should have come.· Did you have a good time at the beach?have a good/great etc time doing something: · The kids all had a wonderful time meeting up at each other's houses.
informal to enjoy yourself very much by going out a lot and spending a lot of money on social activities: · Pat spent most of his time at college going to parties and living it up.· I had saved about two thousand dollars, so I decided to whoop it up in Vegas before going home.
to enjoy yourself with other people, for example by relaxing, talking, or laughing with them: · I was having so much fun I forgot how late it was.have fun doing something: · We had fun trying to guess who Mike's new girlfriend was.
especially American, informal to have a very good time: · We went down to the Gulf Coast of Florida for spring break - we had a blast!
informal to enjoy yourself very much: · "Your vacation sounds fantastic.'' "We had the time of our lives!''have the time of your life/have a whale of a time doing something: · Alan was having the time of his life, playing to an admiring audience.· The kids all had a whale of a time, in and out of the pool all day.
to enjoy doing or seeing something: · I get a real kick out of watching my son learning to speak.· Jody got a kick out of trying some of the new video games.
unable to escape · Have you ever bought any of their products?· When he left, Bartlett didn't know if he'd ever see Alaska again.· I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling of excitement before a show.ever ... (before) · Have you ever been on a ship like this before?best/biggest/worst ever etc · That was the biggest mistake I ever made.more/better/worse etc than ever (before) · Within a few years of the two World Wars, the standard of living of Western European countries was higher than ever before.
used especially in formal questions and statements: · "Of course, no one should have to suffer at any time," said the general gruffly, "but things are different in times of war."· Have you at any time met with the defendant?at any time in history/in our existence etc: · There are more single parents today than at any time in history.
at any time in the past, since humans have kept records of events: · Robinson has won more matches than any coach in history.· His arrest ended the longest manhunt in history.· Spielberg then went on to direct 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', which became one of the highest earning films in history.· It was the first attempt in history to assemble representatives of all the major regions.
at any time during your life: · I've never owned a gun in my life.· Susan felt she had never worked so hard in her life as she did that day.· He knew that this was one of the saddest things he'd ever have to do in his life.· For the first time in his life, Yossarian prayed.
at any time in history or in someone's life: · Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" is one of the best-selling rock albums of all time.· My favourite joke of all time is the one about the donkey who goes to the doctor and says ...· a list of the 100 Most Influential Women of All Time
types of film after a long period of time, especially after a lot of difficulties or after a long delay: · After a lot of questioning, James finally admitted he had taken the car.· In the end, I decided that the best thing to do was to ask Billy for help.· The plane eventually arrived at 6:30 - over three hours late.
use this when something good happens after you have waited for it for a long time: · I'm really glad that Ken's found a job at last.· At last the rain stopped and the players came back on the field.at long last (=after a very long time): · At long last he was able to see his family again.
if something is going to happen sooner or later , it will certainly happen but you do not know exactly when: · Sooner or later this would end up in the papers, and I would be out of a job.· I'm sure Brian will turn up sooner or later.· He is worried that sooner or later his business will fail.
use this to say that something will happen at some time in the future, especially something that you hope will happen, although you do not know exactly when: · They're bound to find a cure for cancer one day.· I knew that we would meet again one day.· One day ordinary people will be able to travel in space.
after a particular period of time, especially after a gradual process of change or development: · She started as an office junior, and in time became director of the whole company.· Jarvis was a strange man, but in time I got to like him.
if someone or something ends up in a particular situation or condition, they eventually come to be in that situation or condition - use this especially about something bad that happens: · Forbes ended up in prison for not paying his taxes.· The sweater that my mum knitted ended up twice the size it should have been.end up doing something: · We ended up having to postpone our vacation.end up as: · Our chess game finally ended up as a draw.
when a period of time ends · The school year ends in June.· Winter was finally ending, and the first flowers of spring had begun to appear.· The evening ended cordially with handshakes all round.
if a long period of time comes to an end , it ends: · Autumn came to an end with the first snow.· A generation of civil war had finally come to an end.
if a period of time is over , it has ended: · The long vacation was almost over, and she hadn't done any of the things she'd planned.· I think I'm going to lose my temper before this evening is over.
British if a school or the students in a school break up , a part of the school year ends and the holidays begin: · When does your school break up?· The kids break up on Wednesday.
to gradually come to an end - used especially in stories or descriptions: · The long hot summer was drawing to an end.· As the class drew to a close, Hanson asked a student to summarize the lesson.
if the time allowed for something is up , it is finished: · "Time's up,'' said the teacher. "Stop writing, everyone!''· The chairman may be asked to resign before his four-year term is up.
if the time available for doing something, especially something important, runs out , it comes to an end so that there is no more time left: · We'd almost finished solving the problem when our time ran out.· The desperate search for survivors continues, but time is running out.
spoken use this to tell someone to stop doing something because there is no more time allowed: · I'm sorry, listeners, we have to stop there. We're out of time.
time when you can do what you want time when you can do what you want, because you are not working or studying: · Now that she's retired she has plenty of free time.· On Wednesday afternoons most of the students have free time.spend your free time (doing something): · Theo spends his free time doing volunteer work.in your free time: · In his limited free time, Carson likes to take his family skiing.
time when you have finished what you have to do or are expected to do, so that you can do what you want: · Mothers with young babies rarely have much spare time.in your spare time: · She's studying for a degree in her spare time.spend your spare time (doing something): · How do you spend your spare time?· Penny spends her spare time writing letters and emailing friends.
time when you are officially allowed not to be at your place of work or study: · All employees are allowed time off for doctor's appointments.· She hasn't had any time off for six months.· I'll need some extra time off for revision.time off work/school etc: · Americans get much less time off work than European workers.
time when you are not working, studying etc and can do activities that you enjoy: · Very often, retired people need to be taught how to use and enjoy their leisure time.· If I have a moment of leisure, I go to the movies.in your leisure time: · In his leisure time he visits museums and art galleries.leisure (time) activities: · tourism, sightseeing, and other leisure time activities· Reading was one of the most popular leisure activities.
time when you stop what you are doing, especially in order to rest: · Taking time out just to relax each day is important for busy working people.
at some time in the future at some time in the future , but you do not know exactly when: · It's likely that global warming will become a major problem in the future.· What do you think life in the future will be like?in the near future (=at a time not long from now): · The new software will be available in the UK in the near future.in/for the foreseeable future (=at a time not long from now): · It is unlikely that the company will achieve a very high profit margin in the foreseeable future.
at a time in the future that has not been arranged yet: · Come over and see us some time.· We should get together some time.some time next week/next year/in 2005 etc: · The project should be completed some time next year.
at some time in the future, especially a long time from now: · Perhaps one day we could all go to London together.· One day, I'd like to visit the Grand Canyon.· She always knew that some day he would leave her.
at some time in the future - used especially when you think that something will probably happen or that someone will probably do something: · One of these days you're going to be sorry.· Richard's going to have a heart attack one of these days if he doesn't slow down.
use this to emphasize that something will definitely happen at some time in the future: · The day will finally come when a woman or a black man is elected president of the United States.· Let's hope that the day will come when it's no longer necessary to have such a vast amount of money spent on the military.
ways of saying goodbye spoken say this when you are leaving or when someone is leaving you. Bye is more informal than goodbye: · "Goodbye, Mrs Moore.'' "Goodbye, Dr Aziz.''· Goodbye, Louise. See you soon.· Thank you for calling. Goodbye.· "Bye, Annie.'' "Bye, Mom,'' she said, kissing her mother on the cheek.bye for now (=say this to a friend who you will see again soon): · I've got some stuff to do. Maybe we can have a drink or something later tonight. Anyway, bye for now.
also see you later/see you around spoken informal use this to say goodbye to a friend you will see again soon: · See you, Darren.· Bye, Dad. I'll see you later.· You're still coming to the party tonight, aren't you? Good. See you later then.· She turned at the gate and waved. "See you around, Billy.''see you tomorrow/in the morning/at the club etc: · "See you in the morning,'' she said as she closed the door.· "We'll be back early next week." "Okay. See you then."see you soon: · Safe trip back guys and we'll see you soon.
especially American, spoken use this to say goodbye to a friend you will see again soon. Later and catch you later are used especially by young people: · Catch you later, Matt. · "Later, Mike." "Later, Steve."
American spoken use this to say goodbye to someone you do not expect to meet again for a long time: · "So long,'' he said. "Don't forget to write.''· She grabbed Nick by the shoulders and hugged him affectionately. "So long, Nick.''
spoken say this when you are saying good bye to someone to wish them a good day, a good weekend, a good holiday etc: · Have a nice weekend.· Have a great time at the concert, you guys!
American spoken say this when you are saying goodbye to someone to wish them a nice day: · "I'm off to work." "Alright, have a good one."
spoken use this to say goodbye to family or friends: · "All right, Pat. Take care." "You too, Sally. Bye bye."· Take care and we'll talk to you soon.
American spoken use this to say goodbye to a friend or member of your family: · "See you next week." "Yeah, take it easy."
spoken say this when you are going to leave someone who you have just met for the first time: · Well, it was nice meeting you guys.· "It was nice to meet you, Paul." "Nice to meet you too, Joanne."
when something is true about most situations, people, or events use this to say that something is usually true: · Women generally live longer than men.· In general, jobs for temporary workers are low-paid.· In general, students who get regular exercise do better in school.· Inner-city schools generally achieved lower exam grades than other schools.· Car theft is an increasingly common crime, and in most cases the offender is under 18.
especially spoken use this to introduce a statement about what usually happens or is true: · Generally speaking, bright colors make people feel happier.· As a rule, French wines are more expensive than those from Eastern Europe.
use this to say that something is true about most people, things, or occasions: · I drink sugar-free colas, mostly.· The students here are mostly Swiss and German, but sometimes we get a few Japanese, too.· He mostly writes novels, but he's published a book of poetry too.
especially spoken use this to say that something usually happens: · Our two-year-old is happy most of the time, but he wakes up from his naps in an awful mood.· Most of the time people vote for the party that offers them financial advantages.
use this to say that something is true most of the time but not every time: · By and large, print is easier to read than handwriting.· The candidates that the party selected tended, on the whole, to be middle-aged, male, and white.· Despite their age, the paintings are, on the whole, in very good condition.
especially written use this to say that something is true in most cases: · The cell chemistry of these insects is, for the most part, poorly understood.· Ethnic minorities have struggled to retain their cultural identity, and have for the most part succeeded.
if something tends to happen, it usually happens or is true, but not always: tend to happen/do something: · Young children tend to get sick more often than adults.· What tends to happen is that the poorest families end up in the worst housing.tend to be somebody who/that: · It tends to be the brighter kids who get all the teacher's attention.
a lucky person if you are lucky , good things happen to you and things go well for you, because you have good luck and not because of hard work, careful planning etc: · Isn't she lucky - she can eat what she wants and she never gets fat.· There are monkeys and zebra, and if you're lucky you might see a lion.lucky to do something: · I'm lucky to live in a nice house and be married to such a nice man.lucky (that): · Arthur left the front door unlocked - we're lucky that nothing was stolen.lucky with: · Apart from the sprained ankle, I've been very lucky with injuries (=I haven't had many).think/count yourself lucky (=used to say that someone should consider themselves lucky): · He should count himself lucky not to have been blamed for the whole fiasco.
lucky, especially when you are luckier than other people. Fortunate is more formal than lucky: · David managed to escape, but the others were not so fortunate.fortunate to do something: · I am fortunate to work in a school where all the children are extremely motivated.
British informal use this about someone who is lucky to be able to do something, when you are jealous because you would like to do it: · That jammy devil Steve has got out of the washing up again.
to be lucky, especially because you get the thing that you wanted although you did not really expect to get it: · You're in luck, there are still a few tickets left.· If you like Californian wine you could be in luck - we are giving away 100 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.
you say some people have all the luck when you are talking about someone who is always very lucky, especially when you are jealous of their good luck: · It costs a fortune to buy a Porsche - some people have all the luck.
to be lucky all the time, so that although you are often in dangerous situations, it seems that nothing can harm you: · By his own admission he had led a charmed life. He had survived a train crash when he was seventeen.
British you say it's all right for some when you think someone else is lucky because they are enjoying themselves, having an easy life etc and you are jealous of them: · You're going to Hawaii? It's all right for some!· It's all right for some. I've got to stay in and work this evening.
to be lucky because you have the chance to do something you wanted to do or something that most other people do not have the chance to do: · I went along to the audition with everyone else, and was lucky enough to get the part.· In 1957 I had the good fortune to be invited on a lecture tour of Switzerland.
to be successful or get into a good situation as a result of good luck, especially after you have been experiencing difficulty: · Nathan had a series of jobs where he wasn't happy, but this time he's really fallen on his feet.· Don't worry about Nina -- she always falls on her feet.
to be lucky because you are in a particular place when something good is offered or becomes available: · "You did well to get that contract.'' "Not really, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.''· Being a successful news photographer is all about being in the right place at the right time.
American informal an expression meaning to be very lucky on a particular occasion: · I didn't have any idea what I was doing, but I lucked out and wound up with a good job.
modern ideas/ways of thinking having new ideas or attitudes, rather than traditional or old-fashioned ones: · They're a very modern couple -- he stays at home with the kids and she goes out to work.· The school is very modern in its approach to sex education.
using new methods to educate or bring up children, deal with social problems etc, especially when these methods are less strict than traditional ones: · She went to a progressive private school where the pupils could choose which lessons to attend.· the government's progressive policies for dealing with inner city problems
willing to use new and recently developed methods and ideas: · We like to think we're a forward-looking company that isn't afraid to use new ideas.· We need more forward-looking political thinking.
British always keen to use modern ideas and methods because you want to be successful: · Fortuna is a young, go-ahead computer company based in Düsseldorf.
to change your way of living or working so that you are using modern ideas, methods etc, even though you may not want to: · I'm not keen on having a mobile phone, but I suppose we must all move with the times.· This is a town that has changed with the times and now provides every vacation facility you could wish for.
most often use this to say what someone does most, or who does something most: · We eat mostly Italian food.· She has to travel abroad a lot, mostly to Spain and France.· a singer whose records are bought mainly by teenage girls
for almost all of the time: · Most of the time at work I just answer the phone and type letters.· This place is really busy most of the time.
used when something happens more than anything else: · In most cases the system that we have works very well.· The airline received about 500 complaints last year. In most cases these concerned delays and cancellations.
to make someone feel nervous not once, or not at any time: · "Have you ever been to Paris?" "No, never."· Ali had never seen snow before.· The view was spectacular - I'll never forget it.· He walks right past me and never even says "hello".never do/say etc something: · (=used to tell someone not to do something) Never go there alone at night.never have I/did he etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Never in my whole life have I felt so angry.
not at any time: · I haven't ever had champagne before.· Don't ever do that again.· "I won't leave you," she said, "not ever."
spoken say this when you want to emphasize strongly that something has never happened or will never happen: · You must never ever tell anyone what you heard tonight.· I'll never, never stop loving you.
spoken informal say this when you think it is completely impossible that something could ever happen: · You won't get Kieran to agree - not in a million years!
say this when you are surprised or annoyed because someone never did something, although they often had the opportunity to do it: · After all the help I've given her, she's never said thank you - not once!· My father hasn't once come here to see us, even though he lives quite nearby.not once have I/did they etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Not once did she think of giving up, despite all the problems involved.
if you say you never for a moment thought something, you are emphasizing that this idea never came into your mind: · I always knew that I would be famous one day. I never for a moment doubted it at all.· "Did you ever suspect that he was cheating on you?" "No, not for one moment."never for a moment have I/did they etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Never for a moment did it enter my mind that something was wrong.
formal never in the past: at no time have I/did they etc: · At no time did anyone suggest that the drug was dangerous.· Despite what I'd been told about the local people's attitude to strangers, at no time did I encounter any rudeness.
you say that someone or something has never been known to do something when you mean that this has never happened before, so it is strange if it happens now: · We were very worried -- Peter had never been known to disappear from home before.· Killer whales have never been known to attack humans without the provocation of a bullet or harpoon.
now, at this time at this moment or at this time: · If we leave now we'll be there before dark.· It's not raining now, but they said it might rain later.· He used to coach high school basketball but now he's a realtor.from now on (=starting from now): · Students are to be in their seats by 8:00 from now on.· From now on, the U.S. government will rely on a new method to measure economic growth.
if something is already happening or already true, it began to happen or be true before now: · He's only three and he's already reading.· "Should I tell Kay?" "She already knows."· The show has already started.· Don't buy any more toys for the kids -- they've got plenty already.· Was the apartment empty when you moved in or was it already furnished?
now - use this when you are describing what the situation is at this time: · The firm currently employs 113 people.· Currently, the most a senior nurse can earn is £16,000.· Ms. Kelly is currently assisting another customer. May I help you?
now - use this especially to say that something is happening now but you do not expect it to continue for a long time: · I'm working in a restaurant at the moment.· Miss Hellman is away from her desk at the moment - can I have her call you back?· The official currency is the crown, presently about 30 to the dollar.
formal if something is true at present or at the present time , it is true now but you do not expect it to be permanent: · The money available for public libraries will be less in future than at present.· We do not envisage any changes in the tax structure at the present time.
spoken at this moment or at this time: · I need a new car but right now I can't afford one.· She's in Amsterdam right now but she should be in Paris by tomorrow night.
British spoken at this exact moment - use this especially to say that you cannot do something immediately: · Sorry, I'm busy just now - can I call you later?
American at this particular time: · I have no further questions at this time, your honor.· "Do you have any health insurance?" "Not at this time."at this time of day/night/year etc: · What are you doing out at this time of night?· Gas prices always go up at this time of year.
how often something happens · How often do you see your parents?· What should you feed a puppy and how often?· When Peter said I was heartless it made me wonder how often I'd shown my lack of sympathy.· It's amazing how often this kind of thing happens.
· How many times has she been married?· I can't remember how many times I've been to New York.how many times a day/week/year etc · How many times a week do you go swimming?· The doctor wanted to know how many times I went to the toilet in a day.
exactly how often something happens: · The computer can tell you the number of times a word occurs in a piece of writing such as a book.· The rate of respiration is the number of times the patient breathes in and out during a given period.· Try to increase the number of times you exercise per week.
the number of times that something happens during a particular period of time: frequency of: · The frequency of mining accidents has steadily decreased over the past 20 years.high frequency (=happening very often): · The high frequency of cases of diarrhoea is attributable to poor food hygiene.with increasing frequency (=more and more frequently): · Crimes of this type are happening with increasing frequency.
too often, in a way that is annoying especially spoken to do something many times, in a way that is annoying: · Dad, Bobby keeps hitting me!· How can I explain if you keep on interrupting me?· I keep forgetting to mail this letter.
if someone or something is always doing something, or someone or something does something all the time , it annoys you because they do it too often: · I'm sick of Harold, he's always telling me what to do.· What do you mean you never see me? You're at my house all the time.· I don't know about you, but I'm always having arguments with people!· He was always trying to persuade me to go out drinking with him.
use this when you are very annoyed because something happens repeatedly over a long period of time: · They seemed to be continually arguing.· I wish you'd clean up your room without having to be constantly reminded.
spoken if someone or something is forever doing something, they annoy you by doing it very often over a long period of time: · He never does his homework on time and is forever getting into trouble at school.· We bought a new washing machine. The old one was forever breaking down.
spoken say this when you are describing something annoying or bad that someone does very often: · Half the time the managers don't know what's going on.· I never know where he is - half the time he doesn't return my phone calls.
use this to say that something has been done many times, especially when this is annoying or does not have any effect: · I've told you time and time again not to play with matches - it's dangerous.· I see people making the same mistakes, time and time again.
if something happens with great regularity , it keeps happening, often in an annoying way: · Yes, the bank keep piling these outrageous charges on my bank account with great regularity.· With great regularity, wasps would fly in through the open window and get trapped behind the glass.
if someone talks about something ad nauseam , they talk about it for so long that it becomes very annoying or boring: · We've discussed this ad nauseam, and I don't see the point of going over the same ground again.· He goes on ad nauseam about how much better everything was in the old days.
people · Mr Griffiths is a real old-fashioned teacher who still believes that learning lessons by heart is the best method.· My Dad was very old-fashioned and didn't approve of me going to nightclubs with my friends.
to think and behave as if life is still like it was when you were young, especially because you do not like the modern world: · You've got to get over it, honey - you've got to stop living in the past.· Critics say Buchanan is living in the past, and remind him that the 1950s was a time when women were shackled to the kitchen, and African-Americans held back by discrimination.
a person or organization who is behind the times , is old-fashioned because they have not changed while the world around them has changed: · People in these parts tend to be way behind the times when it comes to issues such as women's rights.· Once the giants of British retailing, they are now seen as being behind the times.
having a very strong, old-fashioned attitude to moral behaviour: · My aunt's very straitlaced - she'd be shocked if you mentioned sex.· They lost touch with Hermine after she married a very straightlaced Lutheran minister, and disappeared from the social scene.
informal someone who you think is old-fashioned and boring because they disapprove of new ideas and are unwilling to change their attitudes: · Don't be such a fuddy duddy!· The election broadcast made the President look like a fuddy duddy with ridiculously old-fashioned ideas.
informal someone, usually an old person, who you disapprove of because they prefer old-fashioned ideas and ways of doing things to modern ones: · The old fogies all sit together and talk about the old days.· This country is being run by a bunch of old fogies -- we need some fresh blood, people with initiative.
a group of people with old-fashioned opinions, who have been in an organization or society for a long time and oppose anyone who wants to change things: · Inevitably, the revolution is affecting the old guard much more than the rest of us.· The party's old guard have their own candidate for leader.
a person who believes that the old ways of doing things are the best, and who does not like modern methods or ideas: · I'm something of a traditionalist myself, I'd much rather use pen and paper than a word-processor.· There are still many traditionalists in the church who strongly oppose the idea of women priests.
happening or arriving at the arranged time · The trains don't always arrive on time.· The company will lose money if the work isn't completed on time.· Did Philip pay up on time?on time for · I hate not being on time for class.
exactly on time: · Gary turned up right on time, holding a big bouquet of flowers.· Ah, Mrs Shields, you're right on time!
British informal exactly on time: · The baby arrived on the 16th -- bang on time!· He looked at his watch. He was dead on time.
if you do something punctually or promptly , you do it at the time that you arranged to do it: · Linda always pays her rent promptly on the 1st of the month.· Loretta arrived punctually at her office the next day at ten o'clock.
if you do something on cue , you do it exactly at the moment when other people expect you to do it: · Jim told one of his terrible jokes and everyone laughed on cue.as if on cue: · "Ashley should be here soon", said Jo, and as if on cue, there was a knock at the door.right/bang on cue: · We were looking out over the sea when, right on cue, the dolphins appeared.
: at 6.30/ten o'clock/ seven etc on the dot at 6.30, ten o'clock etc exactly: · He gets annoyed if his lunch isn't ready at one o'clock on the dot.· I expect you to arrive at 7:30 on the dot.
when something happens before it is too late · David said he'd take me to the concert, if he's home in time.· If you don't leave enough space between your car and the car in front, you may not be able to stop in time.in time to do something · Don't worry, I'll be back in time to cook dinner.· She's hoping to be out of hospital in time to celebrate her birthday at home.in time for · Do you think you'll be fit in time for Saturday's race?
happening or done in time, but almost too late: · She put her foot on the brakes just in time.just in time to do something: · He got to the airport just in time to catch the flight to Madrid.just in time for: · Come in. You're just in time for a cup of coffee.only just in time British: · We were only just in time. A few more minutes and the bank would have been closed.
informal just in time to prevent something bad from happening - often used in stories: · Radio contact was established in the nick of time and we managed to transmit a message to the ship.just in the nick of time: · She escaped from her smoke-filled home just in the nick of time.
just in time to prevent something very bad from happening: · The ambulance finally arrived, not a moment too soon.
if something happens at the last minute , it happens at the latest possible time, just before it is too late: · An American businessman stepped in at the last minute to rescue the company.· Realizing its error at the last minute, the magazine just managed to correct the offending headline.
if something happens at the eleventh hour , it happens at the latest possible time, just before it is too late - use this when you had almost given up hoping that something would happen: · War was averted at the eleventh hour when both sides agreed to talks.
to manage to do something, talk to someone, see something etc just before it is too late: · I managed to catch her just as she was leaving the office.catch the post British (=post letters etc in time for them to be collected that day): · The letters were all addressed and stamped, and there was still plenty of time to catch the post.catch the news/a TV programme etc: · She was rushing to catch her favorite show on TV.
British /cut it close American to have very little time left before you have to be somewhere or do something, so that you are almost late: · Kelly had 10 minutes to reach the studio -- even in normal traffic that was cutting it close.cut it a bit fine: · You're cutting it a bit fine aren't you? The show starts in 2 minutes.cut it pretty close: · We cut it pretty close - we only had 30 minutes to get to the airport.
use this to tell or warn someone to do something now in order to prevent something bad from happening that they will not be able to change later: · You'd better get that letter back from her somehow, before it's too late.· We are urging the government to stop the bombing now, before it's too late.
old-fashioned in a pleasant way · They had met once on holiday, so they knew each other slightly.· She once called me a liar and I've never forgiven her.· I remember once it snowed on my birthday, and I was so excited.
spoken once: · I remember coming home from school one time and finding we'd been burgled.· One time we went out fishing on the lake at night.
use this to give an example of when something you are talking about happened, especially when it is a particularly interesting or extreme example: · On one occasion, she rang his home and a strange woman answered.· She had some pretty frightening experiences. On one occasion her jeep was hijacked by a group of armed soldiers.
at one time during a period of time, process, or event in the past: · I dieted for many years, and at one stage I weighed only 71 kg.· It was a terrible winter. At one stage all the roads to the village were blocked by snow.· At one stage in the match, he was trailing by three games, but he managed to fight back.
at one time during an activity or period of time in the past: · At one point in the interview, he seemed close to tears.· "You play the piano very well," I remember Mrs Saito remarking at one point.· I had several narrow escapes during the war, at one point just missing death when my plane was shot down.
on a day in the past - use this especially when the exact day does not matter and you are telling the story of what happened: · I was sitting eating my breakfast one day when the telephone rang.· One day when we had nothing else to do, we went down to the river for a swim.· He used to come and go, then one day he went away and never came back.
on one occasion in the past · She once called me a liar - I've never forgiven her.· Once, when I was a little boy, I found a gold watch on the beach.
informal on one occasion in the past: · One time we went out fishing on the lake at night.· Aileen came round to tea one time, and we did our homework together.
on a day, morning, or afternoon in the past - use this when it is not important to say exactly which day it is: · Then, one day he went away and never came back.· I was having my breakfast one morning when the telephone rang.· One day, when we had nothing else to do, we went for a swim in the river.
something that happened on one occasion happened once in the past, but is often typical of what usually happens: · He drinks far too much. On one occasion I saw him drink a whole bottle of vodka.· On one occasion I made the mistake of arriving at work late and my boss has never let me forget it.
if a particular situation existed at one stage during a period in the past, it existed, but only at that time: · It was a terrible winter. At one stage, we had to dig our way out of the house.· At one stage during the competition, it looked as though our team might win.· I went on a diet and at one stage I weighed only 71 kg.
if something happened, especially something interesting or important, at one point during an activity or period of time in the past, it happened then: · At one point in the interview Gorbachev admitted he had made serious mistakes.· "You play the piano very well," I remember Mrs Saito remarking at one point.
when something happened or was true in the past but not now if someone or something used to do something, they did it for a period of time in the past, or they did it regularly in the past, but they do not do it now: · "Do you smoke?" "No, but I used to."used to do something: · We used to live in Glasgow when I was young.there used to be: · Thirty years ago, there used to be a market in the town.never used to: · It never used to rain as much as this.didn't use to do something spoken: · I was surprised to see her driving - she didn't use to.used not to do something formal: · He used not to be so critical of other people's behaviour.
during a period of time in the past but not now - use this when it is not important to say exactly when this period was: · Apparently he once worked for the FBI.· It is a big city now, but at one time the population was only 50,000.· a sports car once owned by Paul McCartney
during a particular period of time in the past - use this when you are comparing that period with the present: · I was a student in the 1950s, and things were very different then.· At that time most married women stayed at home.
use this to talk about a situation that existed before the present time but does not exist now: · In the past, most children didn't go to school at all.· Women were not allowed to vote or own property in the past.
use this to talk about a long time ago in your life, or in your parents' or grandparents' lives, when things were different: · My great grandfather earned £5 a week, which was a lot of money in those days.· In the old days there was no bridge over the river, and we crossed it by boat.in the good old days (=at a time when you think that things were better than now): · In the good old days people showed more respect to the older generation.
at a time before you were born, especially hundreds of years ago: · The children all wanted to know what life was like in the olden days.
written in the past, before the present situation existed: · The local school was formerly a hospital.· Peru was formerly ruled by the Spanish.
to be in prison as a punishment · Both her sons are now in jail.· The two Irishmen were in prison for five years before they were found to be innocent.
informal to be in prison - used especially by someone who has been in prison and is talking about their experience: · "When I was inside," said Jimmy. "I really learned how to look after myself."
informal to be in prison for a period of time as a punishment for a crime: · Sid's wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.do time for: · None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
to spend a period of time in prison, especially the period that a judge has said you must spend there: serve 3 years/6 months etc (for something): · Holt is currently serving five years for child abduction.serve time (for something): · Both the brothers had criminal records and had served time for robbery.serve time in prison/jail: · She met Schmidt while serving time in prison for drug possession.serve a sentence: · Fowler was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
to have a problem · If you have any problems, just come and ask me.· I had a few problems getting the copier to work.have a problem with · I'm having a bit of a problem with my dishwasher.· One landowner says he has never had any problems with hikers crossing his property.· Jane can be quite difficult to get on with -- I've had one or two problems with her in the past.
to have problems that make it more difficult to do something: · You look as if you're having trouble -- do you want any help?have trouble/difficulty with: · I had some trouble with the car this morning.· She's having a little difficulty with her spelling.have trouble/difficulty doing something: · He had a lot of trouble finding a job.· The child was having difficulty breathing.
to have serious problems: · It's clear from these figures that the company is in trouble.· When someone's in trouble it's natural to try and help them.get into trouble (=start having serious problems): · I took out a loan but got into trouble when I lost my job.in deep/serious/big trouble (=have very serious problems): · Consular officers can help and advise you if you are in any serious trouble while abroad.
to have a lot of problems or a lot of difficulty doing something: · Premature babies have a hard time even under the best of circumstances.have a hard time doing something: · A lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet.· Anyone calling the 202 area code this weekend had a hard time getting through.
to have a problem, a difficult choice, or the possibility of something bad happening soon: · We are often faced with dilemmas or problems which have no easy answers.· Manufacturing industries are faced with decreasing productivity and increasing international competition.· When faced with an unfamiliar word, good readers are able to make guesses based on the meaning and structure of the sentence.
to have a difficult problem or opponent that you must deal with or fight against: · The company is up against tough competition from abroad.· When you're surfing and get hit by a wave, it's a reminder of what you're up against.· In the semi-finals he will be up against one of the best players in the game.
to start having problems or difficulties that you have to deal with: · Older people applying for jobs come up against an age barrier.· The committee found itself coming up against the prejudices of many staff when it tried to introduce new working practices.
to experience problems, difficulties, or opposition while you are trying to do something: · Drivers on the M25 are likely to encounter fog and black ice tonight.· Many of the children encountered some difficulty in learning the material.· The government has encountered strong opposition over its plans to build a new airport.
to unexpectedly start having problems while you are doing something: · The corporation has run into serious financial problems.· Our staff will be happy to answer your questions should you run into difficulties installing the equipment yourself.
informal to have a lot of difficult problems to deal with or a lot of things to worry about: · Don't bother your mother -- she's got a lot on her plate at the moment.· Susan's had a lot on her plate recently, what with the car accident and everything.
only a short time ago if something happened recently , it happened a short time before now, especially a few days or weeks ago: · The President has recently returned from a five day tour of South America.only recently: · a new species of plant that was only recently discovered in southern Braziluntil recently: · He lived in Boston until quite recently.· Until recently, commercial fishermen had been allowed to shoot sea lions if they tried to steal their catch. very recently: · "When did she go back to Italy?" "Oh, very recently - just a couple of days ago."as recently as (=used when something happened surprisingly recently): · As recently as the mid sixties, Nelson Rockefeller was considered unsuitable for the presidency because he had once been divorced.recently discovered/completed/built etc: · a recently published textbook· the recently industrialized countries of Southeast Asia
in the recent past: · Not long ago, computers were crude, unreliable machines, used by only a few experts.· Not long ago I asked a friend what her children gave her for her birthday. "Peace," she said. "They went out for the day."not so long ago: · There was a time not so long ago when everyone felt confident about investing in property.
very recently: · So what is the government's reaction to this news? A short time ago our political correspondent Jon Lander spoke to the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.· The red wolf survived until a short time ago in east Texas, but is now believed extinct in the wild.only/just a short time ago: · Seeing the tramp, Thomas remembered how he himself had been poor only a short time ago.
: newly formed/created/appointed/married etc formed, married etc very recently, especially during the last few days or weeks: · A newly married couple have moved into the house next door.· The group meets regularly in the newly built Chinese community center.· Mr Chandler is now director of the company's newly formed publishing division.
: freshly cut/cooked/made/painted etc cut, cooked etc a very short time ago, especially during the last few minutes or hours: · There's a pot of freshly made coffee on the kitchen table.· Add one clove of freshly crushed garlic.· Someone had placed a bunch of freshly cut roses on her desk.· At the beginning of term the school looked bright and clean with its freshly painted walls and polished floors.
spoken use this to say that something happened or you did something recently: · I met Lucy the other day outside Budgens.· Well, did my dad tell you what happened to me in the car the other day?just the other day: · I can't believe this weather - it was freezing just the other day!
a short time ago, usually not more than a few hours: · "Is there a Mrs Lambert staying at the hotel?'' "Yes, she checked in a short while ago.''just a short/little while ago: · Bobby's attorney gave me a call just a little while ago, to talk about the terms of the will.
informal fairly recently, usually a few weeks or months ago: · I broke my leg a little while back when I fell off a horse.
a short time · Unfortunately, we could only spend a short time together.· The talk should only last a short time.in/within a short time · How did you manage to do all this in such a short time?· The police arrived within a very short time.a short time ago · Your friends left a short time ago.for a short time · I think he went to prison for a short time.
a short period of time, during or after which something happens: · It always takes a little while to get used to the climate.for a short/little while: · Bob's only worked here for a short while, about six months I think.a little while/a short while ago: · He died a little while ago.· She was in the papers a short while ago. after/in a little/short while: · If you take the pills now, your headache will go after a short while.· Don't start that now, it'll be time to go in a little while.
a very short time, no more than a few minutes: · Just a moment Susie, can I have a quick word with you?· Can I borrow your pen a minute?· Wait a minute, I'm nearly ready.a minute/moment ago: · Where's Charles gone? He was here a moment ago.for/in a minute/moment: · Sit down for a minute and rest your legs.· Mark should be back in a moment.· I'll be with you in a minute.
an extremely short time, no more than a few seconds: · Do you mind switching the telly on a second?· An instant later, she let out a piercing scream.· 'Yes,' she declared, without an instant's hesitation.· 'Have you finished writing?' 'No, hang on a second.'for a second/an instant: · Can I stop you there, just for a second?· Just hold that end for a second while I fix this to the wall.· Did her eyes flicker open for an instant?in a second/an instant: · Mr Smart's on the other line, can he call you back in a second?· We both fell asleep in an instant.
British spoken a short time, usually just a few minutes: · I waited, and a bit later the phone went again -- it was Bill.· Oh, wait a bit, can't you?after/for/in a bit: · I think I'll lie down for a bit.· 'Are you coming?' 'Yes, in a bit.'· After a bit, Bill had started to tire of her company.
to do something slowly to do something slowly because you do not want to hurry, for example when you are making a decision or doing a difficult piece of work: · Just take your time. You don't have to decide immediately.take your time over/about: · Not wanting to seem too eager, Susan took her time about replying to the invitation.take your time doing something: · Alice took her time telling the story, making sure to include every detail.
use this when someone is happy to do something slowly, usually because they are enjoying what they are doing and want to continue doing it: · "Do you mind if we look around a little more?" "Not at all. I'm in no hurry."be in no hurry to do something: · The sun was shining and I was in no hurry to get back to the office.
to deliberately do something slowly over a long period of time, because you will get better results if you do it that way: · Let's take it slowly, one step at a time, okay?· You've just had a serious operation - you'll have to take things slowly for the next few weeks.
to move or work too slowly, especially because you are not really paying attention to what you are doing: · We'll never get all the shopping done today if you dawdle like this.dawdle over: · I can't see why those guys in the office are dawdling over this.
sometimes on some occasions, but not always: · Sometimes I drive to work and sometimes I walk.· Traffic noise is sometimes a problem.· The journey takes about an hour, sometimes even longer.· Injuries of this type sometimes take a long time to heal.
use this to talk about something that only happens a few times, and does not happen often: · Occasionally we go out to restaurants, but mostly we eat at home.· Kay's moods sometimes made life difficult, and occasionally impossible.very occasionally (=not at all often): · He lives in Australia now, so we only see him very occasionally.
at fairly regular periods but not often: · Every so often, Frank looked up at me and smiled.· The silence was broken every so often by the sound of guns in the distance.
sometimes but not at all often: · It would be nice if we could see each other once in a while.· Teaching art can be fairly dull, but once in a while I come across a talent that really excites me.every once in a while (=fairly rarely): · Every once in a while he disappears for days on end.
if something happens at times , it happens on particular occasions but it is not normal or typical of what usually happens: · In a job like this, you're bound to feel a little stressed at times.· At times even the most talented athletes lose their motivation.
use this to talk about something that sometimes happens that is different from what happens most of the time: · I wear hats now and again, but they don't really suit me.· Now and then she would check on the baby sleeping in the next room.every now and again/every now and then: · Every now and again a passenger would pass through the carriage on the way to the bathroom.
sometimes, but not at all regularly and not very often: · This is the kind of problem that we all have from time to time.· From time to time a helicopter flew by, but mostly the sky remained clear.
especially spoken for short periods, but not continuously or regularly, over a long period of time: · We've been going out together for five years, off and on. · I worked in bars on and off for two years before I decided to go back to college.
very soon use this to talk about something good that will happen very soon or that happened a very short time after something else: · Don't worry - you'll be back to normal in no time.· In no time at all he had built up a big following among the local black community.
spoken use this to talk about something that will happen or that you will do within a few minutes: · The coffee will be ready in a minute.· Don't keep nagging me - I'll do it in a minute!· We will return to the subject of tax in a moment.
spoken use this to say that something will happen in a very short time from now, but you do not know exactly when: · My father's due to arrive any minute now.· Any moment now the final whistle will be blown.· If she hasn't had the baby already, she's going to have it any time now.
spoken use this to say that something will happen at some time in the next few days, but you do not know exactly when: · The letter should be with you any day now.· His ship was due back from the Pacific any day now.
use this to talk about something that may happen very soon, especially something dangerous or unpleasant: · He could have another heart attack at any moment.· We knew that war might break out at any moment.· The car looked as though it would fall apart at any minute.
American use this to tell someone politely that something will happen very soon: · Mr Ewing will see you momentarily, sir.
spoken use this to say that something will happen or be done very soon and before you really realize it is happening: · You'll be fully recovered before you know it.· You offer to iron his shirt and before you know it, he expects you to do all the housework.
to spend time to spend time somewhere, with someone, or doing something: spend time: · I never seem to have any time to spend with the children.spend an hour/two days/a week etc: · Dani spends hours on the phone.spend an hour/two days/a week etc doing something: · Fay spent a year in Italy teaching English.· He spent the whole morning reading the report.
to spend time doing something unimportant, because you have nothing else to do: · I started doing a crossword to pass the time .pass the time doing something: · The security guards used to pass their time playing cards.
: kill time/a couple of hours etc informal to do something in order to make time seem to pass more quickly while you are waiting for something: · I was early, so I sat in a café, killing time.· The train doesn't leave till two, so we have a couple of hours to kill.
to keep yourself busy doing things, especially because you cannot think of anything else to do or to stop yourself from getting bored: busy yourself doing something: · Martin sat down nervously and busied himself rearranging the papers on his desk.busy yourself with: · Mrs Smithers pottered about busying herself with light household tasks.
informal to often spend a lot of your time in a particular place or with a particular person or group: · You'll probably find Dave at the pool hall -- he often hangs out there.hang out with: · I used to hang out with them when I was at college.
for a limited time only · The library is temporarily closed for repairs.· Well, I suppose she can stay here temporarily, while she's looking for an apartment.
from now until a time in the future, especially when you do not know exactly when in the future: · For the moment, I'm quite happy in the job I'm doing.· Such popular programmes will go on being broadcast on Channel 3 - for now.· "The negotiations are continuing for the moment," a spokesman said.
for a short period of time from now, but not permanently: · For the time being, Mrs Gilman's classes will be taken by other teachers.· Although the government aims to encourage private enterprise, around one third of the economy will remain under state control, for the time being.
at a particular time in the future · Wait until you've had your dinner, then you can go out to play.by then · Just wait until July -- all the exams will be over by then.until then · We're not getting a new car until June, so this one will have to do us until then.· We'll probably see you again when we get to Budapest -- until then goodbye and good luck!then and only then (=not until then) · Both sides must forget about the past. Then and only then can there be peace.
at the exact moment during an event or process when something will happen: · At 7:45 the lights will go out in the hall, and at that point all the actors will move into their positions on the stage.
at that particular time during a series of events: · The exams will be finished by the end of June. At that stage you can make a decision about which subjects to study next year.
before a particular time actually arrives: · I have to go at 6 pm, but by that time we should have got through most of the work.by which time: · The Connellys go to Africa in April, by which time they hope to have sold their house.
at a particular time in the past · She thought back over her early married life; everything had been so different then.· They were living in the country then, on a farm.· These days it's OK for women to smoke in public, but then it was unheard of.then and only then (=not until that time) · Bob sat down and read the letter again slowly. Then and only then did it begin to sink in that Stella was really dead.just then (=at that exact moment) · I sat down at my desk and got out a pile of reports to read. Just then, the phone rang.
at a particular period of time in the past - use this especially when you are talking about what the situation was then as compared to the present time: · At that time, he was married to a woman called Jody.· I was offered a job in New York, but at the time I didn't want to move so far away from my family.· The accepted view at that time was that women should remain in the home and not go out to work.· I can't remember exactly what he said, but I do remember thinking it was very funny at the time.
at that time in the past - use this especially when you are comparing life in the past with life in the present: · We used to get paid £2 a week. That was a lot of money in those days.· In those days there was no proper road, just an old stony track through the woods.· Back then, most people left school at fourteen and started work.· I remember thinking, back then, that I would never get married.
at that exact time during a past event or situation: · Miles got up to make his speech, and at that point several of the guests quietly slipped out of the room.· I thought he was dead. At that point, everything seemed hopeless.
at the exact time when something happened or when someone did something - use this when describing past events or telling stories: · At that moment there was a knock on the door.· Fortunately, Jorge appeared at that moment and was able to help us load things into the van.just at that moment (=at that exact moment): · Just at that moment, the police arrived.
during a particular period of time in the past, although things were going to change or develop later: · At that stage I lacked the experience to apply for a management post.· At that stage in the inquiry, the police still hoped that Maria might be alive.
when someone is unlucky in a particular situation or at a particular time · "Were you disappointed with the team's performance?" "No, not really, I think we were just unlucky."be unlucky (enough) to do something · The victims were simply unlucky enough to have been in the restaurant when the gunmen started shooting.unlucky with · We were unlucky with the weather. It rained almost every day we were on the island.
having bad luck that you do not deserve, especially when this has a serious effect on your life, health etc: · Some of the unfortunate victims were trapped inside the building for over 12 hours.be unfortunate (enough) to do something: · He was unfortunate enough to lose his job just after his wife had a baby.
formal to be unlucky on a particular occasion, especially when this results in something very unpleasant happening to you: · Bowman had the misfortune of being sent to the area where there was heavy fighting.· Women who have the misfortune to be involved with violent men often think it's their own fault.
to be unlucky, especially in a way that affects one particular part of your life: · Why do we always have such bad luck when it comes to hiring suitable workers?have bad luck with: · Our kids have had very bad luck with their teachers recently.have the bad luck to do something: · He had the bad luck to upset the boss's wife at the party.
to be prevented by bad luck from doing something that you want to do, for example going somewhere, buying something, or seeing someone: · I'm afraid you're out of luck. The director has already left for the day.· It looks like we're out of luck - all the hotels are full.
a period of time during which a lot of bad things happen to you one after the other: · Mimi's had a terrible run of bad luck this year, what with the car accident and her boyfriend leaving her.· Despite the Giant's current run of bad luck, fans are still showing up for the games.
spoken say this when a lot of bad things have happened to you that day: · I just want to go home, take a bath, and go to bed - it's been one of those days.· First I missed the bus, then I spilled coffee on myself, and now my computer is frozen - it's just not my day.
to have something bad happen to you by chance: · The driver was drunk and hit her as she was crossing the road. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
ways of telling someone that it is useless to do something especially spoken say this when you think that it is useless to do something because it will not achieve any useful purpose: · "Why don't you try and sort out your argument with Mike?" "There's no point -- he never listens."· Don't try working out what your exam results will be -- there's no point.there's no point (in) doing something: · There's no point kidding yourself, Karen -- he just isn't interested in you anymore.· It's frustrating, but there's no point in getting angry.what's the point of doing something? spoken: · You've already decided, so what's the point of discussing it?see no point/not see the point: · I didn't see the point of waiting around, so I left.· I figured I'd be in town a while, and I saw no point in making enemies when I didn't have to.
spoken use this when you think that someone should not spend their time doing something because it will definitely not achieve anything: be a waste of time doing something/wasting your time doing something: · You're wasting your time trying to start that car. The battery's completely flat.· I told you it would be a waste of time applying for a visa.· Why waste your time trying to convince him? He won't change his mind.
spoken say this when you think that something someone wants to do is not important enough to spend any time or money on: · Don't get angry. It's not worth it.· "You should have your car serviced." "It isn't worth it. I hardly ever drive now."
spoken say this when you think that someone will not be able to change a situation or persuade someone by doing something: · Worrying about the test won't do you any good.· I don't think this is getting us anywhere. Can we change the subject?· Flattery won't get you anywhere -- I'm not doing it.· All this speculation isn't doing anyone any good.
spoken also it's/there's no good British spoken say this when something you are doing is not working so it is pointless to continue: no use (in) doing something: · It's no use talking to me about interest rates and mortgages -- I find it all too confusing.· It's no use lying about it because I saw you do it!· There's no use in getting upset about it now.be no good doing something British: · It's no good sitting here feeling sorry for yourself.· There's no good punishing him hours later, because he won't remember what he's done wrong.
what you say to tell someone to wait · Wait, I have a better idea.· Wait! We haven't talked to Vicky yet.wait a minute/moment/second etc · Wait a minute. I forgot to turn off the lights.· Wait a second, don't rush off!
say this when you want someone to wait a short time: · Just a minute, I'm almost ready.· Just a second, let me just check I've got my keys with me.
also hang on especially British use this to tell someone to wait for a short time: · Hold on - I haven't finished yet.hold on a minute/moment/second etc: · Hang on a minute while I find her phone number.
use this to tell someone to be patient because they will find out about something later: · "So what's this surprise you've got for me then?" "Wait and see."· I'm not going to tell you who else I've invited - you'll just have to wait and see.
say this when you are advising someone to wait before deciding something, in order to see how the situation develops: · Let's load up the program and see how things go.· See how things go for another week, and if you're no better we'll change the treatment.
American use this to tell someone to stop, because you want to talk to them or go with them: · Wait up, you guys! I can't walk that fast.
say this when you want someone to know that you will be able to see them or talk to them very soon: · I'm sorry for the delay, sir - I'll be right with you.· Hang your coat up and make yourself at home - I'll be right there.
formal use this to ask someone to wait patiently while you explain something or while you finish what you are doing: · If you'll just bear with me, I'll explain.· Bear with me for just a couple of minutes while I find my notes.
say this to someone who is hurrying too much, when you want them to slow down: · Hold your horses - I haven't even said I'll do the job yet!
spoken say this to someone who wants you to hurry, to tell them that you are not going to: · "When are we going to open the presents?" "All in good time."
WORD SETSAD, advance, verbafter, prepositionafternoon, nounalarm, nounalarm clock, nouna.m., Anno Domini, annual, adjectiveApril, nounAsh Wednesday, nounAug., August, nounautumn, nounautumnal, adjectivebank holiday, nounBC, BCE, biannual, adjectivebicentenary, nounbicentennial, nounbiennial, adjectivebimonthly, adjectivebirthday, nounbiweekly, adjectivebonfire night, nounBoxing Day, nounBritish Summer Time, nounBST, nouncalendar, nouncalendar month, nouncalendar year, nouncarriage clock, nouncentenary, nouncentury, nounChristmas, nounChristmas Day, nounChristmas Eve, nounChristmastime, nounchronograph, nounchronological, adjectivechronometer, nouncircadian, adjectiveclock, nouncrystal, nouncuckoo clock, nouncycle, nouncyclic, adjectivedaily, adjectivedaily, adverbdate, noundate, verbdawn, nounday, nounDec., decade, nounDecember, noundiamond anniversary, noundiamond jubilee, noundinnertime, noundiurnal, adjectived.o.b., due date, noundusk, nounface, nounFather's Day, nounfeast, nounFebruary, nounfortnightly, adjectiveFourth of July, the, Fri., Friday, nounGood Friday, nounGreenwich Mean Time, nounGregorian calendar, nounguy, nounGuy Fawkes Night, nounhalf-hourly, adjectivehalf-yearly, adjectiveHalloween, nounhand, nounHanukkah, nounharvest festival, nounHogmanay, nounhorn, nounhour, nounhourglass, nounhour hand, nounhr, Independence Day, nounJan., January, nounjubilee, nounJuly, nounJune, nounLabor Day, nounleap year, nounlunar month, nounmainspring, nounman-hour, nounMar., March, nounMardi Gras, nounmarket day, nounMaundy Thursday, nounMay, nounMay Day, nounMichaelmas, nounmidday, nounmiddle age, nounmiddle-aged, adjectivemidnight, nounMidsummer Day, nounmidweek, adjectivemillennium, nounmin., minute hand, nounMon., Monday, nounmonth, nounmorn, nounmorning, nounMothering Sunday, nounMother's Day, nounmovable feast, nounnew moon, nounNew Year, nounNew Year's Day, nounNew Year's Eve, nounnight, nounnightfall, nounnighttime, nounnocturnal, adjectiveNoel, nounnoon, nounnoonday, adjectiveNov., November, nounOct., October, nounp.a., Pancake Day, nounPDT, penultimate, adjectiveper annum, adverbper diem, adverbperiodic, adjectivep.m., PST, public holiday, nounquarter, nounquotidian, adjectiveRemembrance Day, nounSat., Saturday, nounschoolday, nounseason, nounsecond, nounsecond hand, nounself-winding, adjectiveSeptember, nounshockproof, adjectivesilver anniversary, nounsilver jubilee, nounsilver wedding anniversary, nounsolar year, nounsolstice, nounspring, nounspringtime, nounstandard time, nounstopwatch, nounsummer, nounsummer solstice, nounsummertime, nounsummery, adjectiveSun., Sunday, nounsundown, nounsunrise, nounsunset, nounsun-up, nountercentenary, nounThanksgiving, nounthirty, numberThursday, nountime, nountime, verbtimepiece, nountimer, nountime signal, nountime warp, nountime zone, nountoday, adverbtoday, nountomorrow, adverbtomorrow, nountonight, adverbtonight, nountriennial, adjectiveTuesday, nountwilight, nounWed., Wednesday, nounweek, nounweekday, nounweekend, nounweekly, adjectiveweeknight, nounWhit, nounWhitsun, nounwinter, nounwintertime, nounwk., wristwatch, nounyear, nounyesterday, adverbyr., Yule, nounYuletide, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meanings 1, 5 & 6verbs
He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses. They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago). Can you tell me ahead of time if you’re coming? They were quarrelling all the time (=very often or continuously). The price of wheat had reached an all-time low. They reached an all-time record score. You’ll have ample time for questions later. There is ample evidence that climate patterns are changing. Everyone assembled in the hall at the appointed time (=at the time that had been arranged). I didn’t feel that this was an appropriate time to mention the subject of money. The train arrived bang on time. The disease dates back to biblical times. The 46-year-old author has finally hit the big time. discounts for first-time buyers The play has become an American classic. The show is timed to coincide with the launch of a new book. This is a complete waste of time. a famous film clip which has been shown countless times He devoted his energies to writing films. Lunch was produced in double-quick time. You can have an easy time of it now that the kids have all left home. The assignment must be completed within an overall elapsed time of one week. People of different ages expend different amounts of energy. Manufacturers have expended a lot of time and effort trying to improve computer security. If you are going abroad for an extended period of time, you should consider renting your house out. The match went into extra time. I have no trouble filling my time. The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous. In the first year, all students take five courses. He said the first thing that came into his head. the first step towards achieving a peace agreement There’s a meeting on the first Monday of every month. Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children. ‘Is it midnight already?’ ‘Well, you know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun!’ Children these days have very little free time. She works full-time and has two kids. The success of the series enabled her to concentrate full-time on writing. They’re looking for full-time staff at the library. We aim to double the number of young people in full-time study. There are thought to be around 10,000 young homeless Scots in London at any given time. Things will get easier as time goes by. Did you have a good vacation? Is this a good time to talk to you? I went to a good deal of trouble to get this ticket. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. Jack Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time greats. She seems to be asleep half the time. This kind of thing happens all the time. He had clearly fallen on hard times (=did not have much money). Vegetarians still often have a hard time of it when it comes to eating out. Thanks for everything – we had a great time. Earnings hit a peak in the early 1980s. Oil prices have hit rock-bottom. Markets have been held here since time immemorial. Teachers simply do not have the time or the inclination to investigate these matters. a time lag The usual time lapse between request and delivery is two days. Things have changed since the last time (=the most recent occasion) you were here. There are only a limited number of tickets available. a long period of time It took a long time to get everything ready. She died a long time ago. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive. In 1978, 29 million days were lost in industrial action. Come on, there’s no time to lose (=do not waste time). Public confidence in the legal system is at an all-time low (=much lower or worse than ever before). The company now employs four times as many women as men. I’ve sat here many a time (=often) and wondered what happened to her. She was desperate to halt the march of time upon her face and figure. They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert. Next time I go skiing, I’ll wear warmer clothes. Did you have a nice time? I was at home at the time of the murder. women wishing to return to work on a part-time basis She wants to work part-time after she’s had the baby. We played cards to pass the time (=to help us stop feeling bored). I guess it’s payback time. Extra buses run at peak times. I’ll see you after the meeting, if time permits (=if it finishes early enough). Foldaway furniture is the answer where space is at a premium. At the present time we have no explanation for this. This product should be consumed on the day of purchase. The astronauts are racing against time to repair the spaceship. a building that has survived the ravages of time The situation has improved in recent years. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn’t finished. I’ve beaten her three times in a row. money-saving ideas Did you know that Les is serving time (=is in prison)? I’ve only been in Brisbane a short time. Germany achieved spectacular economic success in a relatively short period of time. They met and married within a short space of time. Most of the workers were put on short time. Come on, time’s running short! A new comedy is scheduled for the 9 pm time slot. It was some time before they managed to turn the alarm off. It’ll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span. Sorry, I can’t spare the time. I want to spend more time with my family. We’ll have to spend the night in a hotel. His childhood was spent in Brazil. Stacey spends all her free time painting. He was just stalling for time. His poetry will stand the test of time (=stay popular). We had five minutes of stoppage time (=extra time played in a sports match because of pauses) at the end of the first half. She doesn’t leave the house for long stretches of time. I rang my boss and arranged to take some time off. The little time I had outside of school was taken up with work. It’s been a testing time. Sharon became involved with music in the time-honoured fashion – through her family. With 15.7 seconds left, Washington State called time out. I just lost all track of time. These are troubled times for the coal industry. The beginning of the show is often a trying time because of latecomers. Steve turned up late, as usual. We must reduce costs and shorten turnaround times. They're screening "The Wizard of Oz" again for the umpteenth time. ‘This is crazy,’ she told herself for the umpteenth time. She remembered the day when Paula had first arrived. We just sat around and watched TV the whole time (=the only thing we did was watch television). I work part-time in a library. It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· As time passed, she thought less and less about her family back home.
(=require a long time to do)· Learning a new skill takes time.
(=have enough time to do something)· I didn’t do it because I didn’t have time.
· We never get time to do anything together.
· I’m going to spend some time with my family.
(=spend a period of time doing something)· The prisoners pass the time reading, or writing letters.
· You are wasting your time arguing with him.
· I used a ready-made sauce in order to save time.
(=do something, even though you are busy)· You need to make time to do things you enjoy.
(=spend time doing something unimportant while waiting for something)· He was just killing time before his appointment.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + time· I haven’t seen him for a long time.
· A short time later, she heard him drive away.
(=a short period of time)· The offer is available for a limited time only.
(=quite a long period of time)· I’ve known the truth for some time.
· He spends all this free time watching television.
· I’m sorry if I’m taking up your valuable time.
· As the children get older, evenings become valuable family time.
(=the time it takes to travel somewhere)· By train, the journey time to London is about two hours.
phrases· Over a period of time the students develop their own ideas.
· Customers only have a limited amount of time to inspect the goods.
(=there is enough time to do it)· There was no time to discuss it further.
· It took them a long time to struggle through the crowds.
(=as time passes)· I understood him better as time went on.
(=there is not much time left to do something)· Doctors are looking for a suitable donor, but time is running out.
(=used to say that the time allowed for something has finished)· Time’s up, class. Put your pens down and hand your papers to the front.
(=have time to do something unimportant while waiting for something)· I still had some time to kill, so I thought I’d make a couple of phone calls.
COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘a small time’. Say a short time.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses. They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago). Can you tell me ahead of time if you’re coming? (=very advanced or new, and not understood or accepted) Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time.
Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time. They were quarrelling all the time (=very often or continuously). The price of wheat had reached an all-time low. They reached an all-time record score. You’ll have ample time for questions later. There is ample evidence that climate patterns are changing. Everyone assembled in the hall at the appointed time (=at the time that had been arranged). I didn’t feel that this was an appropriate time to mention the subject of money.· He never arrives on time for meetings.
The train arrived bang on time. (=the time when someone, usually a child, has a bath)· Come on, Lucy, it's bath time.
· She sat and sewed until it was time for bed.
The disease dates back to biblical times. The 46-year-old author has finally hit the big time. (=that is set to explode at a particular time)· The terrorists’ time bomb was planned to cause the maximum carnage.
· the boom years of the late 1980s
· I don’t like talking at breakfast time.
· He lived there all his life, apart from a brief period during the war.
discounts for first-time buyers (=a period of time when a lot is changing)· We live in changing times.
The play has become an American classic. The show is timed to coincide with the launch of a new book. This is a complete waste of time. (=the limited amount of time that is available)· Exams are always done under strict time constraints.
(=how long you cook something for)· Adjust the cooking time according to the size of the bird.
a famous film clip which has been shown countless times· There are also part-time courses for mature students.
· At the crucial moment, he withdrew the support of the army.
· The normal delivery time is 7 – 10 days after you place your order.
· Do you know your exact departure time?
He devoted his energies to writing films. Lunch was produced in double-quick time. You can have an easy time of it now that the kids have all left home. (=spending every weekday in a school or college)· Children must stay in full-time education until the age of 16.
The assignment must be completed within an overall elapsed time of one week.· I’m sick of all those political pamphlets that come through my door at election time.
· We now have 110 full-time employees.
· Mike is in full-time employment, but his wife is not working.
old-fashioned Come on – there’ll be time enough to chat later.
Come on – there’ll be time enough to chat later. (=it is very important to do something quickly)
· At that exact moment, the phone rang.
· It was the most exciting time of my life.
People of different ages expend different amounts of energy. Manufacturers have expended a lot of time and effort trying to improve computer security. If you are going abroad for an extended period of time, you should consider renting your house out. The match went into extra time. I have no trouble filling my time. The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous. In the first year, all students take five courses. He said the first thing that came into his head. the first step towards achieving a peace agreement There’s a meeting on the first Monday of every month. Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children. (=how long it takes to fly somewhere)· Our estimated flight time is three hours and fifteen minutes.
‘Is it midnight already?’ ‘Well, you know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun!’ Children these days have very little free time. She works full-time and has two kids. The success of the series enabled her to concentrate full-time on writing. They’re looking for full-time staff at the library. We aim to double the number of young people in full-time study. There are thought to be around 10,000 young homeless Scots in London at any given time. Things will get easier as time goes by. (=in the past) These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by.
These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by. Did you have a good vacation? Is this a good time to talk to you? I went to a good deal of trouble to get this ticket. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. Jack Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time greats. She seems to be asleep half the time. This kind of thing happens all the time. (=be difficult for someone to do something) You’ll have a hard time proving that. I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer.
You’ll have a hard time proving that. I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer. He had clearly fallen on hard times (=did not have much money). Vegetarians still often have a hard time of it when it comes to eating out. (=a very unsuitable time, place, person etc) This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.
This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.· In times of hardship, your family may be the only people you can go to for help.
· He hired extra workers to help at harvest time.
Thanks for everything – we had a great time. (=the first time something has ever happened)· For the first time in history, an American president resigned his office.
Earnings hit a peak in the early 1980s. Oil prices have hit rock-bottom. Markets have been held here since time immemorial. Teachers simply do not have the time or the inclination to investigate these matters.· Griffiths spent three days in jail after pushing a policeman.
(=spend time in jail)· He was finally released after serving 27 years in jail.
· He had a part-time job at the pet shop.
a time lag The usual time lapse between request and delivery is two days. Things have changed since the last time (=the most recent occasion) you were here.· They spend much of their leisure time with their grandchildren.
· The time limit for making a claim is three months.
There are only a limited number of tickets available. a long period of time It took a long time to get everything ready. She died a long time ago. American English spoken (=a very long time) It took me the longest time to figure out how to open the windows.
It took me the longest time to figure out how to open the windows. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive. In 1978, 29 million days were lost in industrial action. Come on, there’s no time to lose (=do not waste time). (=do something immediately) Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention.
Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention. Public confidence in the legal system is at an all-time low (=much lower or worse than ever before). The company now employs four times as many women as men. I’ve sat here many a time (=often) and wondered what happened to her. She was desperate to halt the march of time upon her face and figure.· It was one of the greatest disasters of modern times.
(=now)· At this moment in time we cannot proceed with the proposal.
· This is the busiest time of the month.
(=the way people in general feel at a particular time)· The movie captured the mood of the moment.
(=usually) Most of the time it’s very quiet here. Most evenings we just stay in and watch TV.
Most of the time it’s very quiet here. Most evenings we just stay in and watch TV.· You can always tell when it's a baby's nap time because they start getting irritable.
They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert. Next time I go skiing, I’ll wear warmer clothes. Did you have a nice time? (=used when something happens very late at night, and you are surprised)· Why are you calling me at this time of night?
I was at home at the time of the murder.· The US is in for a painful period of adjustment.
women wishing to return to work on a part-time basis She wants to work part-time after she’s had the baby. We played cards to pass the time (=to help us stop feeling bored). I guess it’s payback time. Extra buses run at peak times.· Over a period of time, this pressure can damage the fibres of the carpet.
I’ll see you after the meeting, if time permits (=if it finishes early enough). formal (=used especially in official speeches, announcements etc)· It would be wrong to comment at this point in time.
· a part-time post as a university lecturer
· My time is precious, and I don't want to waste it.
Foldaway furniture is the answer where space is at a premium. At the present time we have no explanation for this. This product should be consumed on the day of purchase. The astronauts are racing against time to repair the spaceship. a building that has survived the ravages of time The situation has improved in recent years.· The price of oil has hit an all-time record.
· Pollution in the lake has reached record levels.
By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn’t finished.· My children had a rough time because they were different from the rest.
I’ve beaten her three times in a row.· I’m really disappointed that this happened. It’s a sad day for football.
money-saving ideas (=the ability to choose the right moment to do or say something)· He told the story with an exquisite sense of timing.
Did you know that Les is serving time (=is in prison)?· No date has been set for the election.
I’ve only been in Brisbane a short time. Germany achieved spectacular economic success in a relatively short period of time. They met and married within a short space of time. Most of the workers were put on short time. Come on, time’s running short! A new comedy is scheduled for the 9 pm time slot. It was some time before they managed to turn the alarm off. It’ll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span. Sorry, I can’t spare the time. I want to spend more time with my family. We’ll have to spend the night in a hotel. His childhood was spent in Brazil. Stacey spends all her free time painting.· The school has over 100 full-time staff.
He was just stalling for time. His poetry will stand the test of time (=stay popular). We had five minutes of stoppage time (=extra time played in a sports match because of pauses) at the end of the first half. She doesn’t leave the house for long stretches of time. I rang my boss and arranged to take some time off. The little time I had outside of school was taken up with work.· Parents need permission to take their children on holiday during term time.
It’s been a testing time. Sharon became involved with music in the time-honoured fashion – through her family. With 15.7 seconds left, Washington State called time out. (=face a lot of difficult problems) The family has had a tough time of it these last few months.
The family has had a tough time of it these last few months. I just lost all track of time. (=a long tradition)· In time-honoured tradition, they have a drink in every pub along the high street.
These are troubled times for the coal industry. The beginning of the show is often a trying time because of latecomers. Steve turned up late, as usual. We must reduce costs and shorten turnaround times. They're screening "The Wizard of Oz" again for the umpteenth time. ‘This is crazy,’ she told herself for the umpteenth time. She remembered the day when Paula had first arrived. We just sat around and watched TV the whole time (=the only thing we did was watch television). I work part-time in a library.· In recent years part-time work has become more popular.
· Are you available for full-time work?
· A high percentage of the female staff were part-time workers.
· The bureau has only two full-time workers.
It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.· That maximum should be as low as 1300 to 1500 patients per full time principal.· Khader works full time now at nation-building, sometimes logging 16 hours of work in a day.· Among men of working age, 78 percent were in employment with 63 percent working full time and 2 percent part time.· But among those with children under 18, 44 percent said they would choose to work part time rather than full time.· Everyone was working full time and doing campaign work on the side.· Many women work full time for the same reason many men do-they need the money for their families.· She is a clinical lecturer, University of Oxford and back at full time work as Consultant Dermatologist after maternity leave.· The center employs 24 people full time.
· Finlayson thought for a good long time, while he stared at Callaghan's bright new buttons.· Economically, a good time to drain and refill a pool is after mid-April and before June.· One of these days Sam is going to come up against a good old time proper door.· Spring is a good time to start.· During practice the best time logged was twenty minutes.· You are simply there to have a good time or pursue a particularly delicious passion, when suddenly-it happens.· Her school is very good with time as well and she manages to get most of her work done.· I try to have a good time doing it.
· Mr Antonis is having a hard time getting his message of openness across to all the citizens of Antwerp.· He may have a hard time persuading lawmakers.· Interestingly, though, the bottom 10 includes many household names fallen on hard times.· The merry old woman had a hard time not laughing as they carried her into the coach.· Responding to hard times, the world's biggest advertising agency is reshuffling its management.· Two days before Easter and the week after Easter have been our hardest time since John came back home.· The 1930s were hard times, so I think they will be forgiven for this slight oversight.· Problems he had a hard time learning how to solve.
· The scars of Bosnia will take a long time to heal.· Career mismatches usually take a long time to acknowledge and an even longer time to put behind you.· It was a long time after that before I regained my confidence.· I learned a long time ago that any success coaches have is directly attributed to the players.· It is a long time ago and what matters now is the future.· A century of confrontation and conflict can be a long time, but also an emphatic teacher.· I was thinking, for a long time after you left.· P would like to see the debt spread out over a longer length of time.
· At the present time, 27 colleges are providing courses, with a record enrolment of 690 students.· Deferred imitation is the imitation of objects and events that have not been present for some time.· At the present time some of the old Airey houses are being demolished and rebuilt.· It is as comprehensive as is possible at the present time.· At the present time there is only the public house left.· There seems to be far more scope at the present time for the two generations to become friends.· Filtration At the present time there is considerable concern about concentrations of nitrogen compounds in water containing goldfish.· Comparative education Everyone is aware that the teaching profession is under stress at the present time.
· Communications are short and publication is rapid, providing information on new avenues of research in the shortest possible time.· It lasted a very short time.· In a short time, his appointment has come to look like a poisoned chalice.· They sat there for a short time without saying anything.· She had achieved all that, in such a short time.· They will become tame enough after a relatively short period of time, to take food from your fingers.· Cut short that hanging time and the meat will be tough and flavourless, regardless of its pedigree and upbringing.· Improved performance will overcome these in a short time.
VERB· Of course, the rules of games do change over time.· How come the social worker had had to change the time?· The older adult How relationships may have changed by this time!· The property went into foreclosure and changed hands several times.· It is recognised that observed statistical relationships may change over time due to changes in financial markets.· This revamping is geared toward helping workers adapt to changing times.· The mean labelling indices did not change significantly over time regardless of whether or not there were recurrences.· Before the light changed half a dozen times she disposed of the entire batch.
· Now, no one could claim that a television set saves time.· Anderson sometimes took two of his students on a demonstration ride, to save time.· Order, order Always plan ahead to save time and unnecessary effort.· Airplanes, promoted to save travel time, increase it as people spend more time traveling than ever before.· You can also save time by deciding what is essential for your horse's comfort and what is dictated by tradition.· Perhaps he could save time by collecting the money now.· Understanding your address book's capabilities will save you time and tedium in the long run.· It seems we use more time and energy on the technology that was supposed to save us time and energy.
· Thus they spent much of their time debating the validity of various evaluation procedures as potential responses.· He has begun composing again, so he spends a lot of time in the drawing room.· They now spend a lot of time exchanging stories about the week's events.· He takes me places and spends time with me.· I spent my time, for as long as I stayed, cheering for the bulls.· Deborah preferred that her sons spend as little time with Tom as possible.· To this end, he spent much of his time personally constructing dams and pipelines.· Like many Westerners, he spent so much time on horseback when he was little that he grew up bowlegged.
· Their acquisition takes time, problems arise, children become puzzled, and they have to consider possibilities and alternatives.· Every move requires a person to take the time and fight the hassle to register to vote.· It's a massive work and has obviously taken a great deal of your time and trouble.· You must take time off the clock and make it a short game.· Male speaker I've had to take time off work to get my ticket.· Food shopping takes time, a commodity of which most of us have precious little.· The vector graphics are well-executed, although it takes time for your eyes to adjust to what's going on.· But Wolfe admits that less than 1 percent of listeners take time to phone the station with opinions.
· Try to keep mealtimes positive and relaxed and don't waste time and energy forcing your child to eat.· What was I doing wasting my time like this?· You're wasting your time with me.· We were both convinced that it would be silly for me to waste time commuting to the suburbs.· Don't waste precious time stating the obvious.· I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.· But Rufus has held them close, and I can't tell him he's wasting his time.· Ringwald wastes no time wedging herself between McGaw and his coed girlfriend, Sarah Lassez.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► time is a great healer/heals all wounds► your time► time out of mind► time after time/time and time again► nine times out of ten/99 times out of 100 etc► in 10 days’/five years’/a few minutes’ etc time► with time/given time► not before time/and about time (too)► in no time (at all)/in next to no time► somebody’s time in/at/as something► journey time► pass the time of day (with somebody)► there’s no time to losePHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► again and again/time and (time) again/over and over again► give somebody time/a few weeks/all day etc► in good time (for something/to do something)► as good a time/place etc as any► time hangs/lies heavy on your hands► kill time/an hour etc► in less than no time► let the good times roll► be a long time/ten years etc in the making► many’s the time/day etc (that/when)► me time► it’s time I was moving/we ought to get moving etc► time is moving on► now’s the time (for somebody) to do something► be old before your time► twice over/three times over etc► somebody puts his pants on one leg at a time► pass the time of day (with somebody)► be pressed for time/cash etc► be pressed for time/money etc► be pushed for time/money etc► three years/five times etc running► the sands of time► a stitch in time (saves nine)► be having a thin time (of it)► be (caught/locked/stuck) in a time warp► every time somebody turns around► unearthly hour/time etc► watch the time► have a whale of a time► price-wise/time-wise etc
- Most of the time at work I just answer the phone and type letters.
- Most of the time he's a really nice guy, but sometimes he can be really nasty.
- Most of the time people vote for the party that offers them financial advantages.
- Our two-year-old is happy most of the time, but he wakes up from his naps in an awful mood.
- This place is really busy most of the time.
- And it works too, most of the time.
- Dewar looked gloomy most of the time, being one of life's pessimists.
- Even after that, she continued to have headaches almost daily and felt nauseated most of the time.
- He took no shit from anybody, gambled constantly, and won most of the time.
- I don't like the way I look, most of the time, for all the reasons I've just given.
- Raskolnikov lives with his pain, but most of the time he doesn't focus on it.
- We were hungry and cold most of the time.
- Without visible failure most minds are closed most of the time.
- But his parents are faced with a desperate race against time to raise the money necessary for his treatment.
- For the cartoonists, it's a daily battle against time, to create work that captures the imagination.
- However, with the contract negotiations starting, Lipton and others know that they are fighting a battle against time.
- It is a race against time.
- It looks as if my whole life is a race against time.
- Now it is a race against time to rebuild it before high spring ties later this month.
- The picture which became the cover shot, of the Rollright Stones, was a particular race against time.
- They face a race against time as fears grow over the health of the whales and the possibility of their becoming beached.
- For the developer, time is money.
- It is often said that time is money, but it is seen as cost and not value.
- My time is money for me and the firm.
- Plus, it only takes seconds to connect up, and as time is money that's always important.
- That costs time, and time is money.
- That would be a waste of their time, and time is money.
- They know time is money so they have a policy of buying it with yours and everyone else's. 5.
- But time is on your side if you can be gentle and good-naturedly persistent.
- For that matter, so could Rob, but then again, time is on his side.
- On the other hand, both Fujimori and Cerpa seem intent on showing that time is on their side.
- On this occasion, they also appear confident that time is on their side.
- When you begin identifying challenges at a relatively early age, time is on your side.
- Dearest Jeanette How time flies especially when one is meant to be writing lots of letters.
- There are so many diversions here that the time flies by on wings.
- Think how time flies in periods of intense, purposeful activity.
- Before, they used to count their breaks in the twelve hours, now their breaks are in their own time.
- Best to ignore him and let him come around in his own time.
- I can remember doing that in my own time.
- Nurses in training who work hard physically, study in their own time and have numerous personal commitments are under pressure.
- The hunt will occur later, on its own terms and in its own time.
- Then gradually slip the open bag into the tank, and allow the fish to swim out in their own time.
- They can then absorb the literature in their own time and make up their own minds.
- Those designs are mine, done in my own time and made up by my own outworkers.
- Before, they used to count their breaks in the twelve hours, now their breaks are in their own time.
- Blue Mooney, a living legend in his own time.
- He should take his own route in his own time and avoid the tendency to see through others' eyes.
- Let me tell them myself, in my own time.
- Nurses in training who work hard physically, study in their own time and have numerous personal commitments are under pressure.
- The recognition that exceptional holiness and spirituality continue to manifest themselves in our own time is also a central pentecostal conviction.
- There were realistic hopes for Surrey as Mark Butcher and Stewart appeared to be building a stand in their own time.
- You would be healthy in your own time.
- But don't fret, you shall have a puppy all in good time.
- Quite honestly I don't have a lot of time for any of them.
- I can't start repenting at my time of life.
- I love Ma, but she must expect to be unhappy because she's reached that time of life.
- I think at your time of life you should.
- It really was a wonderful place for me, and a wonderful time of life.
- It was a time of life when I did not run out of words.
- Midlife is a time of physical change, as are other times of life.
- Not at my time of life.
- About half the time, I went down with a buddy, half the time alone.
- Alice was thinking: Jim's so big and strong, Philip isn't; together they'd need half the time.
- AutoFix worked about half the time on both computers.
- Drunk and maudlin half the time.
- It's madness your having to live with them half the time.
- Just not in touch with it half the time.
- Poor thing, he could barely keep his eyes open half the time, and now he had this skin condition.
- The new mainframe operating system I have personally approved is going haywire; the computer is down half the time.
- Even the time of the month can not be blamed for women's tendency to depression.
- She was worrying that they'd made love at the wrong time of the month.
- Surely not the time of the month?
- This is a safe time of the month for me.
- At times even the most talented athletes lose their motivation.
- At times Jean deeply regretted not having children.
- In a job like this, you're bound to feel a little stressed at times.
- Check that machines and materials will be available at times that suit them.
- Even Preston had to admit it was fun at times.
- Everybody has to pull together and support each other at times like this.
- Granted this role at times seems like little more than an extension of his stint as a motivational speaker.
- Hart is an amiable and enthusiastic guide, if a little corny at times.
- He wrote beautiful, at times too beautiful prose.
- It is one of the devious ways in which we all can behave at times.
- It was very inadequate at times, especially in winter if you were on point duty.
- From time to time a helicopter flew by, but mostly the sky remained clear.
- The two still talk on the phone from time to time.
- This is the kind of problem that we all have from time to time.
- Everyone was watching Zhang Kou and murmuring unintelligibly from time to time.
- Generally, both parties must relax their position from time to time.
- He could not do this with-out creating controversy, without startling the press from time to time.
- He was one of the slow readers who met with me for extra work from time to time.
- It is an idea you have played with from time to time.
- It was only natural that some of them would go wrong from time to time.
- Only one of them actually lived at State House, but they all got together from time to time.
- Reduce heat to medium, cover and stir from time to time for another 20 to 25 minutes or until tender.
- Carry your passport with you at all times.
- Keep your hotel door locked at all times.
- Many books recommend carrying your passport with you at all times.
- He made a point of chatting to her at all times.
- He measured CO2 at all times of the day and night.
- Neighbours say the animals bark incessantly at all times of the day and night.
- Now she had to consider another person's wishes at all times.
- Rice dresses immaculately and stylishly at all times, on the field and off.
- To help other people at all times.
- We can remind ourselves of, and help our children to realise, the need at all times for compassion.
- A spokesman for the Housing Department would only say that the tower blocks had seemed a good idea at the time.
- And I must admit I didn't know at the time exactly what her flying weight should be.
- Apparently, Shaw was not skiing with her husband or sons at the time of the accident, said Malik.
- From what I learned of their disappearance at the time, I never believed they would re-surface intact.
- In fact, at the time it must have seemed a remarkably good idea.
- Montaine was still living in the attic at the time.
- My view is that he combined two qualities that were, at the time of his ascendancy, regarded as mutually exclusive.
- Twenty two had active colitis at the time serum was obtained.
- At one time forests covered about 20% of Lebanon.
- See, I can lock the doors all at one time.
- There aren't many places around here where you can cater for fifty or so people at one time.
- This word processor allows you to work with two documents at one time.
- You feel like you are going in twelve different directions at one time.
- Although you can see only 80 characters on the screen at one time.
- It has been established that at one time or another during her life she had been wounded by all three arrows.
- The city at one time had talked to Edwards Theaters about building a multiplex theater there, but those talks faltered.
- The curriculum, which at one time had seemed novel, barely changed from decade to decade.
- The somewhat better-known Sigmund Freud at one time worked with Janet.
- Up to 24 packages can be accessed at one time.
- We cured all our bloaters and our kippers, at one time.
- "Do you have any health insurance?'' "Not at this time.''
- Gas prices always go up at this time of year.
- I have no further questions at this time, your honor.
- It would be difficult at this time to explain all the new regulations.
- What are you doing out at this time of night?
- His frustration with not carrying the ball at this time of year is as routine as the end of daylight savings time.
- His salary at this time was £1,000, and upon leaving the service he received a pension of £600 p.a.
- I have no reason to believe at this time that this was anything more than a terribly tragic accident.
- It was not uncommon for critics at this time to be engaged in character study and reconstructions of plot and chronology.
- No, not the World Series, but the asinine bets politicians make at this time of the year.
- Remember that at this time the special eucharistic celebration of Christians took place during the course of a meal of fellowship.
- The rejection of the newly mobile toddler may be accentuated if another baby is born at this time.
- There were controversies about various forms of Church Government and many sects flourished at this time of religious toleration.
- At no time did anyone suggest that the drug was dangerous.
- Despite what I'd been told about the local people's attitude to strangers, at no time did I encounter any rudeness.
- Benefits: A better piece at no time cost to you.
- But at no time is this conditioning of mild hysteria and personality cult a wholesome thing.
- Certainly, at no time did the lift pass anything like 6,000 tons a day.
- Interestingly, at no time did anyone consider reinstating the four women.
- She most certainly at no time condoned what had happened to her daughter.
- That code requires only that the trustees are at no time resident or ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.
- Their economic viability, at no time very great, has become fragile risking complete social and economic disintegration.
- They empathized with each other, responding to that which at no time had been spoken aloud, but understood between them.
- Although the government aims to encourage private enterprise, around one third of the economy will remain under state control, for the time being.
- Bob's keeping his car in our garage for the time being.
- For the time being, Mrs Gilman's classes will be taken by other teachers.
- But for the time being, at least, stick an asterisk next to this season.
- But for the time being, one has to be realistic.
- Certainly, it rules out an easing for the time being.
- The villagers' resistance has led to the plan being postponed for the time being.
- This will, hopefully, shift his focus from writing to acting, at least for the time being.
- Tom is retired for the time being.
- We both know that the burden for the time being is going to be on him and his paintings.
- When it asks which formats it should play, let it take over everything for the time being.
- David said he'd take me to the concert, if he's home in time.
- Do you think you'll be fit in time for Saturday's race?
- Don't worry, I'll be back in time to cook dinner.
- If you don't leave enough space between your car and the car in front, you may not be able to stop in time.
- Jarvis was a strange man, but in time I got to like him.
- She's hoping to be out of hospital in time to celebrate her birthday at home.
- She started as an office junior, and in time became director of the whole company.
- In spite of the bad traffic, we reached London with plenty of time to spare.
- She arrived at the hospital with little time to spare.
- And not such a bad parent-always with time to spare, always eager to please, often funny.
- But with time to spare, we rummaged around.
- I became that vet with time to spare.
- Images that people have of themselves change over time.
- Alice took her time telling the story, making sure to include every detail.
- Just take your time and think about what you're saying and you'll be fine.
- Just take your time, and speak slowly and clearly.
- Just take your time. You don't have to decide immediately.
- Not wanting to seem too eager, Susan took her time about replying to the invitation.
- Take your time, think the matter over carefully, and then tell me what you've decided.
- Anne Hutchinson took her time going into exile.
- He was used to taking his time and not seeing every instant as a precious resource.
- Her own country took its time to create her a baroness; it came only in 1979.
- I took my time to do it right.
- If it did seek revenge, the lady's spirit certainly took its time.
- Liz took her time over washing, in order to give the child a chance to return to bed.
- Peahens survey several males and take their time over their decision, allowing each to parade his tail to best advantage.
- The woman behind the bar takes her time opening the fruit juice, as if trying to needle us.
- Besides being one of Henry III's most frequent ambassadors to Rome, Alexander served many times as papal judge delegate.
- I am feeling much better, though there are many times when I feel a dull ache.
- Now, as many times before, the City is missing a chance to put the system right.
- The amount of metal needed is ten times what we used on Mars.
- The males adapt to their new and relaxed home by evolving at ten times the rate of their consorts.
- The prince visited many times more.
- The real frequency of worldwide maternal mortality may be as much as three to five times higher than this ratio.
- Tours leave five times a day.
- At times he was struck by a fierce desire to believe that the suspicion was nothing but a demon in his head.
- At times whole sections will be finished while others remain blank.
- At a time when skills are in demand, they have been wantonly discarded.
- I don't think that I can send you more than four or five canvases at a time because of the cold.
- I long, at times, for clear-cut answers.
- In a way, she had come close to hating Nona at times, although she was not going to admit it.
- The slow hours seemed to tick by one tick at a time in the night.
- They are evolving at a time when more and more consumers are turning to the Internet for their shopping needs.
- Did Philip pay up on time?
- I hate not being on time for class.
- McCoy did not show up on time for the trial.
- The company will lose money if the work isn't completed on time.
- The trains don't always arrive on time.
- Anticipate the problems your client may have with self-monitoring ahead of time, and rehearse strategies to deal with those situations.
- Issues such as job assignments and reduced overtime are worked out ahead of time.
- It is hard to lay down rules about this ahead of time.
- It is important to check this list ahead of time so that you have everything ready to complete the demonstration.
- Linear regression, for example, requires all the data to be collected ahead of time and then processed all at once.
- Many of them had prepared notes ahead of time, and Drake took lots of notes.
- They were trying to learn to perform a role whose meaning and importance they could not grasp ahead of time.
- When you surf to a new Web page, you have no idea ahead of time whether it contains a Java program.
- "Joey's home." "Well, it's about time."
- A case of bread and circuses, and it's about time some one said it for the rave generation.
- All we can say is, it's about time!
- But I was thinking it's about time we got back to Nurse's house.
- But it isn't, and it's about time the public knew that.
- I think it's about time I went back home.
- I was hoping there was, cos it's about time I got back home - it's getting pretty late.
- Yes, it's about time that was stopped.
- And seeing as it was my brainchild, would you not say it was possibly the best commercial of all time?
- Surely the biggest robbery of all time was the $ 900m that the Dome stole from lottery funds?
- That's the biggest understatement of all time!
- You could call that round the biggest fluke of all time...
- Any ray of light, emitted anywhere in the universe at any time, will arrive at the omega point.
- As a result, at any time, just the tips of the twigs of any evolutionary tree are on view.
- Electricity was in the air, because the Soviet troops could step in at any time.
- He told me to call him up, or better yet come by and visit his office any time.
- I never describe the bar, so I can use any bar any time without screwing up my contract.
- Like the shares of a listed company, investors can trade them at any time through a stockbroker.
- Mr Bacon was not there at any time.
- Those humans could be back any time.
- But they believe it's only a matter of time before the disease crosses the county boundary.
- If he hasn't already killed somebody, then it's only a matter of time.
- They think it's only a matter of time before he breaks.
- Only time will tell if this agreement will bring a lasting peace.
- BProbably, but time will tell.
- Only time will tell if this is a serious effort at improving both public sector accountability and overall performance.
- Only time will tell whether it can hold its place in this competitive field.
- That is the real test of leadership, and only time will tell.
- The expert answers by saying that the story is very important and only time will tell about the future.
- Whether that was worth the price of the fare, only time will tell.
- Whether the Order will continue to grow, only time will tell.
- Once the giants of British retailing, they are now seen as being behind the times.
- People in these parts tend to be way behind the times when it comes to issues such as women's rights.
- The company's marketing plan is a little behind the times.
- As we went towards the platforms, I said, she's frightened of seeming behind the times.
- I was about fifty years behind the times.
- New York was not behind the times in strange smells.
- Newtonmore is a little quiet; some would say behind the times.
- Painting nearly always fifty years or even a hundred behind the times.
- We may be the ones 257 who are behind the times.
- You're behind the times, Arthur, you're old-fashioned.
- Motoring: Can R-R keep up with the times?
- The pub has made no attempt to keep up with the times ... no karaoke here ... just conversation.
- Considered 33 years later, that ad was light-years ahead of its time.
- Hyde Park was a school way ahead of its time.
- It was about 70 years ahead of its time in its feminism and its poetics, so this is its time.
- Of course, Pollock's historicism can he misleading, particularly when it implies that art can be ahead of its time.
- Sketchpad was not only the first drawing program, but was arguably the best, absurdly ahead of its time.
- The idea was way ahead of its time.
- The musical was ahead of its time in several ways.
- Well ahead of its time, Adamson's first album remains his best.
- As for this debut, it comes to us regrettably before its time.
- In many ways, his books, written in the first three decades of the last century, were before their time.
- No, he was before my time.
- She did not look old; rather, she had become wrinkled before her time.
- That would be before your time, of course.
- The last family to live there was called Wright, but that was well before my time.
- The men in the farmyard were all Fallschirmjager, hard young men, old before their time with cropped hair.
- There is a basic truth in his assertion, for before his time the use of marble was rare in Roman architecture.
- But all the time, Cranston said, the cost of keeping his place in the U. S. Senate grew more expensive.
- Gives the idea of slogging uphill all the time on skins.
- I wish I could have represented them all the time.
- If he likes to paint, he chooses intense colors all the time.
- Indeed he gave 50-50 decisions to Linfield all the time.
- They, they keep the word middle in there all the time.
- We do have a global village, more and more all the time.
- Without these teeth sticking out all the time, she might even look human.
- A few lonely men nursing a half-empty glass patted the floor in time to the music.
- Aeneas came back with a large army of Etruscans in time to save the camp, and furious war raged.
- But are they in time to save a season gone wrong?
- I came into the hall just in time to see it.
- I flipped on the car radio, tapping on the steering wheel in time to the music.
- Kicking down the side-rest as he jumped clear, he spun round in time to see Mariana slide down the bank.
- Put people in a position to learn by doing and provide them the information and support needed just in time to perform.
- You could go to Newcastle or York shopping and be back in time to do the school run.
- At one stage, he joined her, pacing with her, beating time with one hand.
- In employment systems, after all, people are not mustered to play together as their manager beats time.
- It is not true that elsewhere they obey it without beating it, since one beats time wherever choruses are sung.
- It starts lean and mean, just a slash of overdriven guitar with tambourine keeping time.
- The lord began to tap his foot and beat time with his hand against his thigh.
- They are likened by Leibniz to a series of clocks that manage to keep time without being connected.
- They were often unable to keep time to within fifteen minutes a day and were frequently out of order.
- Tidy time keep time on your side and all your bills in order with this hand clip clock.
- But like a single gear in a mechanical clock, timeless can not keep good time all by itself.
- Nothing unusual - clocks behaving as before, keeping good time and continuing to emit their light beams.
- Running in a clump through a crowded station, like the Bash Street Kids, keeping perfect time with chant and clap.
- None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
- Sid's wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.
- In short, he can do time for just about anything the cops care to charge him with.
- Time was when you could buy a new car for less than $500.
- A few minutes of television time was so precious.
- It was a sweet life, but Gore at the time was reinventing government and saving the Earth.
- It was comfortable with its premature senescence but at the same time was wired with a wildness and youthful energy.
- The besetting sin of the time was drunkenness, and a couple of notorious drunks lived near Richard Baxter.
- The election was not settled until close to the inauguration, so not much time was available to plan the festivities.
- The paper ran a page-one correction, noting that the time was right for Hawaii.
- Unfortunately, although a good time was had by all, a number of the team picked up a strange flu bug.
- Within the political mainstream, the spirit of these times was consensual.
- Once we got on the freeway, we made good time.
- After the ferry incident, we make good time.
- But DeLatorre, leading the convoy, made better time than he expected.
- I made good time back over the motorway.
- I was no weight, we made good time.
- The weather was not too promising, but we made good time and were soon at the first terrace.
- They made good time thereafter, considering the darkness, encountering no problems.
- We had made good time and had to ease speed to avoid closing the island in darkness.
- We were making good time through the foothills.
- And it was still a bad time for the people in the middle.
- And then uh, he was the homecoming king and oh, gosh, that was a bad time in my life.
- Calls to assistant general manager Mike Port came at a bad time.
- I thought it would be great down there, but I started having a bad time so I went back to Newcastle.
- It was a bad time to have chosen for confrontation.
- Strawberry had had a bad time.
- The prolonged federal government shutdown could not have come at a worse time for businessman Herb Stein.
- While I have no problem with this, the issue is that my friends are giving me a bad time about it.
- a conductor beating time with his baton
- At one stage, he joined her, pacing with her, beating time with one hand.
- In employment systems, after all, people are not mustered to play together as their manager beats time.
- It is not true that elsewhere they obey it without beating it, since one beats time wherever choruses are sung.
- Significantly, he follows the use of conducteur by recalling more recent occasions on which he beat time.
- The lord began to tap his foot and beat time with his hand against his thigh.
- Even at the best of times the roads are dangerous.
- A salmon is slippery enough to handle at the best of times, but one of this size ...
- But reason told her it was a precarious business at the best of times.
- In fact Polanski, unconventional at the best of times, takes us to the limit - and beyond.
- It was run on a shoestring at the best of times and Kelly was merely adding to his problems.
- Listening is a difficult and complex skill at the best of times.
- Memory was mischievously selective at the best of times Trivia stuck limpet-like and the useful filtered away.
- Rising living standards and well-being are ambiguously related at the best of times, and not simply for ecological reasons.
- The mind was a delicate mechanism that he disliked interfering with at the best of times.
- Investors are biding their time, trying to figure out what the next successful stock will be.
- Bide your time, Lissa, she told herself, bide your time.
- Be patient, tolerant and bide your time.
- He has bided his time, and now he feels he has arrived.
- Keenan certainly bided his time before coming forward to lodge his complaints.
- Or wiser than we are; silent and strong, biding their time?
- Some say they're biding their time before becoming more aggressive again.
- The nurse was biding her time till another idea came to her that would put her on top again.
- Where does it bide its time?
- He played in clubs for years before making it to the big time.
- The text can be put on an overhead and revealed a bit at a time.
- Euro Disney had a bumpy ride as the market digested its results, sinking to a low of 813p down 35p.
- It had been a bumpy ride, through the tail end of a thunderstorm.
- It is therefore going to be, at best, a bumpy ride.
- It was the same man who had jostled her repeatedly during a bumpy ride on the Lexington Avenue Express subway.
- Since the programme was announced in 1998, like previous eradication campaigns, it has had a bumpy ride.
- The plant had had a bumpy ride since Cellatex was sold off by the chemicals giant Rhne-Poulenc in 1991.
- But he bought himself family time and independence.
- Jack tipped him five and got behind the wheel of his Lincoln, which he was buying on time.
- Meanwhile, their opponents are busy taking out newspaper advertisements, buying air time and working the telephones.
- Obviously, you only score the points of any player you buy from the time you get him.
- The advantages are that it can be bought at any time, changed without penalty and fully refunded.
- The diversion bought him some time.
- There would be water from the sink to quench his thirst, and that would buy him some time.
- Why did they buy at that time?
- Besides the unlimited license to overcharge, the prosecutor has a crowbar called time to hold over your head.
- It is tempting, then, to call time on G8 summits.
- Read in studio Britain's most exclusive clockmaker is about to call time on his business - because of the recession.
- Survey calls time on fears Government concerns that the 1988 Licensing Act would encourage greater consumption of alcohol have been proved unfounded.
- This is called time-dating.
- Washington State called time out, then had three chances from inside 10 feet but could not convert.
- A literal offering of bread and wine has in the course of time been included in the eucharistic ritual.
- As new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer.
- It has also been clearly established that in the course of time evaluation of particular variants can change or even be reversed.
- Physical death follows in the course of time.
- The critical question was: Why has life undergone this progressive development in the course of time?
- Once, long ago, at the dawn of time, he had persuaded man to disobey in a garden.
- Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth.
- But I've always found the Flying V and its derivatives a devil of a job to sit down with and play.
- He was taking a devil of a time to change.
- If he filled those in they'd have a devil of a job lifting them!
- It took me a devil of a time to find it I can tell you.
- She hasn't had an easy time of it since Jack left.
- Hu did not have an easy time of it at first.
- He could be followed to the end of time, and still nothing would happen.
- Every time it rains we get a flood in the bedroom.
- Every time she sees me she says looks away.
- Every time we talk about money, we get into an argument.
- Don't ask me for money every time you want to buy a drink.
- It seems like every time I play basketball, I get hurt.
- My neck hurts every time I turn my head.
- Fernandez, a Miami native, was not packing the place every time he pitched.
- He would remember every time he had been humiliated at school or home, exaggerating the feeling and circumstances involved.
- I don't want to have to take out a new mortgage every time I move up the ladder.
- I shudder with embarrassment every time I think about it.
- It just works so perfectly every time they start laughing at him.
- That latency will get you every time.
- The price looks higher every time you speak, Captain Owen.
- Tired of getting leaves and debris caught in your roof gutters and clogging them every time it rains?
- At 21 she is set for stardom, but she still finds time for people who have fallen on hard times.
- Even by political standards, Gingrich very quickly fell on hard times.
- I assumed that if a person fell on hard times some one else in the wider family would rescue them.
- Interestingly, though, the bottom 10 includes many household names fallen on hard times.
- The Cambridge University Automobile Club had clearly fallen on hard times, too.
- The model cities program fell on hard times soon after it began.
- With the outbreak of war, the shop fell on harder times.
- Worse, because of Jack the father has fallen on hard times and must meet all kinds of debts.
- Evening Today I had four baths to fill in time and I invented you.
- Recreational reading can be defined as a pastime by which the reader fills in time pleasantly.
- Tip-top young fellow, filling in time before Cambridge.
- At present, Akeakamai can understand sentences of up to five words, and can understand commands even when hearing them for the first time.
- By hearing them, we recognise them and we also, perhaps for the first time, see them as strange.
- It rained for the first time since we arrived in Sian today.
- Remember, these twelve artistic masterpieces are now on collectors' plates for the first time.
- She leans forward-and, for the first time since the first time-she kisses him.
- That day, the skies had clouded and, for the first time, the weather was cooler.
- The Federal Communications Commission began to regulate rates for the first time.
- Before fixing a date do some research.
- Employers generally fix a time limit on the payment of these allowances.
- He added that while Yeltsin is breathing somewhat easier than he had been, there is no fixed date for his discharge.
- She said she loved him, they said they loved him, but somehow nobody would fix a date for a marriage.
- The court will either grant the request on written application or fix a date for hearing.
- The court will then fix a date for consideration and serve notice on the applicant.
- The court will usually fix a time limit for service when making directions and this must be complied with.
- They fixed a date for the weekend and he kissed her goodbye.
- "Hasn't the afternoon passed quickly?" said Carol. "Time flies when you're having fun."
- Is it 5:30 already? Boy, time sure flies!
- Is Richard eight already? Doesn't time fly?
- Dearest Jeanette How time flies especially when one is meant to be writing lots of letters.
- There are so many diversions here that the time flies by on wings.
- Think how time flies in periods of intense, purposeful activity.
- No rocks, to our knowledge, are untouched by life in former times.
- It was resolved that from this day forward they shall be called by the name of the Veterinary College, London.
- But looking after the wear and tear was a full-time job.
- But most people in Hanoi could not afford consumer luxuries, and even acquiring necessities was a full-time job.
- C.-it was a full-time job and there was no choice in the matter.
- It really was a full-time job.
- It was a full-time job and if the husband was gone, it was a major loss.
- Job hunting is a full-time job.
- Managing diversity will be a full-time job for anyone with a niche in the interlinked economy.
- Now it really is a full-time job.
- I'm sure he'll tell us everything in the fullness of time.
- And in the fullness of Time the seed S grew into a beautiful Tree, which is what T stands for.
- Doubtless their minds are uncluttered by the thought that in the fullness of time they themselves will appear on the list.
- The rules allowed them this 2:1 majority but in the fullness of time it would become unacceptable to members.
- "Well, let me see," he said slowly, trying to gain time before answering the question.
- Dexter wondered if his vagueness was due to the shock of his wife's murder or an attempt to gain time.
- I accepted a chair and asked for a glass of water instead of the brandy, trying to gain time.
- I don't like those fancy French desserts. Give me a bowl of chocolate ice cream any day.
- And so this rural scene to which we had escaped gave me a frame of reference to understand my parents.
- Half an hour later, I was in a forest eating the bread they had given me.
- I gave her your number and told her to give me five minutes to warn you first.
- Just give me the one with 80 percent meat, 20 percent filler.
- Minna pulled away and gave me a look that was part triumph and part astonishment.
- Thelma, haggard and overly lipsticked, gave me a refill.
- They'd be sorry for me, they'd give me whisky and aspirins and send me to a psychiatrist.
- This gave me more information about the teams than any of the other committee members had.
- "When are we going to open the presents?" "All in good time."
- "When are you going to pay me?" "All in good time."
- But don't fret, you shall have a puppy all in good time.
- He would do what had to be done in his own good time; she must leave him to it.
- Once the rabbit is dead it can be retrieved in your own good time.
- The problems are the normal ones of adolescence and will pass in their own good time.
- Tina had felt let down, but knowing Bobby, he would tell them in his own good time what had happened.
- Whatever Jack wanted to do or say he would do or say in his own good time.
- My mother gave me a really hard time about Freddy. She couldn't stand him.
- She left the company because her boss was giving her a really hard time.
- Stop giving me such a hard time. I'm doing my best.
- When I first came here everyone gave me a really hard time, because I was the first woman to run a department.
- Her boss, Detective Hineline, is always giving her a hard time and she never gets really mad at him.
- If you wonder why people give you a hard time, it's because you write shit like this.
- Maybe Modigliani gave them a hard time, I don't know.
- The crew gave him a hard time, and even the cast was cautious about him.
- The laughter had stopped a while ago and, ever since, Lydia's imagination had been giving her a hard time.
- Tom gave him a hard time.
- Watson had been given a hard time from the Wednesday crowd before those goals but is now hoping the tide has turned.
- Yet Wakefield gave them a hard time throughout.
- A lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet.
- Anyone calling the 202 area code this weekend had a hard time getting through.
- I'm still having a hard time getting the company to pay me.
- I tried to find the house but I had such a hard time, I decided to give up.
- Premature babies have a hard time even under the best of circumstances.
- By contrast, books such as Randi's have a hard time finding enthusiastic editors.
- Cynics will have a hard time taking this seriously.
- Even the birds have a hard time of it, and you and Mr.
- He may have a hard time persuading lawmakers.
- I have a hard time eating meals when I should.
- The innovation of Private Eye ensured that deference, if not quite dead, would henceforth have a hard time.
- We have a hard time pulling off one conference.
- Your boy have a hard time getting it across?
- It's high time we pulled together and got the job done right.
- But his interest in the farm grew, even after he hit the big time.
- I know he talked to her about what it was like before Jett hit the big time.
- Sandier hits the big time as the loveable three killer sharks to increase their brain mass.
- Still, even session men can hit the big time.
- As long as Moira was around, Tamar was living on borrowed time.
- But now, as long as they existed, he was living on borrowed time.
- Uh, and says, uh, long time no see,.
- Ah well, better luck next time, Andy.
- And if you didn't win, better luck next time.
- Back to the West Indies with it, and better luck next time.
- He's girl crazy! He went to a boys' school and now he's making up for lost time.
- The bus driver was speeding to make up for lost time.
- After a century or so of political apathy, Hong Kong's young people were making up for lost time.
- He was eager to make up for lost time and published prolifically.
- Meanwhile Keith and Mae are settling down to married life, making up for lost time.
- None the less, we immediately started our other meetings to make up for lost time.
- Once I settled into my new life, I did everything I could to make up for lost time.
- Time to make up for lost time.
- All of us face identity crises as time marches on.
- At present these are banned, as are crossbows, but will these eventually be admitted with the march of progress?
- But in 1874-not ten years earlier or later-city and nation endured a painful pause in the march of progress.
- Like Franco, Arrese was trying to hold back the march of history.
- New discoveries have opened up all kinds of possibilities for holding back the march of time.
- They succeeded because they brought hope to the losers whom the march of progress had left behind.
- This little community is still in existence, largely untouched by the march of time.
- Parkinson's Disease seems to be marking time at the moment.
- Investors are marking time, waiting for evidence that the market is growing.
- Amusing, but Ackroyd marking time.
- Gaultier has remained true to himself, and must therefore mark time until fashion comes back around to his idiosyncratic viewpoint.
- The clock apparently marks time by carrying out a predictable and elaborate process of synthesizing and destroying molecules within living cells.
- The deep tones of the cannon marked time to the incessant roll of musketry..
- The hind legs have to mark time while the forelegs cross over, making the outer ring of a wheel.
- We marked time at Po Ti Island for a day hoping that the north-east head wind would change in our favour.
- We have to lie still for five minutes, while the teachers whisper to each other as they mark time.
- Yet computer cuts in the services sector mean that, for now, it can do little more than mark time.
- It was only a matter of time before Lynn found out Phil's secret.
- You'll learn how to do it eventually -- it's only a matter of time.
- Your father is dying and there's nothing we can do. I'm afraid it's just a matter of time.
- But they believe it's only a matter of time before the disease crosses the county boundary.
- If he hasn't already killed somebody, then it's only a matter of time.
- They think it's only a matter of time before he breaks.
- And, for some reason lost in the mists of time, we need to do that.
- What actually transpired upon the outbreak of the Civil War is lost in the mists of time it would seem.
- You move with the times, or you fail, in this business.
- But even Rolls-Royce must be seen to be moving with the times.
- Hugh Puddephat, she discovered, had certainly moved with the times.
- Male speaker We've got to move with the times.
- Mrs Bottomley told them the health service had to move with the times and some closures were inevitable.
- Nowadays, he said, prisons had moved with the times like everything else.
- Still, I suppose we must move with the times.
- They haven't moved with the times, and nor, perhaps, could they.
- Radio contact was established in the nick of time and we managed to transmit a message to the ship.
- She escaped from her smoke-filled home just in the nick of time.
- The money came through just in the nick of time.
- But all was well in the nick of time.
- But better in the nick of time than not at all.
- Enter Taligent with its promised solution for rapid applications prototyping and customization in a hardware-independent environment just in the nick of time.
- He did, however, in the nick of time, and I was issued uneventfully into the governance of Calvin Coolidge.
- It finally happened -- and just in the nick of time.
- Patience, she counselled herself, and turned the chicken in the nick of time.
- Those doughty editorial professionals at the Star have once again helped us avert a foolish mistake just in the nick of time!
- With repairs completed in the nick of time she sailed for the operation with a depleted crew.
- Nine times out of ten I just skip breakfast and have a coffee.
- Nine times out of ten we can beat them, but last night they creamed us.
- Nine times out of ten, jobs that become vacant are filled from inside the organization.
- And in no time at all, they see their dreams come true.
- He got back to normal in no time.
- He made Tracy in no time.
- If Sien went back with them, she would be driven back to her old life in no time.
- If you're telling the truth, Peter, you can be back here in no time.
- The thick pungent smoke from the spliff filled the car in no time as Firebug took long leisurely tokes and sat back.
- We were off the tanks in no time.
- Your house will be sold in no time at all!
- He could play with Orlando any old time.
- If you believed that, then you'd believe any old thing.
- A slight drizzle appeared, just for old times' sake.
- I just thought it might have been kinda fun, you know, for old times' sake.
- Or even, for old times' sake, one of the left splinter parties.
- Then one day, just for old times' sake, I paid a visit to Winston Street.
- This was really just for old times' sake, just for fun.
- Once upon a time children did what they were told.
- After all, it is once upon a time.
- However, once upon a time the mathematician was a child too.
- I'd have done anything for you once upon a time.
- One could spend a lifetime learning a small range of mountains, and once upon a time people did.
- Perhaps objects like these had been fashionable in churches once upon a time, but no longer, hence the attic.
- She might never have ironed shirts, but she too had once upon a time brought Jacob little surprises, little presents.
- There was, once upon a time, another book from which this kind of scientific certainty was derived.
- For those who are waiting for the most opportune time to invest in a home, this is an excellent time to do that.
- This seemed like an opportune moment to ask the government to mount a tree-planting program.
- His work - and his mission - comes at an opportune time.
- I waited, hoping for an opportune moment to discuss the possibility of my earning a little money.
- Meanwhile, he would take up the matter with Archbishop Perier at an opportune time.
- Porter bought Goat Island and Preserved it at an opportune moment.
- The announcement Tuesday may have come at an opportune time.
- To her now he was just a young fellow who happened to be in the house at an opportune time.
- Would this be an opportune time to suggest a move to help reduce the fragmentation of the industry?
- If anything, fashion is moving closer to the context of his style with the passage of time.
- Increased and improved communication plus the passage of time and more frequent face-to-face contacts should greatly improve understanding.
- Quite simply, the passage of time and new techniques had taken their toll.
- She knew she ought to report the death, but felt she could not because of the passage of time.
- They are lonely, sitting in quiet living rooms with clocks that loudly announce the passage of time with each tick.
- This balance changes with the passage of time as experience fashions these blueprints into more serviceable guides.
- Under these circumstances the future details of a transaction can be settled only when uncertainty is resolved by the passage of time.
- We were oblivious of the passage of time.
- The passing of the years has not weakened his artistic ability.
- He had time for his garden, time to talk to his Stratford friends, time to play with his granddaughter Elizabeth.
- Lennie knows he hasn't any time to play with if Boro are to stay in the big time.
- Then it's time to play with the topper dinghies!
- Stop playing for time and give us an answer.
- The rebel's current ceasefire doesn't amount to much more than playing for time.
- The U.S. strategy over the past weeks has been to play for time.
- Edmond Herv is a close friend and he tells me that sometimes you have to play for time to solve a problem.
- He decides, literally, to play for time and makes a debut at Nero's banquet that evening.
- Henry's only plan at this moment was to play for time.
- Mr Kasyanov seems now to be playing for time, hoping to get through January without ferocious clashes with creditors.
- The confused evidence suggests they are acting on their own initiative, not on directives from East Berlin to play for time.
- The government is playing for time.
- The governments, nervous, are playing for time.
- Truman played for time by appointing a brains trust of three to advise him.
- For quite some time he lived with the expectation that he was going to die.
- He found out we had been pulling the wool over his eyes for quite some time.
- If the skin and gills are kept moist they can remain out of water for quite some time.
- In other words, it Adll be quite some time before the kinks are worked out of the system.
- It must have taken quite a time.
- It was brought to her before I really got to know her, but it was with her for quite some time.
- Judging the competition has taken quite some time and was no easy matter.
- Uh I have no for quite some time.
- During these years she made her journeys in record time.
- Everyone in Knockglen heard about it in record time, but what they heard bore little relation to the facts.
- No question, and he did it in record time.
- She shifts into high gear and gets out of the house, down the hill and over to Starbucks in record time.
- The human species has probably not undergone much genetic change in recorded time.
- We got home in record time.
- We had finished the drive back down to the highway from Can-yon de Chelly in record time.
- We pulled out all the stops and gave the company a response in record time.
- "You did well to get that contract.'' "Not really, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.''
- An off--duty cop happened to be in the right place at the right time to stop a robbery.
- Being a successful news photographer is all about being in the right place at the right time.
- He could be in the right place at the right time when top jobs come up for grabs next summer.
- He was in the right place at the right time and hustling as he usually does.
- If we do not provide sufficient places, the necessary skill will not be in the right place at the right time.
- It was in the right place at the right time.
- They just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
- You have to be in the right place at the right time with the right partner and the right judges.
- Amato thinks the time is ripe for educational reform.
- The time was ripe for change in the company.
- As with acupuncture, this is a difficult field for research, but the time is ripe for active scientific investigations.
- So the time is ripe for a major overhaul of the sixth form.
- Don called - he's running late, so we'll start without him.
- He makes our trains run on time.
- In other words: - Keep the job running on time.
- Maybe she could get the London Underground to run on time?
- Passenger trains never ran on time now.
- Station refurbishment seems a mere insult when the trains don't run on time.
- Are you supposed to press these two buttons at the same time?
- Charlie and I arrived at the same time.
- His wife had a baby at the same time as Elaine.
- Karl and I were hired at the same time.
- So you want to talk to them, identify that they are a candidate, and then give them the test all at the same time?
- The media's criticism can be hard to take. But at the same time, we've got to keep doing our jobs.
- We've launched an appeal, and at the same time we are sending out supplies, shelters, and blankets.
- We both started talking at the same time.
- You must have been at Harvard at the same time as I was.
- And there was firing and screaming and hollering at the same time.
- But at the same time most people find the expression of their individuality through work.
- Each document is at the same time unique and existing in a thousand places.
- I wanted to throw up, pass out, scream and cry at the same time.
- Once we had five homicides on trial at the same time.
- Remarkably, they can still swill and swagger at the same time, weaving toward an exit.
- She felt an absolute wreck, yet at the same time she felt acutely self-aware.
- So a television picture changed at the same time as you saw your ex-lover walking down the road opposite.
- Employees may try working at the new location for a short time and then decide not to continue.
- In this way a carcass can draw vultures from far away in a short time.
- Just a short time ago the forest was impenetrable ... and safe.
- Now that he's on short time he's doing more round the house.
- One year is a very short time.
- Police arrested a male juvenile a short time later.
- The forest has reclaimed the fields even in this short time since I was last there.
- At the time, I took this decay merely as a sign of the times.
- But in a sign of the times, Army Chief Gen.
- But Reagan read the signs of the times.
- Is this a sign of the times?
- It was a sign of the times. 1956.
- That we owe this to the vast reach of cyberspace is indeed a sign of the times.
- This is a real sign of the times and completely eclipses global fears about ecology or famine.
- The crows meanwhile have taken on another persona of small-time crooks.
- But it was the key sort of time, wasn't it?
- Got to call opposite number in Coventry office about outstanding claim ... 16.22 Meeting time not like any other sort of time.
- It was the sort of price any commander had to pay for hoped-for victory.
- It was the sort of time and place where poems flourished along with the vegetation.
- Most of us do not have that sort of time to spare.
- Of course, a tactless dealer irritated him even more at this sort of time.
- Of course, there were other sorts of times too.
- I had to find out a lot of things about you in a short space of time.
- In old age several major losses may occur within a short space of time.
- In such a short space of time, he had plunged from the pinnacle of success to the depths of defeat.
- Just how much things can change in a short space of time.
- Still, he had been knocked out twice in a short space of time and would appreciate some rest.
- That was an extraordinarily fine achievement in such a short space of time.
- The problem is getting the material under control in order to reach ambitious learning goals in a short space of time.
- The problem was more one of having to absorb a vast amount of information in a short space of time.
- Darby was a cheerfully relaxed young man who compiled cryptic crosswords for a monthly magazine in his spare time.
- In her spare time she makes and decorates cakes of different shapes and sizes for all occasions.
- In his spare time, Grigsby gave legal advice to the Black Panthers.
- In many schools, teachers are spending their spare time fund-raising and making equipment to support the new Curriculum.
- Q: What do you do in your spare time?
- Q: When you have spare time, what do you do?
- We had some spare time, so we started messing around with samples and sequencers and stuff.
- All those below were too busy and had not time to spare to comfort him with a few minutes' companionship.
- But with time to spare, we rummaged around.
- I do not have the time to spare to meander through mountains.
- They maintain the government will have money to spare by 2011.
- Unfortunately, I haven't very much time to spare.
- We don't smoke or drink, so we have some money to spare.
- With time to spare, the Age Bulgers dominated all levels of politics and made sure their special interests came first.
- Did he think he was so important that he could finish the cottage in his own sweet time?
- I'd rather carry on in my own sweet way, and I'd rather be in Stockholm.
- I probably love him, in my own sweet way.
- You can just sit back and read the responses and decide the winner in your own sweet time.
- And I don't really know my Two Times Table.
- For Peter, puzzles are great fun; he likes to learn such details as state capitals and the times tables.
- I expect to recycle our work on the times tables.
- She knew her times tables and her Catechism.
- After all, you have been telling the time for years, haven't you?
- Because it is inexpensive, burning incense-sticks to tell the time continued to be used down to the present century.
- But her hand was shaking so much that she could not tell the time.
- Functional rather than ostentatious, for telling the time rather than for telling others who he was.
- So your watch should tell the time accurately.
- The clock did a lot more besides telling the time of day.
- These star charts were provided to enable the deceased to tell the time of night or the date in the calendar.
- Time Be able to tell the time and understand times expressed in terms of 12- and 24-hour clocks.
- Barcelona, having lost the 1961 and 1986 finals, hope it will be third time lucky.
- Everyone is praying that this time it will be third time lucky.
- Maybe he's out there thinking: third time lucky.
- Odds-on favourite last time at Haydock, he was narrowly beaten into third place, but tomorrow should prove third time lucky.
- A: I am going to take time out and go to college.
- Actress Beverley D'Angelo is taking time out from her screen career to perform a risqué country set across the Bible belt.
- At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.
- Despite his increasingly hectic schedule, Haden graciously took time out to be interviewed about the Quartet and the Jazzfest tour.
- I shall take time out to call at Aurae Phiala.
- If you actually worked for Jobs, he took time out from preaching the Mac gospel to meddle in your life.
- Nurses in Training Questions: Do nurse teachers take time out to discuss their teaching methods with their peers?
- The 73-year-old Republican standard-bearer took time out of his busy campaign schedule last week to search for those roots.
- An unrealistically low offer is a waste of time.
- As I said, many of these divisions of investigation will be a waste of time.
- But it was a waste of time.
- He may protest to the auditor that this is a waste of time.
- I feel annoyed, it is a waste of time.
- Marx thought that scholarly contemplation was a waste of time.
- Which was a waste of time really, because all I wanted to do was join Granpa on the barrow.
- While some thought that they did a good job, a substantial minority felt that they were a waste of time.
- Peter wasted no time finding himself another girlfriend.
- Additionally, less electricity is used and the chef wastes no time waiting for the correct temperature to be reached.
- Emil, the crew and I wasted no time watching.
- If it demurred, the Corps might waste no time in trying to build it instead.
- Lee wasted no time entering Maryland, the men being in high spirits as the bold move was made.
- Ringwald wastes no time wedging herself between McGaw and his coed girlfriend, Sarah Lassez.
- Shouting to Wemyss to cope with this situation, Douglas wasted no time.
- The man's wife had wasted no time going through his closets picking up worn and odd pairs.
- The Right was wasting no time, meanwhile.
- Although it is easy to dismiss meetings as time wasters, the above indicates why you should take them seriously.
- Cons: Writing with pen and paper is perhaps one of the greatest time wasters in the business world.
- FoE pinpointed fridges, light bulbs, washing machines, dishwashers, televisions, and tumble driers as energy wasters.
- Good experience and dedication, no time wasters.
- Romantic as it may be, a fireplace without glass doors is a real energy waster.
- And, as the wheel of fortune continues on its inexorable cycle, values are likely to start going up again soon.
- Then the wheel of fortune turned.
- An outside problem can sometimes be helped by, say, more flexible working hours and so be resolved at management level.
- Earnings might vary because of piece-work, overtime or short-time working.
- Flexible Hours Question: Has consideration been given to the introduction of flexible working hours?
- Meanwhile, solicitors were last week urged to consider flexible working for staff in line with the government's family friendly policies.
- Recruitment procedures focus on individual skills and potential for flexible working.
- Through grants to local authorities, we are financing schemes to introduce more flexible working practices - such as job sharing.
- Vauxhall bosses admit that the threat of short-time working at Ellesmere Port still remains a possibility.
- Wage freezes have been brought in across most of the company and some short-time working introduced.
- Kambule claims he was just a bystander when the shooting occurred, a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- The driver was drunk and hit her as she was crossing the road. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
WORD FAMILYnountimeovertimetimertimingtimelessnessadjectivetimelesstimely ≠ untimelyverbtimeadverbtimelessly
1minutes/hours etc [uncountable] the thing that is measured in minutes, hours, days, years etc using clocks: Einstein changed the way we think about space and time. close relationships established over a long period of time Customers have only a limited amount of time to examine the goods.time passes/goes by Their marriage got better as time went by.► see thesaurus at period2on a clock [singular] a particular point in time shown on a clock in hours and minutes: ‘What time is it?’ ‘It’s about two thirty.’ What time are you going out tonight?what time do you make it? British English, what time do you have? American English (=used to ask someone with a watch what time it is)have you got the time? British English, do you have the time? American English (=used to ask someone if they know what time it is)tell the time British English, tell time American English (=be able to understand a clock) Robin’s just learning to tell the time.look at the time (=used when you realize that it is later than you thought it was) Oh no. Look at the time. I’ll be late.is that the time? (=used when you suddenly realize what the time is) Is that the time? I must go.this time tomorrow/last week etc By this time tomorrow I’ll know whether I’ve got the job.3occasion [countable] an occasion when something happens or someone does something: That was the only time we disagreed. Do you remember the time I hit Tom Benson? Mary had seen the film many times.(for) the first/second/last etc time It was the first time that he had lost a game. Gerry had just had back surgery for the third time in two years.(the) next time/(the) last time/this time Why don’t you drop in for a drink next time you’re over this way? The last time (=the most recent time) I saw Jonathan was Thursday evening. The freezing weather did not return until February but this time we were prepared.the first/second/next/last etc time round (=the first, second etc time something happens) I missed their concert the first time round so I’m going next week.every/each time I meet up with Julie every time I go to Washington.how many times ... ? How many times did you take your driving test? How many times have I told you not to wander off like that? (=I have told you many times) One time (=once) I went to a garage sale and bought fifteen books.GRAMMARYou say: · The first time I saw it, I loved it. ✗Don’t say: At the first time I saw it, I loved it.4point when something happens [countable, uncountable] the particular minute, hour, day etc when something happens or should happenat the time of something She was three months pregnant at the time of Stephen’s death.at some/any/that time He is performing as well as at any time in his career. The UK has 500,000 stray dogs on its streets at any one time (=at any particular time).at a/the time when ... At the time when this scheme was introduced, it was recognised that there might be problems.by the time ... The phone was ringing but by the time she got indoors, it had stopped.it’s time to do something Rosie – it’s time to get up.it’s time for something Come on, it’s time for bed. He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s time for me to go.’it’s time somebody did something It’s time I fed the dog. Now is the right time for us to move to London.a good/bad time This might be a good time to start planning the new garden.not the time/hardly the time Now is not the time to annoy Peter.there’s no time like the present (=used to say that now is a good time to do something) ‘When do you want to meet?’ ‘Well, there’s no time like the present.’dinner/lunch/tea etc time It’s nearly dinner time.opening/closing time (=the time when a shop, bar etc opens or closes) We empty the till each night at closing time.arrival/departure time (=the time when a train, plane etc arrives or leaves) Our estimated arrival time is 2:30 pm.time of day/year England is so lovely at this time of year. We’ll sort that out when the time comes (=when it becomes necessary).5period of time [singular, uncountable] a period of time during which something happens or someone does something: Dustin wanted to spend as much time as possible with his family.a long/short/limited time I first met Jennifer a long time ago. They stopped for a short time to rest the horses. Andy and Tom talked for some time (=for a fairly short period). Alison was married, for a time (=for a fairly short period), to a comedian. Martin disliked being away from his family for any length of time (=for more than just a short period). It took her a long time to make a decision. Learning a language isn’t easy – it takes time (=takes a long period of time).take time to do something (=deliberately spend time doing something) While in New York he took time to visit some friends.travel time I wanted to make better use of my travel time.6available time [uncountable] an amount of time that is available for you to do something: I’ll visit him if I have time. Molly would like to do some diving if there is time.have time for something She realized she would have time for a coffee before her train left. We don’t have to rush. We have all the time in the world (=have plenty of time). June had little time to spare (=available time) for making her own clothes.free/spare time (=time when you are not working) He writes poetry in his spare time. Being prepared for meetings will save time. I don’t want to waste time arguing. She spent precious time (=valuable and important time) looking for a telephone. I seem to spend most of my time on the phone. McDuff passed the time writing letters (=wrote letters because he had nothing else to do).have time on your hands/time to kill (=not have enough to do) Now the children have left home, she has too much time on her hands.make/find time (for something/to do something) (=plan so that you have time available for something) Make time to talk to your children. Book your ticket soon, as time is running out.time’s up (=used to say that it is the end of the time allowed for something such as a competition or examination)we’re out of time (=used on radio and television programmes to say that there is no more time available on the programme)7all the time (also the whole time) continuously or very often: I keep practising and I’m improving all the time. He worries about her the whole time.8 most of the time very often or almost always: I can speak German but we speak English most of the time.9 half the time if something happens half the time, especially something annoying, it happens quite often: Half the time you don’t even notice what I’m wearing.10at times sometimes: Life is hard at times.11from time to time sometimes, but not regularly or very often: These food safety scares happen from time to time.12time after time/time and time again often, over a long period: The police were catching the same kids stealing time after time.13 at all times always – used especially in official rules and statements: Children must be supervised at all times while in the park. Parents are welcome at all times.14 nine times out of ten/99 times out of 100 etc used to say that something is almost always true or almost always happens: Nine times out of ten she’s right.15 at the time at a particular moment or period in the past when something happened, especially when the situation is very different now: I was about ten or eleven at the time.16 at one time at a time in the past but not now: At one time she wanted to be a nurse, but the thought of working at night put her off.17 at this time American English at this particular moment: The president said his actions were ‘the right ones at this time’.18 at no time used to say strongly that something never happened or should never happenat no time did/was etc At no time did anyone involved speak to the press. At no time was the company informed.19 for the time being for a short period of time from now, but not permanently: Now, for the time being, she is living with her father in Tijuana.20 in 10 days’/five years’/a few minutes’ etc time ten days, five years etc from now: He has an appointment with the doctor in two days’ time.21 in time a)before the time by which it is necessary for something to be done: Will you be able to finish it in time?in time to do something They ran all the way to the corner just in time to see the bus disappearing up the street.time for The painting was successfully repaired in time for the opening of the exhibition.in good time/in plenty of time (=a long time before the necessary time) We arrived at the concert hall in good time. b)after a certain period of time, especially after a gradual process of change and development: He wants to see changes in the company and I am sure he will, in time.22 with time to spare sooner than expected or necessary: We should arrive in New York with time to spare.23 over time if something happens over time, it happens gradually during a long period: The research project will be assessed over time. Students are encouraged to consider the way language changes over time.24 with time/given time after a period of time: These symptoms will start to get better with time. I would have thought of the answer, given time.25 take your time a)to do something slowly or carefully without hurryingtake your time doing something Marie took her time cutting my hair and did it really well.time over He had planned to take his time over the journey. b)to do something more slowly than seems reasonable: You’re taking your time with the lab tests. We need the results now.26 five/ten/many etc times ... used to say how much greater, more etc one thing is than another: Sound travels four times faster in water than in air. There were three times as many girls as boys.27 ... at a time a)if someone deals with things one, three, ten etc at a time, they deal with them separately or in groups of three, ten etc: If you raise your hands, I’ll answer questions one at a time. Frank took the stairs two at a time. b)if something happens for hours, days, months etc at a time, it continues for several hours, months etc: Because of his work, he’s often away for weeks at a time.28 on time at the correct time or the time that was arranged: Jack was worried about whether he’d be able to get there on time.right/bang/dead on time (=at exactly the right time) The plane arrived right on time.USAGE: On time, in time• On time means ‘at the correct or agreed time’: · Please arrive on time. ✗Don’t say: Please arrive in time.• In time means ‘early enough for something or to do something’: · He arrived in time for supper.29 ahead of/behind time earlier or later than the time when something happens, should be done etc: Prepare what you plan to say in the meeting ahead of time (=before the meeting). The train left twenty minutes behind time (=after it should have left).30 it’s about time (also it’s high time) spoken used to say strongly that you think something should happen soon or should already have happened: It’s about time our team won. It’s high time we had a party.31 not before time/and about time (too) spoken used to say that something should have happened sooner: Philip is going to be punished and not before time.32 the best/biggest etc ... of all time the best, biggest etc of a particular kind of person or thing that has ever existed: He is the greatest athlete of all time, in my opinion.33 in no time (at all)/in next to no time very quickly or soon: We’ll be there in no time.34any time (now) very soon: ‘When is she due back?’ ‘Any time now.’35 it’s (only/just) a matter/question of time used to say that something will definitely happen at some time in the future, but you do not know when: I’ll find the key eventually. It’s just a question of time. It’s only a matter of time before we catch the person who killed her.36 (only) time will tell used to say that at some time in the future it will become clear whether or not something is true, right etc: Only time will tell if the treatment has been successful.37period in history [countable] (also times [plural]) a particular period in history: Mankind has used the horse since ancient times. In earlier times, servants would use the bare wooden stairs at the back of the house.at/in/during etc the time of something He lived at the time of the Napoleonic wars.our time(s) (=the present period in history) Air pollution has become one of the most significant health problems of our time.38behind the times old-fashioned: Our equipment is a bit behind the times.39move/change/keep up with the times to change when other things in society, business etc change: We’ve got to move with the times.40 ahead of your/its time having or using the most advanced ideas, methods, designs, technology etc: Coleridge was far ahead of his time in his understanding of the unconscious.41pleasant/unpleasant [countable] a good time, bad time, difficult time etc is a period or occasion when you have good, bad, difficult etc experiences: This was the happiest time of her life.good/bad/hard etc times They had their happy times, but they had their hard times too.have a good/great/lovely etc time (=enjoy yourself) Did you have a good time at the party? Julie went to a wedding at the weekend and had the time of her life (=enjoyed herself very much).42 somebody’s time in/at/as something the period of time when you were living in a particular place, working for a particular company etc: In her time at the United Nations she was considered a tough negotiator.43 before your time a)before you were born or before you started working or living somewhere: They say he was a great actor but that was before my time. b)if you do something, especially get old, before your time, you do it before the time when most people usually do it in their lives: He seemed to grow into an old man before his time.44in part of the world [uncountable] the way of referring to points in time in one particular part of the world: Eastern Standard Time British Summer Time The flight to Boston arrives at 1.15 pm local time.45time taken [countable] a)the amount of time taken by a competitor in a race: The Olympic medallist’s time in the 200 metres final was 19.21 seconds. b)journey time the amount of time a journey takes: The journey time to London is approximately four hours.46sports [uncountable] British English the end of the normal period of playing time in a sports game, especially football SYN full time: Mason’s goal 13 minutes from time earned his team a place in the finals.47music [uncountable] the number of beats in each bar in a piece of music: Waltzes are usually in three-four time.48 in time to/with something if you do something in time to a piece of music, you do it using the same rhythm and speed as the music: Gloria was tapping her feet in time to the music.49 keep/beat time to show the rhythm and speed that a piece of music should be played at to a group of musicians, using your hands50keep perfect/good etc time if a clock keeps good time, it always shows the correct time51prison do time to spend a period of time in prison: Paul was doing time for burglary.52 pass the time of day (with somebody) to say hello to someone and have a short talk with them: People like to pass the time of day with neighbours.53 time was (when) used to say that there was a time when you used to be able to do something, when something used to happen etc: Time was when no one had television.54 there’s no time to lose used to say that you must do something quickly because there is very little time55 make good time if you make good time on a journey, you travel quickly, especially more quickly than you expected: We made good time and were at the hotel by lunchtime.56 race/work/battle against time to try to finish or achieve something even though you have very little time: Mark was racing against time to complete the work by Friday.57 time is money used to say that wasting time or delaying something costs money58 time is on your side used to say that someone is young enough to be able to wait before doing something or until something happens59time is a great healer/heals all wounds used to say that someone will become less upset as time passes60time flies used to say that time seems to pass very quickly: Time flies when you’re having fun.61 in your own time if you study or do work in your own time, you do it outside normal school or work hours: Nurses in training study in their own time.62 in your own (good) time informal when you are ready: Bobby will tell them about it in his own good time.63 all in good time used to tell someone to be patient because something they are waiting for will certainly happen after a period of time, and probably quite soon: ‘I’d love to see it.’ ‘All in good time.’64 have a lot of/no time for somebody/something informal if you have a lot of time for someone or something, you like or admire them, and if you have no time for them, you do not like or admire them: He has no time for (=does not like) people who talk too much.65time of life used to refer to someone’s age: At my time of life, you can’t take too many shocks like that.66 your time used in certain expressions to refer to the period when you are alivein your time I’ve met some rude women in my time but she’s the worst. He was many things in his time – musician, pilot, cattle-rancher, industrialist, journalist. If I had my time over again (=lived my life again), I’d probably do exactly the same things.67time of the month the time when a woman has her period: It’s that time of the month.68 time out of mind literary a very long time, or a very long time ago → big time1, full-time, half-time, part-time, real-time, → at the best of times at best3(11), → time is of the essence at essence(4), → bide your time at bide(1), → in the fullness of time at fullness(1), → give somebody/something time at give1(21), → kill time at kill1(8), → lose time at lose(8), → mark time at mark1(11), → move with the times at move1(17), → in the nick of time at nick1(1), → for old times’ sake at old(19), → once upon a time at once1(14), → play for time at play1(18), → the time is ripe at ripe(3), → at the same time at same1(3), → sign of the times at sign1(9), → a stitch in time (saves nine) at stitch1(8), → have a whale of a time at whale1(2)COLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1, 5 & 6verbstime passes/goes by· As time passed, she thought less and less about her family back home.take time (=require a long time to do)· Learning a new skill takes time.have time (=have enough time to do something)· I didn’t do it because I didn’t have time.have/get time to do something· We never get time to do anything together.spend time· I’m going to spend some time with my family.pass the time (=spend a period of time doing something)· The prisoners pass the time reading, or writing letters.waste time· You are wasting your time arguing with him.save time· I used a ready-made sauce in order to save time.make/find time to do something (=do something, even though you are busy)· You need to make time to do things you enjoy.kill time (=spend time doing something unimportant while waiting for something)· He was just killing time before his appointment.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + timea long time· I haven’t seen him for a long time.a short time· A short time later, she heard him drive away.a limited time (=a short period of time)· The offer is available for a limited time only.some time (=quite a long period of time)· I’ve known the truth for some time.free/spare time· He spends all this free time watching television.precious/valuable time· I’m sorry if I’m taking up your valuable time.family time· As the children get older, evenings become valuable family time.journey/travel time (=the time it takes to travel somewhere)· By train, the journey time to London is about two hours.phrasesa period of time· Over a period of time the students develop their own ideas.an amount/a length of time· Customers only have a limited amount of time to inspect the goods.there is time to do something (=there is enough time to do it)· There was no time to discuss it further.it takes time to do something· It took them a long time to struggle through the crowds.as time goes on (=as time passes)· I understood him better as time went on.time is running out (=there is not much time left to do something)· Doctors are looking for a suitable donor, but time is running out.time’s up (=used to say that the time allowed for something has finished)· Time’s up, class. Put your pens down and hand your papers to the front.have time to kill (=have time to do something unimportant while waiting for something)· I still had some time to kill, so I thought I’d make a couple of phone calls.COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘a small time’. Say a short time.THESAURUSa time when something happenstime a time when something happens or when you should do something: · The last time I saw her she was in high school.· It’s time for you to go to bed.· The best time to visit Scotland is in late May.occasion a time when something happens. Occasion is more formal than time: · They have been seen together on several occasions.· The last occasion the two teams met, the Giants won easily.moment a particular point in time when something happens: · At that moment (=at exactly that time), the door bell rang.· The next moment she was gone.point a particular time during a longer period of time: · At one point during the play she completely forgot her lines.· the lowest point of the holidaya long timea long time a long period of time, especially many months or years: · They’ve been married a long time – nearly 30 years.· The house has been empty for a long time.all day/night/year/week continuing for the whole day, night, year etc – used especially to emphasize that it is a long time: · It’s going to take me all night to finish this essay.· He’s in London all week, and only comes home at the weekends.hours/weeks/months/years many hours, weeks, months, or years – used to emphasize that it is a long time, or much longer than it should be: · It’s years since I rode a bike.· My wife had to wait months for a hospital appointment.ages especially British English informal a very long time: · I’ve been standing here for ages.· The software takes ages to load.· They’ve lived there for ages.a while (also some time) a fairly long time: · I hadn’t seen Paul for a while, and he’d completely changed.· It may be some time before the company starts to make a profit.the longest time American English a very long time: · For the longest time, my daughter wasn’t reading at all.· It took me the longest time to figure out how to work the sunroof in this car.a short timea minute/moment a short time: · I’ll call you back in a minute.· Can I show you something? It will only take a moment.a second a very short time: · I’ll be ready in a second.· Just a second – I can’t find my wallet.an instant written a very short time: · In an instant, they were gone.· He paused for an instant.a little while/a short while a short period of time, especially a few hours, days, or weeks: · I’ve been to Tokyo, but I was only there for a short while.· I saw him a little while ago.time1 nountime2 verb
timetime2 ●●● S1 W2 verb [transitive] VERB TABLE
time
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | time |
| he, she, it | times | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | timed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have timed |
| he, she, it | has timed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had timed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will time |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have timed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am timing |
| he, she, it | is timing | |
| you, we, they | are timing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was timing |
| you, we, they | were timing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been timing |
| he, she, it | has been timing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been timing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be timing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been timing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- I'm going to run to the corner and back - time me.
- Stephen timed his arrival for exactly six o'clock.
- The fastest big cat, the cheetah, has been timed at over 60 mph.
- The first track race is timed for 11.15.
- The meditation class will be timed so that it does not coincide with the noisier exercise classes.
- The release of the document was shrewdly timed.
- The swimming teacher always times us over 100 metres.
- Walker timed the pass perfectly.
- We timed how long it took us to get there.
- They timed the call to coincide with the attack on the Cokleys'.
- Those chords of searching bewilderment in the finale were timed to a microsecond and projected an awesome tingle of fear.
Longman Language Activatorwhen you ask what time it is
to ask someone to tell you the time: · She was walking home near Colbayns School when a man approached her and asked her the time.· She was distracted for a moment by someone asking the time.· Go and ask Dad what time it is.· If you've got a watch, why are you asking what time it is?
also what's the time? British spoken say this to ask someone you are with to tell you the time: · "What time is it?" "Just after four o'clock."· What's the time? Is it after 10?
British /do you have the time? American spoken say this to ask someone the time, when you do not know whether they have a watch: · Sorry to trouble you, but do you have the time?have the right time: · Does anyone have the right time here?have the time on you British: · Excuse me! Have you got the time on you please?
British /what time do you have? American spoken say this when you are asking someone who has a watch, especially because you think your own watch may be wrong: · What time do you make it, Emma? My watch has stopped.· What time do you have, Dave? I don't want to miss my plane.
ways of saying what time it is use this when the time is exactly a particular hour: · It's 5 o'clock.· It's exactly 10 o'clock.
also just gone British use this when the time is a little before or after a particular hour: · It's just before 6.· It's just after 10 o'clock.· It's just gone midnight. (=just after)
also of American use this to say that the time is a particular number of minutes before a particular hour: · It's ten to six.· It doesn't get dark until about twenty to ten.· It's a quarter of eleven.· Joe, by the ten of eight you're going upstairs and that's only about a half hour from now.
also after American use this to say that the time is a particular number of minutes after a particular hour: · It's quarter past four.· It's ten after five.· It's quarter after eight, and Laurie's showing up at nine.· It's half past two.
British use this to say that it is almost a particular time, especially when you are guessing what time it might be: · It's getting on for five o'clock.· I should think it's getting on for ten by now.
British informal use this to say that it is exactly a particular time: · "What time is it?" "Bang on midnight."· I make it dead on half past by my watch.· We finished bang on eight, and we were back home by nine.
a time when something happens a time when someone does something or something happens -- use this especially to talk about something that happens more than once: · Do you remember that time Tim got really drunk at Sarah's party?· Play it really loud this time.the only/same/last etc time: · The last time we ate meat was at Thanksgiving.· The only time I've seen him with a girl was that party at Mike's place.· Give us a call next time you're in town.· That was around the same time that I met Linda.the first/second/third etc time: · Is this the first time you've played pool?· Sandra, that's the third time I've asked you to keep quiet.· Alex won the 100 metres for the fifth time in a row (=he won five times, and no one else won the race in between).four/six/several etc times: · This is my favourite film - I've seen it five times.· It's silly -- I've met him several times, but I can never remember his name.a number of times formal (=use this to say something happened several times): · She's been to Greece a number of times.· I've heard Jessie play a number of times, and I think he's great.every/each time: · Every time I met her, she asked me about the children.time when: · Do you remember the time when Dad lost the car keys?
formal a time when something happens: on one/that etc occasion: · The witness said that on both occasions he noticed Davis because of his heavily tattooed arms.· On one occasion, Anna fainted while out shopping with friends.· She had met Zahid on a previous occasion.on numerous/several occasions (=use this to emphasize that something happened many times): · I've suggested that she should move on numerous occasions, but she never takes any notice.· I remember Michael sleeping in your room on several occasions and mom not knowing about it.
an exact time when something happens, during a longer process or series of events: · The play went well, apart from one embarrassing moment when I dropped a cup.· At several points during the meeting, Adler threatened to walk out.· My most special moment with dad was when I was announced as the winner of Junior Beauty Contest.moment/point in time: · At that precise moment in time, Binh walked in.
what hour, day etc something happens the particular minute or hour of the day when something is planned to happen, or the particular minute or hour that it happened in the past: the time of something: · Could I have the times of the trains to Birmingham please?· This leaflet lists the dates and times of all the concerts.· The police are still trying to establish the exact time of her death.what time?: · What time did you see the man leave the bus station?· What time do you usually start in the mornings?· What time is the news on?departure/arrival time (=the time when a train, plane, etc leaves or arrives): · The departure times are posted on our website.· The plane's estimated arrival time is 19:45.opening/closing time (=the time when a shop, office etc opens or closes): · We went into a cafe and sat there until closing time.· I've got to get this to the video store by closing time.opening times (=the normal times when a shop is open): · Check with the museum for opening times at www.musart.co.lunchtime/dinnertime etc (=the time when you have a meal): · Robbie! It's suppertime!time of year/day etc: · The winds are pretty strong at this time of year.· There won't be much traffic on the roads at this time of night.by that time (=after a particular hour of the day or night has passed): · Well, most people had gone to bed by that time of night.· She apologized for being late, but by that time I was really annoyed with her.
the day, month, or year when something is planned to happen, or happened: · Do you know the date when the house was built?· We still haven't received notification of the exam date.the date(s) of something: · Give me the dates of the American War of Independence.· June 9th is the date of the European elections.date for: · We need to arrange a date for the next meeting.· A date for his release has not yet been agreed.set a date (for something) (=choose a particular date): · Have they set a date for the wedding yet?birth date/date of birth (=the date on which someone was born): · It helps if you provide your birth date and Social Security number.· Could I have your name and your date of birth please?start date (=the date when something begins, especially a job): · I later received confirmation of my new job in a letter indicating the start date.closing date (=the date when a competition, offer etc ends): · The closing date for entries is 3 March 2001.expiry dateBritish /expiration date American (=the date on which something can no longer be used): · Key in your credit card details, including the expiration date of the card.· Are you sure these yoghurts are ok? Have you checked the expiry date?launch/release date (=the date when a new product, film, etc is shown to people): · "Snow White" had a December release date to capture the Christmas market.
a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens: · I'd like to return something to your store - what are your hours?office/opening/business hours (=when an office, shop etc is open): · Our telephone hotline is open during regular business hours.visiting hours (=when you can visit someone in the hospital): · Visiting hours are from 2 to 5 every day.after hours (=after an office, shop etc is closed): · After hours callers can leave a voicemail message.out of hours British (=before or after the usual business hours): · What was Tom doing in the office out of hours?
a particular period or point of time during the day or night: at this hour (=very late at night or early in the morning): · Sir, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour.at some ungodly hour informal (=very late or very early): · We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch our train.at all hours: · There's something happening on our street at all hours of the day and night.lunch/dinner hour: · I hate telemarketers who call during the dinner hour.
a word meaning the time, day, or date that something is planned to happen, used especially when you are considering how suitable this is: timing of: · The voter survey is crucial to the timing of the election.
use this with hours and minutes of the day, special holidays, or the beginning or end of a period of time: at six o'clock/half-past four/midnight/lunchtime etc: · He starts work at 10, and finishes at 6:30.· Would you like to go to the sandwich bar at lunchtime?· I have a hospital appointment at 9.00 am.at Christmas/Easter/New Year: · We get a week's holiday at Easter.· What are you doing at Christmas?at the end/beginning/start (of something): · Frank joined the navy at the beginning of the war.· We get paid at the end of the week.· The students all do a short test at the start of term.
use this with particular days: · The team holds a meeting on the first Monday of every month.· I tried to catch him on the last day of term, but he'd already left.on Monday/Tuesday night/Friday evening etc: · We're going out for dinner on Friday.· Are you doing anything special on Saturday night?on August 12th/March 2nd etc: · She was born on May 12, 1913.· The course starts on 14 October.on my birthday/their wedding day/Valentine's day etc: · Did you call dad on Father's Day?· Aren't you coming here on Christmas Day?on Thursdays/Fridays etcalso on a Thursday/Friday etc British (=every Thursday, Friday etc): · Her husband takes her shopping on a Saturday to Asda.· We always go to the pub on Fridays.
use this with parts of the day, particular years, or particular months, and seasons of the year: in the morning/afternoon/evening: · I'm usually too tired to cook a meal in the evening.· We didn't get to bed until 3 o'clock in the morning.first thing in the morning (=very early in the morning): · I want to be ready to leave first thing in the morning.in 1892/2001 etc: · In 2004, the Olympic Games will be held in Athens.in the fifties/sixties/1990s etc (=from 1950 to 1959, 1960 to 1969 etc): · He did a lot of abstract art in the sixties, but he's moved on since then.in January/February/the autumn etc: · I came to England in the summer of 1995.· The series returns in the autumn.· "How old is Philip now?" "He's four in December".
use this to say how far back in the past something happened: 5 minutes/an hour/100 years etc ago: · Michael left the office 20 minutes ago.· "When did you hurt your back?" "About a fortnight ago."· My daughter was married just over a year ago.a long time ago: · I met your father once, a long time ago.a short time ago/a little while ago: · Did you see that program about genetics that was on a little while ago?a minute/moment ago: · I had my keys a minute ago, and now I can't find them.not so long ago (=used to say that something was quite a short time ago): · We went down to see a show in London not so long ago.how long ago? (=used to ask how far back in the past something happened): · How long ago was that, Dad?· How long ago did you buy the computer?
at exactly a particular time and not any earlier or later: · On the stroke of midnight, the British flag was lowered for the last time over Delhi.· The judge entered the courtroom at the stroke of nine.
a list of times of trains, classes, or activities British /schedule American a list that shows the times when something will happen, for example when planes or buses leave, or when classes at school take place: · Teachers will be giving out copies of the new timetable in the first class today.· Train services shown in this timetable are subject to alteration or cancellation at short notice.· After I'd found my room, I sat down to look carefully at my schedule.bus/train etc timetable: · The train schedules are all on the website now.TV/radio schedule: · The events have been arranged to match TV schedules.timetable of: · I'd like a schedule of flights from Boston to New York.
a detailed plan of activities that have been organized, showing for example the times when someone will do something, or the times when activities will start and finish: · The President's schedule includes a two-day visit to St Petersburg.· The flight was cancelled, and that really messed our schedule up.schedule for: · Do you have a schedule for the tour?· What's the schedule for today's meeting?according to schedule: · The director was given a budget of $10 million and so far the film seems to be going according to schedule.ahead of/behind schedule (=earlier/later than the time that was planned): · I know, we're a week behind schedule already.on schedule (=at the time that was planned): · The building should be completed on schedule.stick/keep to a schedule: · It's important that everyone on the project keeps to the schedule.work/training etc schedule: · Do you have a work schedule for this week, Doreen?· Various minor ailments can interfere with your training schedule.busy schedule (=when there is a lot to do): · She took time out of a busy schedule to talk to us.tight schedule (=when there is not very much time to do things): · With this new project in the offing, I'm going to be working to a very tight schedule.
a plan that shows when parts of an important and long process, especially a political one, will happen: · Party leaders met to discuss a new constitution and an electoral timetable.timetable for: · Their purpose would be to set a timetable for the conversion of British cars to low-octane fuel. · He gave no indication of a timetable for the approval of the changes.
to arrange a time for something to happen to arrange for an activity or event to happen at a particular time: · Monday's performance of St Matthew's Passion is scheduled to start at 7.30 pm.· If you schedule your practice routine to include one exercise a week, you should learn the musical scale pretty quickly.schedule something for tomorrow/next week/Dec 4 etc: · I've scheduled a meeting for tomorrow. I hope everyone can attend.· The first game is provisionally scheduled for January 26.
to arrange for an activity or event to happen at a particular time , especially because this is the most suitable or convenient time: · The meditation class will be timed so that it does not coincide with the noisier exercise classes.· The release of the document was shrewdly timed.time something for 12 noon/12.45 etc: · Stephen timed his arrival for exactly six o'clock.· The first track race is timed for 11.15.
to arrange a time for something to happen, especially when you may want to change this later: pencil in something: · Political commentators are pencilling in July 30th, August 6th or August 13th as possible election dates. pencil something in: · we'll pencil May 15 in as a reserve date.pencil something in for Dec 4/next week etc: · Greg's pencilled the sale in for December 15 .· The band are pencilled in for a show in the King's Hall on January 18.
how long something continues use this to ask about or talk about how many minutes, hours, days, or years something continues for: · How long have you been waiting?· I don't know how long the repair will last, but it should get you home.· How long are you going to be in the bathroom?· How long have you two known each other?· So how long did you live on Long Island?
use this to say how long something continues: for an hour/two days/a long time etc: · "How long did you live in Spain?" "Oh, for about three years."· We seem to have been waiting for ages.· We talked for a while.· Omar's been learning English for two years now.· I only worked there for three months.
all the time from a time or event in the past until now: · I've had this car since 1992.· I've been smoking since I was 14.· Graham's become a lot more confident since he finished his training.· I saw her this morning, but I haven't seen her since.ever since: · Jack has had a fascination with cars ever since he was four.· They bought the caravan last summer, and they've had trouble with it ever since.
also till especially spoken if something happens until or till a time or event, it continues and then stops at that time or event: · David worked as a teacher until 1989.· I'll be at home until 5:30 if you want to phone me.· She polished the car until it shone.· I didn't learn to drive until I was 31.· The library's only open till five on Saturdays.· Just wait till I've finished my coffee.
also from ... till ... especially spoken use this to say that something starts happening at one time or event and continues until another time or event: · I have a class Monday from five o'clock till eight o'clock at night.· I lived there from the age of 14 until I went to college.· Max edited the paper from 1950 until he retired in 1989.
use this to say that something starts at a particular time and stops at a later time: from May to September/from 9 am to 5 pm etc: · Eisenhower was President from 1952 to 1956.· I'm going to use the computer lab from eight to ten Friday morning.· My plan is to train seriously from January to July.
American: May through September/Monday through Friday etc starting in May and continuing until September, starting on Monday and continuing until and including Friday, etc: · The store is open Monday through Saturday.· "When will you be away?" "The 17th through the 19th."
written starting on Monday and continuing until and including Friday, starting at 6 o'clock and continuing until 8 o'clock etc - used on signs and notices: · Visit the exhibition of modern art, open every day, 9:30-6:00.· A special fishing licence is required for the season (May-September).
the period of time that something lasts or takes: a considerable/reasonable length of time · The noise went on for a considerable length of time.· Make sure that the speakers only talk for a reasonable length of time, so that everyone gets a chance to take part.length of time (that) · Dress the wound quickly, to reduce the length of time it is exposed to infection.the length of time it takes to do something · Typically, the length of time it takes an adult to fall asleep is 10 to 15 minutes.
formal the length of time that something lasts for: · Zoe's temper tantrums had increased both in volume and duration.two years'/a month's etc duration: · After a long voyage of two years' duration, he arrived in Canton in 1669.· These workshops, usually of one or two days' duration, bring teachers and industrial managers together.duration of: · The doctor will ask you about the duration and frequency of your headaches.· He refused to comment on his salary or the duration of his contract.for the duration (of something): · It was decided that we would stay with my cousins for the duration of the war.
the period of time during which something develops or exists, especially as compared with another period that is much longer or shorter: · Compared to how long it took for the Universe to evolve, our human time scale is tiny.· Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by a number of processes that operate on different time scales.· In today's computer industry, the whole time scale of new product development is far shorter than it was 10 years ago.
a short time a very short time: · Can I show you something? It'll only take a minute.· Luke thought for a moment and then said: "Would you like to come too?"· Can you turn that off a minute (=for a minute) ?in a minute/moment: · Yes, I'm coming in a moment.a minute/moment ago: · Helen was here a minute ago. You've just missed her.for a minute/moment: · If you'd been quiet for a minute, I'd explain what happened.
also a sec informal spoken a very short time - use this especially when asking someone to wait for a short time: · Just a second - I think it's on the desk upstairs.for a second/sec: · For a second there, I forgot what it was called.in a second/sec: · Hang on, I'll be with you in a sec.
a short time: · "How long will it take?" "Oh, not long - just a couple of hours."· I saw her not long ago.not long before/after: · His book was published not long after he died.· It wasn't long before Gemma lost all interest in the new puppy. not long to go (=used to say that something will happen in a short time): · "When's the baby due?" "Three weeks, so there's not long to go."won't be long (=use this to say that someone or something will come or return soon): · I'm popping to the shop, I won't be long.· Supper won't be long.
especially British, spoken a short time: · Wait a bit, I've nearly finished.· I sat down, and after a bit, the phone rang.· Do you mind looking after the kids for a bit while I go out?
a short period of time, during or after which something happens: · Bob's only worked here for a short while, about six months I think.· It always takes a little while to get used to the climate.a little/short while ago: · He was on the telly a short while ago.
a short period of time during which a lot of things happen: in/within a short space of time: · It's amazing how much you can learn in such a short space of time.· In the brief space of time since the war ended, citizens have managed to rebuild over half the city.· She had gained an awful lot of journalistic experience within a short space of time.
a long time · They've been married for 30 years - that's a long time.· It takes me a long time to really trust people.for a long time · The house has been empty for a long time.· Have you been waiting here for a long time?in a long time · It's the worst cold I've had in a long time.· I haven't worn this dress in such a long time.a long time ago · He died a long time ago.· The accident happened such a long time ago that I can't remember much about it.a very long time/a long, long time · I've had those books for a long, long time.· It's very well built and should last a very long time.
· It has long been recognized that a high-fat diet can cause heart problems.· She's convinced that Grandmother is not going to live long.· The journey took longer than I thought it would.long before/after (=a long time before/after) · Long after the war, the wreckage of his plane was discovered.· She was wearing fake fur long before it became fashionable.for long (=for a long time) · Have you been working here for long?· The phone rang for so long, I hung up in the end.long ago · I guess it didn't happen very long ago.take (somebody) so long · Why is it taking so long?· I bet it doesn't take your mom so long to make an apple pie.
continuing for the whole day, night, year etc -- use this especially to emphasize that it is a long time: · It's going to take us all night to finish marking these papers!· He's in London all week, and only comes home at the weekends.all day/week etc long: · I've been working all day long.· Susie, you must have been on the phone all night long!
many hours, weeks, or years -- use this to emphasize the length of time, or to say that it is much longer than you think it should be: · It's years since I rode a bike.· My wife had to wait months for a hospital appointment.for years/hours etc: · I lived there for years.in years/hours etc: · That's one of the best films I've seen in years.
especially British, spoken a very long time: · It seems like ages since we had a holiday.take (somebody) ages: · This software takes ages to load.· It took him ages to guess who it was in the photo.for ages: · I've been waiting here for ages.ages ago: · "When did you last see Barbara?" "Oh, ages ago."ages and ages (=use this to emphasize how long something takes or lasts): · It's the first time for ages and ages he's taken me out.
British informal a long time, use this especially to say that something happened a very long time ago: for donkey's years/ages: · Some of these medicines have been in the stockroom for donkey's years.· That's been going on for donkey's ages -- didn't you know?donkey's years/ages ago: · We used to play golf together, but that was donkey's years ago.
American a very long time: · It took me the longest time to figure out how to work the sunroof in this car.· For the longest time, I thought Nathan was Asian.
a period of time especially written a particular length of time with a beginning and an end: period of: · These accounts are drawn up for a period of 52 weeks.· After a brief period of independence, Belorussia came under Soviet rule.for a period: · You shouldn't sit in front of a computer screen for long periods without a break.· Anne had difficulty holding down a job for any period of time.period of time: · The work had to be completed within a limited period of time.long/short period: · The company expects a growth in profitability over a longer period.· Then, within a short period, his mother, father, and brother all died.a ten-day/three-year etc period: · The money can be paid back over a five-year period.· The researchers observed mothers and their new infants for a three-day period.over a period: · The restoration of the ceiling was completed over a period of two years.during a period: · During this period, Tanya was making very little money.· black immigration into Britain during the post-war period
a period of time - use this especially to talk about a period in the past, or when you are not saying whether the period was long or short: · Bill had lost his job, and it was a difficult time for him.· I really enjoyed my time at university.at one time (=at a period of time in the past, but not now): · At one time, Hakami was ranked 32nd in the world.· Martin had been at one time a student at Leiden University in the Netherlands.for the time being (=for a short period of time, starting now): · You can stay in the spare room for the time being, until you find a place.· Entrance fees to the exhibit have been reduced for the time being.during that/this time: · He played for Barcelona for four years, and during that time they won two major competitions.for a time: · He chatted to us for a time, then left.· For a time, the 1,600 seater hall was home to a Saturday night film show, before being converted to a night club.after a time: · After a time, I began to feel more relaxed.· All systems settle down after a time.
a length of time that is officially fixed for someone's period of responsibility or power, for someone's period in prison, or for a business contract: · Mr Toplak had just started his term as vice-president of the company.· The Socialists are hoping to secure another term in government.· The bank says that they can extend the term of our mortgage.first/second etc term: · General Herrera was elected to a third term of office as President.· He hopes to visit China during his second term in office.7-year/2-month etc term: · He recently completed a two-year term as chairman.term of imprisonment (=formal): · Political dissidents are sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.prison/jail term: · She had her jail term cut for good behaviour.term of/in office (=term for holding an official position): · He is halfway into his term of office.· The Democrats are hoping to deny him a third term in office.fixed term (=when the term of a business or employment contract is set to a particular length): · The managers were all hired for a fixed term.serve a term: · Malik is now serving a three-year term in prison.· Elected members of the House of Assembly serve a six-year term.
a period of several weeks or months, at the same time every year, during which a particular activity takes place: · The Bulls would consider re-signing him next season.the 2001/2001-02 etc season: · Smith should own the record outright by the third or fourth game of the 2001 season.breeding/hunting/fishing/baseball etc season: · When does the baseball season start?· Foxes become very noisy at the height of the mating season.· The latest challenge is to promote the LSO's winter concert season.
a period of time between other periods, especially one during which there is not much activity or no interruptions: · During their worst stretch of 1996, the Padres lost 19 of their 23 games.· He spent several brief stretches in jail for minor offences.· This is the last game in a four-day stretch here at the Forum.stretch of time: · Sometimes between battles, there were long stretches of time when nothing happened.
informal a period of time doing a particular job or course, often quite a short period: · After a stint in the army, Bill worked in sales.· Krem began his career with the Victoria Symphony, followed by stints with orchestras in Winnipeg and Quebec.stint of: · Dimascio was promoted after serving a stint of five years as a sergeant pilot.a five-year/six-day etc stint: · He has changed his schedule to a three-day stint, which starts Friday.short/brief stint: · Rick was fired in August after a brief stint with a Portland courier service.do/serve a stint: · She served a two-year stint as an aide to Congressman Jim McNulty.· We should thank Mary for the long stint she's done as party treasurer.
a period of a particular type of activity, weather etc, usually a short period: · After a brief spell in the army, I returned to teaching.spell of: · He's had a spell of bad luck recently.a cold/wet/dry etc spell: · We had another cold spell last week.
British a short period of trouble, difficulty, or unhappiness, experienced by someone who is usually happy, successful etc: go through a bad patch (=experience a period of trouble etc): · He went through a bad patch after his wife died, but now he seems to be back to normal.hit a bad patch (=start to experience a period of trouble etc): · The team aren't doing so well at the moment are they? They seem to have hit a bad patch.
a period of time in history a particular period of time in history, especially a period that is studied as a historical subject: · Which period of history are you studying at the moment?· We will be examining some original documents from the period.the Roman/Tudor etc period: · Many of Britain's roads were built originally in the Roman period.· This chapter will focus primarily on the Neolithic period in Europe.
a period of time in history that is remembered because of important political, religious, or artistic events and achievements, that make it different from other periods: era in/of: · an exciting era in technological sophistication· We live in an era of breathtaking change.end of an era: · When Charles De Gaulle died, it seemed like the end of an era.a new era: · The treaty marks the dawn of a new era in East--West relations.the Roman/Christian/Stalin/McCarthy etc era: · archaeological remains dating from the late Roman era· During the McCarthy era, hundreds of innocent US citizens were persecuted for their beliefs.
a period of time in history that represents a particular stage in the development of civilization or machines and tools: age of: · Newton lived in an age of exploration and discovery.· In this age of the Internet, finding a job can be much easier.Stone Age/Nuclear Age etc: · These simple tools were used for hunting in the Stone Age.· the architecture of the industrial agegolden age (=the period considered to be the best, the most successful etc): · Many consider the '30s and '40s to be the golden age of Hollywood movies.
the right time or a good time to do something the best time to do something, when you are most likely to get the result that you want: · Yes, I'm going to ask him - I'm just waiting for the right time.the right time to do something: · It seemed like the right time to start planning something new.· I don't think it's the right time to tell Jeff.the right time of day/year: · If you get here at the right time of day, you might get to see the birds feeding.· This really isn't the right time of the year to start working on the house.
a suitable or convenient time: · I'd like to come on Saturday - would that be a good time?a good time for: · 11 o'clock would be quite a good time for me, if you can make it.a good time to do something: · Now is a good time to start applying for jobs.· Right after the Easter break is a good time to visit Florida.· I'll be here all day Friday, so when would be a good time to meet?
if something comes at the right time or comes at a good time , it happens when you need or want it to happen: · I lost my job last month, so this offer has come at just the right time.· Well, you're news comes at a good time, Helen.
an expression meaning to be the right time to do something important, use this especially when you are advising someone what they should do: be the time to do something: · If you're going to buy a house, now's the time to do it.be the time for: · The reason I'm saying "no" is because right now is not the time for making a mess in here.
the ability to choose the right time to do something, especially when this is a skill you have learned or practised: · When you're a comedian, timing is very important.· He eventually played in another 28 games, but his timing and rhythm never returned.good/perfect etc timing: · "Well, life's just full of surprises," she retorted, with a comic's perfect timing.· You guys have good timing, we just started to eat.sense of timing (=the ability to choose the right time to do something, especially when this is a natural ability that you have): · Even at the end, George Burns never lost his impeccable sense of timing.
actions, decisions etc that are timely happen at the right time, especially with the result that they prevent something bad from happening: · The Government's intervention was timely and may have prevented economic disaster.· The database will provide timely and accurate information on the current status of the business.· The fighting in the Ardennes came as a timely reminder that the West still needed the Russian army.
done at the right time so that it is likely to have a successful result: · She took a sip of water during a well-timed pause, and waited for my reply.· Wallace made a well-timed run through the midfield, collected the pass and scored with a low shot.· The conference is well timed since most companies will have their third-quarter profits in by now.
formal a time when you are most likely to be successful, or a time which is convenient: · For those who are waiting for the most opportune time to invest in a home, this is an excellent time to do that.· This seemed like an opportune moment to ask the government to mount a tree-planting program.
the wrong time or a bad time for something a time when you should not do something, because you will probably not be successful: · It's a case of the right idea at the wrong time.the wrong time to do something: · I think this is the wrong time to ask for a pay increase.· It seemed like the wrong time in my life to risk making yet another major change.
a time when something is not convenient or likely to be successful or that will cause problems: · I really would like to come, but I'm afraid this is a bad time.to do something: · If it's not a good time to talk, I can call back.
to happen at a time when something it not likely to be successful or that will cause problems: · These economic problems have come at the wrong time for the Republican Party.· The widening trade gap is coming at a bad time for the president.· The COE's resignation has not come at a good time for the company.
an expression meaning to be the wrong time to do something, use this especially when you are telling someone what they should do or how they should behave: be no time/not be the time for: · This is no time for that kind of talk. If you can't be decent, keep your mouth shut.· It's not the time for politeness and etiquette when there are lives at stake.be no time/not be the time to do something: · This was not the time to get angry, but Jodie couldn't help herself.
done at the wrong time so that it is likely to have an unsuccessful result: · Wilkins' outburst could not have been more ill-timed.· Resentment over the chairman's badly timed remarks is growing.· The gesture was sincere, but ill-timed.
formal a bad time, especially because it is inconvenient : · He had wanted to visit the troops over Christmas, but the general said it would be an inopportune time.· He always seems to say exactly the wrong thing at the most inopportune moment.
at the same time · Charlie and I arrived at the same time.· Are you supposed to press these two buttons at the same time?· We've launched an appeal, and at the same time we are sending out supplies, shelters, and blankets.at the same time as · His wife had a baby at the same time as Elaine.· You must have been at Harvard at the same time as I was.all at the same time (=when you do several things at the same time) · So you want to talk to them, identify that they are a candidate, and then give them the test all at the same time?
if two or more people or things do the same thing together , they do it at the same time and usually in the same place: · The Baltimore and Boston trains came in together.· Three runners crossed the line together.
if two or more things happen at once , they happen at the same time and this is annoying or causes problems: · I can't understand what you're saying when you both talk at once.· You're trying to do too many things at once.· Anyone know the answer? Don't all shout at once, put your hand up.all at once: · You can't have three weeks' holiday all at once, you'll have to take them separately.
if someone does two or more things at one time , they do them at the same time, especially if this is difficult or impressive: · This word processor allows you to work with two documents at one time.· There aren't many places around here where you can cater for fifty or so people at one time.· You feel like you are going in twelve different directions at one time.all at one time: · See, I can lock the doors all at one time.
if two or more things happen simultaneously , they happen at exactly the same time: · The system can simultaneously search up to 16 databases.· People can't write and listen simultaneously.· Video-conferencing enables us to address audiences all over the nation simultaneously.
while something else is happening also whilst British during the same period of time that something is happening: · I bought a magazine while I was waiting for the train.· Did you get a lot of work done whilst the kids were out?· I'll just make a phone call while you finish the dishes.· He was afraid he'd have another fit whilst he was driving.
while something else is happening: · Leave the vegetables to simmer, and meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil.· Three helicopters scanned the area; the soldiers meanwhile were looking into back gardens, dustbins, and under hedgerows.
if something happens as something else is happening, it happens at the same time: · As we were leaving, Carole and her friends arrived.· There was a shocked silence as he spoke.· The sensor uses an infrared beam to "read" a vehicle's exhaust emissions as it drives past.just as (=at exactly the same time as): · He ran into the road just as a car was coming.· The phone rang just as he stepped out of the shower.as soon as: · As soon as I pulled in, the engine went dead.· I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
to happen or do things at the same time if something coincides with something else, or if two things coincide , they happen at the same time as each other, usually by chance: · When our vacations coincided, we often holidayed together.coincide with: · His speech coincided with the release of a report on the New England economy.· I had to cancel our lunch date, as it coincided with my hospital appointment.timed/arranged to coincide (=arranged so that something coincides): · The exhibition was timed to coincide with the anniversary celebrations.· They have arranged the launch to coincide with the start of the college term.
if one event clashes with another, or if two events clash , they are arranged to happen at the same time, and this usually causes problems or is inconvenient: · We can go to both classes if they don't clash.clash with: · We've rescheduled the next meeting -- it clashed with a conference that most of us will be attending.· "Are you watching Family Fortunes tonight?" "No, it clashes with the Tina Turner interview on Channel 3."
to arrange an event so that it happens at the same time as something else, because this helps you in some way: · His publishers have tied the release in with his new television series.· AIDS education can be tied in with existing health education programs.
to try to do two or more things at the same time, even though this is difficult and you are very busy: · The film is about a maintenance man who juggles three jobs to provide for his family.· suburban working mothers who juggle careers, families, and after-school sportsjuggle something and something: · I don't think any man can ever understand the difficulties of juggling motherhood and politics.juggle something with something: · With school starting, Anna will have to juggle her love of swimming with her homework.
to have enough time to do something · If you have time, I could show you around the rest of the house.· Do you think we have the time?have time/have the time to do something · Few agencies have the time or the staff to train new employees.· She put the phone down before I had time to reply.· Just leave it on my desk till I have time to deal with it.have time/have the time for · Do you have time for a quick drink?· Perhaps next year I'll have more time for gardening.
use this to say there is enough time for someone to do something: · We thought we'd go to the museum, and maybe have some lunch too, if there's time.· If you hurry there should be time for a little shopping.· I guess there's time for a bedtime story, Lauren.there is time for somebody to do something: · There's still time for you to change your mind, you know.· Is there time for me to wash my hair before we leave?there is time to do something: · I don't think there's time to paint the whole wall today.
use this to mean "when you have a small amount of spare time during a period when you are very busy", especially when you are asking someone to do something: · When you have a minute, Josie, I'd like to talk to you.· Do you have a minute? I have a couple of questions to ask.· These letters are ready for you to sign when you have a moment.have a spare moment/minute: · If you have a spare moment, could you read through my essay?· It's quite rare that I have a spare minute these days.
use this to say that there is still enough time for someone to do something: it's not too late to do something: · If you haven't got roses in your garden, it's not too late to plant now.· It's still not too late to get a flu vaccine.it's not too late for somebody to do something: · He insists it's not too late for United to win the cup, though he admits it will be an uphill struggle.
to have very little time to do something: have (very) little time/not have much time for · I don't have much time for visiting, parties and so on.have (very) little time/not have much time to do something · We had very little time to train for the big game.· I'm afraid I have had very little time to entertain you or introduce you to anyone.· "Have you decided yet?" "I've not had much time to think about it."
to have very little time to do something, especially because you have a lot of things to do: · If you're short of time, I recommend seeing at least the museum and the cathedral.· She was puzzled, but too short of time to argue with him.run short of time: · As we're running short of time, let me end with just one example of what I mean.
to have very little time to do something, especially with the result that you have to do it very quickly: · I was pressed for time in my few days in Sydney, and did not have the opportunity to explore the city.· It's probably best to avoid the main roads unless you're really pushed for time.
to not have enough time to do something · I'll look at it later. I haven't got time at the moment.· Harold was supposed to organize the trip, but he just didn't have the time.not have (the) time/have no time to do something · I didn't have time to take a shower this morning.· I haven't had time to write those letters yet.· We won't have time to practice tonight.not have (the) time/have no time for · I don't have time for lunch.· She says she has no time for relaxation.
use this to say that there is not enough time for someone to do something: there is no time to do something: · The train was about to leave, and there was no time to buy a ticket.· There's no time to go through all these applications this morning.there is no time for: · Look, there's no time for that now. We have to get moving.
to be unable to finish doing something within the time that you have to do it in: · I'm sorry, we seem to have run out of time. Thanks to everyone who took part.· I have to finish this by tomorrow, and I'm running out of time.
when a period of time passes · Three weeks passed, and Max had still not found a job.· Years passed before she could bring herself to call me "Frank" without the "Mister".· Hardly a week goes by when I do not think of you.time passes/goes by · The side effects tend to subside as time passes.· I was trying to calculate how much time had gone by since I heard the scream.
formal if a period of time elapses, it passes, especially between two events: elapse before/since/between: · Nine years elapsed before he produced his eighth symphony.· It seems remarkable that nearly thirty years has elapsed since there was a major museum exhibition in the city.· A surprisingly long time had elapsed between the discovery of the body and the arrival of the police.
the process of time passing over a long period, especially when people or things change during this time - used especially in stories or descriptions: · Two children, a successful marriage, and the passage of time had helped Maisie to forget her unhappy childhood.· The early recordings have hardly stood up well to the passage of time.· The passing of time did little to lessen his grief.with the passage of time: · Behaviour and social attitudes change with the passing of time.· These ancient settlements have perished with the passage of time.
time passes quickly · The rest of the weekend went too quickly -- he wanted it to last forever.· Today can't go fast enough for me.· The summer seems to have come and gone so quickly.make something go faster/more quickly (=to make work, a journey etc seem to take less time than it really does) · Reading on the train makes the journey go more quickly.· It's great having you to talk to. It makes the time go faster.
if a period of time flies by , it seems to pass very quickly, especially when you have been very busy or enjoying yourself: · The afternoon flew by as they went through the next scene together.· Hours can fly by as I write, and I don't even notice.· Time is flying by quickly now and it seems impossible that there are only three months left.
use this when you are surprised at how quickly the time has passed, especially when you have been enjoying yourself: · Is Richard eight already? Doesn't time fly?· "Hasn't the afternoon passed quickly?" said Carol. "Time flies when you're having fun."
if the minutes, the hours, time etc tick away , it passes, especially when you must do something before a particular time or when you are frightened or nervous: · He had to watch the minutes tick away while the emergency services tried to locate him. · Aware of how the minutes were ticking away, Julia desperately scribbled down the last few answers.
time passes slowly · The rest of the day went very slowly for Anne.· The lesson lasted all morning, and seemed to go even more slowly than usual.
if time drags , it seems to pass very slowly, especially because you are bored: · Why do physics lessons always seem to drag?drag by/on: · The day dragged on, and there was still no sign of Jake.· As time dragged on, I gradually got worse.· As the months drag by, you find out who your real friends are.
to measure something to find out the size or amount of something, by using a special tool, machine, or system: · Can you measure the desk to see if it'll fit into that corner?· The GNP figures measure the rate of growth in the economy.· Electrodes were attached to his chest in order to measure his heart rate.measure something at something: · Seismologists in Japan measured the earthquake at 7.7 on the Richter scale.· Some species of python have been measured at over 28 feet long.
to find out how heavy something is by measuring its weight with special equipment: · Weigh all the ingredients carefully before mixing them together.weigh yourself: · Every time I weigh myself I seem to have got heavier!
to measure how long it takes for someone to do something or for something to happen: · We timed how long it took us to get there.· The swimming teacher always times us over 100 metres.be timed at 20 miles per hour/3 minutes etc: · The fastest big cat, the cheetah, has been timed at over 60 mph.
to measure how hot someone is, how fast their heart is beating etc, as part of a medical examination: take somebody's pulse/temperature/blood pressure: · My mother took my temperature and sent me back to bed.· The doctor will take your blood pressure and check your weight.
to look at the number or result that a piece of equipment is showing when you are using it to measure something: · Someone came to read the electricity meter this morning.· The nurse read the thermometer and told me that my temperature was normal.
use this when a number or result often changes: · Scientists took readings over several weeks and found that there was no unusual volcanic activity.
to measure how much of something such as gas, water, or electricity is used, so that the companies supplying the gas etc know how much their customers should pay: · The gas is metered and they send you a bill every three months.· They've introduced a system of metering the amount of water used in a household.
to guess or judge in advance how much something will measure, use, cost etc, according to all the things that affect it: · Recent polls have gauged the president's support at 85% or more.gauge how many/how much etc: · When all the figures are available, it should be possible to gauge how much we'll need to spend.
to measure the size, speed etc of something and keep the information so that it can be used later: · Police recorded his speed at 99.04 miles per hour.· Last year the company recorded a profit of £1.4 million.
formal to measure something and express it as a number or amount, so that it can be counted and compared to other amounts: · Just quantifying your financial goals will make you feel more in control of your future.· In the UK, the operation will not be performed until the risks are better understood and quantified.difficult/hard/impossible etc to quantify: · It's difficult to quantify how long it will take to finish the project.
WORD SETSAD, advance, verbafter, prepositionafternoon, nounalarm, nounalarm clock, nouna.m., Anno Domini, annual, adjectiveApril, nounAsh Wednesday, nounAug., August, nounautumn, nounautumnal, adjectivebank holiday, nounBC, BCE, biannual, adjectivebicentenary, nounbicentennial, nounbiennial, adjectivebimonthly, adjectivebirthday, nounbiweekly, adjectivebonfire night, nounBoxing Day, nounBritish Summer Time, nounBST, nouncalendar, nouncalendar month, nouncalendar year, nouncarriage clock, nouncentenary, nouncentury, nounChristmas, nounChristmas Day, nounChristmas Eve, nounChristmastime, nounchronograph, nounchronological, adjectivechronometer, nouncircadian, adjectiveclock, nouncrystal, nouncuckoo clock, nouncycle, nouncyclic, adjectivedaily, adjectivedaily, adverbdate, noundate, verbdawn, nounday, nounDec., decade, nounDecember, noundiamond anniversary, noundiamond jubilee, noundinnertime, noundiurnal, adjectived.o.b., due date, noundusk, nounface, nounFather's Day, nounfeast, nounFebruary, nounfortnightly, adjectiveFourth of July, the, Fri., Friday, nounGood Friday, nounGreenwich Mean Time, nounGregorian calendar, nounguy, nounGuy Fawkes Night, nounhalf-hourly, adjectivehalf-yearly, adjectiveHalloween, nounhand, nounHanukkah, nounharvest festival, nounHogmanay, nounhorn, nounhour, nounhourglass, nounhour hand, nounhr, Independence Day, nounJan., January, nounjubilee, nounJuly, nounJune, nounLabor Day, nounleap year, nounlunar month, nounmainspring, nounman-hour, nounMar., March, nounMardi Gras, nounmarket day, nounMaundy Thursday, nounMay, nounMay Day, nounMichaelmas, nounmidday, nounmiddle age, nounmiddle-aged, adjectivemidnight, nounMidsummer Day, nounmidweek, adjectivemillennium, nounmin., minute hand, nounMon., Monday, nounmonth, nounmorn, nounmorning, nounMothering Sunday, nounMother's Day, nounmovable feast, nounnew moon, nounNew Year, nounNew Year's Day, nounNew Year's Eve, nounnight, nounnightfall, nounnighttime, nounnocturnal, adjectiveNoel, nounnoon, nounnoonday, adjectiveNov., November, nounOct., October, nounp.a., Pancake Day, nounPDT, penultimate, adjectiveper annum, adverbper diem, adverbperiodic, adjectivep.m., PST, public holiday, nounquarter, nounquotidian, adjectiveRemembrance Day, nounSat., Saturday, nounschoolday, nounseason, nounsecond, nounsecond hand, nounself-winding, adjectiveSeptember, nounshockproof, adjectivesilver anniversary, nounsilver jubilee, nounsilver wedding anniversary, nounsolar year, nounsolstice, nounspring, nounspringtime, nounstandard time, nounstopwatch, nounsummer, nounsummer solstice, nounsummertime, nounsummery, adjectiveSun., Sunday, nounsundown, nounsunrise, nounsunset, nounsun-up, nountercentenary, nounThanksgiving, nounthirty, numberThursday, nountime, nountime, verbtimepiece, nountimer, nountime signal, nountime warp, nountime zone, nountoday, adverbtoday, nountomorrow, adverbtomorrow, nountonight, adverbtonight, nountriennial, adjectiveTuesday, nountwilight, nounWed., Wednesday, nounweek, nounweekday, nounweekend, nounweekly, adjectiveweeknight, nounWhit, nounWhitsun, nounwinter, nounwintertime, nounwk., wristwatch, nounyear, nounyesterday, adverbyr., Yule, nounYuletide, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Her book was timed to coincide with (=arranged to be at the same time as) an exhibition of Goya’s paintings at the National Gallery. Keith timed the pass well. a beautifully timed shotCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses. They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago). Can you tell me ahead of time if you’re coming? They were quarrelling all the time (=very often or continuously). The price of wheat had reached an all-time low. They reached an all-time record score. You’ll have ample time for questions later. There is ample evidence that climate patterns are changing. Everyone assembled in the hall at the appointed time (=at the time that had been arranged). I didn’t feel that this was an appropriate time to mention the subject of money. The train arrived bang on time. The disease dates back to biblical times. The 46-year-old author has finally hit the big time. discounts for first-time buyers The play has become an American classic. The show is timed to coincide with the launch of a new book. This is a complete waste of time. a famous film clip which has been shown countless times He devoted his energies to writing films. Lunch was produced in double-quick time. You can have an easy time of it now that the kids have all left home. The assignment must be completed within an overall elapsed time of one week. People of different ages expend different amounts of energy. Manufacturers have expended a lot of time and effort trying to improve computer security. If you are going abroad for an extended period of time, you should consider renting your house out. The match went into extra time. I have no trouble filling my time. The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous. In the first year, all students take five courses. He said the first thing that came into his head. the first step towards achieving a peace agreement There’s a meeting on the first Monday of every month. Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children. ‘Is it midnight already?’ ‘Well, you know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun!’ Children these days have very little free time. She works full-time and has two kids. The success of the series enabled her to concentrate full-time on writing. They’re looking for full-time staff at the library. We aim to double the number of young people in full-time study. There are thought to be around 10,000 young homeless Scots in London at any given time. Things will get easier as time goes by. Did you have a good vacation? Is this a good time to talk to you? I went to a good deal of trouble to get this ticket. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. Jack Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time greats. She seems to be asleep half the time. This kind of thing happens all the time. He had clearly fallen on hard times (=did not have much money). Vegetarians still often have a hard time of it when it comes to eating out. Thanks for everything – we had a great time. Earnings hit a peak in the early 1980s. Oil prices have hit rock-bottom. Markets have been held here since time immemorial. Teachers simply do not have the time or the inclination to investigate these matters. a time lag The usual time lapse between request and delivery is two days. Things have changed since the last time (=the most recent occasion) you were here. There are only a limited number of tickets available. a long period of time It took a long time to get everything ready. She died a long time ago. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive. In 1978, 29 million days were lost in industrial action. Come on, there’s no time to lose (=do not waste time). Public confidence in the legal system is at an all-time low (=much lower or worse than ever before). The company now employs four times as many women as men. I’ve sat here many a time (=often) and wondered what happened to her. She was desperate to halt the march of time upon her face and figure. They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert. Next time I go skiing, I’ll wear warmer clothes. Did you have a nice time? I was at home at the time of the murder. women wishing to return to work on a part-time basis She wants to work part-time after she’s had the baby. We played cards to pass the time (=to help us stop feeling bored). I guess it’s payback time. Extra buses run at peak times. I’ll see you after the meeting, if time permits (=if it finishes early enough). Foldaway furniture is the answer where space is at a premium. At the present time we have no explanation for this. This product should be consumed on the day of purchase. The astronauts are racing against time to repair the spaceship. a building that has survived the ravages of time The situation has improved in recent years. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn’t finished. I’ve beaten her three times in a row. money-saving ideas Did you know that Les is serving time (=is in prison)? I’ve only been in Brisbane a short time. Germany achieved spectacular economic success in a relatively short period of time. They met and married within a short space of time. Most of the workers were put on short time. Come on, time’s running short! A new comedy is scheduled for the 9 pm time slot. It was some time before they managed to turn the alarm off. It’ll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span. Sorry, I can’t spare the time. I want to spend more time with my family. We’ll have to spend the night in a hotel. His childhood was spent in Brazil. Stacey spends all her free time painting. He was just stalling for time. His poetry will stand the test of time (=stay popular). We had five minutes of stoppage time (=extra time played in a sports match because of pauses) at the end of the first half. She doesn’t leave the house for long stretches of time. I rang my boss and arranged to take some time off. The little time I had outside of school was taken up with work. It’s been a testing time. Sharon became involved with music in the time-honoured fashion – through her family. With 15.7 seconds left, Washington State called time out. I just lost all track of time. These are troubled times for the coal industry. The beginning of the show is often a trying time because of latecomers. Steve turned up late, as usual. We must reduce costs and shorten turnaround times. They're screening "The Wizard of Oz" again for the umpteenth time. ‘This is crazy,’ she told herself for the umpteenth time. She remembered the day when Paula had first arrived. We just sat around and watched TV the whole time (=the only thing we did was watch television). I work part-time in a library. It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
Her book was timed to coincide with (=arranged to be at the same time as) an exhibition of Goya’s paintings at the National Gallery. Keith timed the pass well. a beautifully timed shot He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses. They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago). Can you tell me ahead of time if you’re coming? (=very advanced or new, and not understood or accepted) Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time.
Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time. They were quarrelling all the time (=very often or continuously). The price of wheat had reached an all-time low. They reached an all-time record score. You’ll have ample time for questions later. There is ample evidence that climate patterns are changing. Everyone assembled in the hall at the appointed time (=at the time that had been arranged). I didn’t feel that this was an appropriate time to mention the subject of money.· He never arrives on time for meetings.
The train arrived bang on time. (=the time when someone, usually a child, has a bath)· Come on, Lucy, it's bath time.
· She sat and sewed until it was time for bed.
The disease dates back to biblical times. The 46-year-old author has finally hit the big time. (=that is set to explode at a particular time)· The terrorists’ time bomb was planned to cause the maximum carnage.
· the boom years of the late 1980s
· I don’t like talking at breakfast time.
· He lived there all his life, apart from a brief period during the war.
discounts for first-time buyers (=a period of time when a lot is changing)· We live in changing times.
The play has become an American classic. The show is timed to coincide with the launch of a new book. This is a complete waste of time. (=the limited amount of time that is available)· Exams are always done under strict time constraints.
(=how long you cook something for)· Adjust the cooking time according to the size of the bird.
a famous film clip which has been shown countless times· There are also part-time courses for mature students.
· At the crucial moment, he withdrew the support of the army.
· The normal delivery time is 7 – 10 days after you place your order.
· Do you know your exact departure time?
He devoted his energies to writing films. Lunch was produced in double-quick time. You can have an easy time of it now that the kids have all left home. (=spending every weekday in a school or college)· Children must stay in full-time education until the age of 16.
The assignment must be completed within an overall elapsed time of one week.· I’m sick of all those political pamphlets that come through my door at election time.
· We now have 110 full-time employees.
· Mike is in full-time employment, but his wife is not working.
old-fashioned Come on – there’ll be time enough to chat later.
Come on – there’ll be time enough to chat later. (=it is very important to do something quickly)
· At that exact moment, the phone rang.
· It was the most exciting time of my life.
People of different ages expend different amounts of energy. Manufacturers have expended a lot of time and effort trying to improve computer security. If you are going abroad for an extended period of time, you should consider renting your house out. The match went into extra time. I have no trouble filling my time. The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous. In the first year, all students take five courses. He said the first thing that came into his head. the first step towards achieving a peace agreement There’s a meeting on the first Monday of every month. Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children. (=how long it takes to fly somewhere)· Our estimated flight time is three hours and fifteen minutes.
‘Is it midnight already?’ ‘Well, you know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun!’ Children these days have very little free time. She works full-time and has two kids. The success of the series enabled her to concentrate full-time on writing. They’re looking for full-time staff at the library. We aim to double the number of young people in full-time study. There are thought to be around 10,000 young homeless Scots in London at any given time. Things will get easier as time goes by. (=in the past) These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by.
These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by. Did you have a good vacation? Is this a good time to talk to you? I went to a good deal of trouble to get this ticket. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. Jack Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time greats. She seems to be asleep half the time. This kind of thing happens all the time. (=be difficult for someone to do something) You’ll have a hard time proving that. I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer.
You’ll have a hard time proving that. I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer. He had clearly fallen on hard times (=did not have much money). Vegetarians still often have a hard time of it when it comes to eating out. (=a very unsuitable time, place, person etc) This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.
This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.· In times of hardship, your family may be the only people you can go to for help.
· He hired extra workers to help at harvest time.
Thanks for everything – we had a great time. (=the first time something has ever happened)· For the first time in history, an American president resigned his office.
Earnings hit a peak in the early 1980s. Oil prices have hit rock-bottom. Markets have been held here since time immemorial. Teachers simply do not have the time or the inclination to investigate these matters.· Griffiths spent three days in jail after pushing a policeman.
(=spend time in jail)· He was finally released after serving 27 years in jail.
· He had a part-time job at the pet shop.
a time lag The usual time lapse between request and delivery is two days. Things have changed since the last time (=the most recent occasion) you were here.· They spend much of their leisure time with their grandchildren.
· The time limit for making a claim is three months.
There are only a limited number of tickets available. a long period of time It took a long time to get everything ready. She died a long time ago. American English spoken (=a very long time) It took me the longest time to figure out how to open the windows.
It took me the longest time to figure out how to open the windows. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive. In 1978, 29 million days were lost in industrial action. Come on, there’s no time to lose (=do not waste time). (=do something immediately) Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention.
Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention. Public confidence in the legal system is at an all-time low (=much lower or worse than ever before). The company now employs four times as many women as men. I’ve sat here many a time (=often) and wondered what happened to her. She was desperate to halt the march of time upon her face and figure.· It was one of the greatest disasters of modern times.
(=now)· At this moment in time we cannot proceed with the proposal.
· This is the busiest time of the month.
(=the way people in general feel at a particular time)· The movie captured the mood of the moment.
(=usually) Most of the time it’s very quiet here. Most evenings we just stay in and watch TV.
Most of the time it’s very quiet here. Most evenings we just stay in and watch TV.· You can always tell when it's a baby's nap time because they start getting irritable.
They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert. Next time I go skiing, I’ll wear warmer clothes. Did you have a nice time? (=used when something happens very late at night, and you are surprised)· Why are you calling me at this time of night?
I was at home at the time of the murder.· The US is in for a painful period of adjustment.
women wishing to return to work on a part-time basis She wants to work part-time after she’s had the baby. We played cards to pass the time (=to help us stop feeling bored). I guess it’s payback time. Extra buses run at peak times.· Over a period of time, this pressure can damage the fibres of the carpet.
I’ll see you after the meeting, if time permits (=if it finishes early enough). formal (=used especially in official speeches, announcements etc)· It would be wrong to comment at this point in time.
· a part-time post as a university lecturer
· My time is precious, and I don't want to waste it.
Foldaway furniture is the answer where space is at a premium. At the present time we have no explanation for this. This product should be consumed on the day of purchase. The astronauts are racing against time to repair the spaceship. a building that has survived the ravages of time The situation has improved in recent years.· The price of oil has hit an all-time record.
· Pollution in the lake has reached record levels.
By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn’t finished.· My children had a rough time because they were different from the rest.
I’ve beaten her three times in a row.· I’m really disappointed that this happened. It’s a sad day for football.
money-saving ideas (=the ability to choose the right moment to do or say something)· He told the story with an exquisite sense of timing.
Did you know that Les is serving time (=is in prison)?· No date has been set for the election.
I’ve only been in Brisbane a short time. Germany achieved spectacular economic success in a relatively short period of time. They met and married within a short space of time. Most of the workers were put on short time. Come on, time’s running short! A new comedy is scheduled for the 9 pm time slot. It was some time before they managed to turn the alarm off. It’ll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span. Sorry, I can’t spare the time. I want to spend more time with my family. We’ll have to spend the night in a hotel. His childhood was spent in Brazil. Stacey spends all her free time painting.· The school has over 100 full-time staff.
He was just stalling for time. His poetry will stand the test of time (=stay popular). We had five minutes of stoppage time (=extra time played in a sports match because of pauses) at the end of the first half. She doesn’t leave the house for long stretches of time. I rang my boss and arranged to take some time off. The little time I had outside of school was taken up with work.· Parents need permission to take their children on holiday during term time.
It’s been a testing time. Sharon became involved with music in the time-honoured fashion – through her family. With 15.7 seconds left, Washington State called time out. (=face a lot of difficult problems) The family has had a tough time of it these last few months.
The family has had a tough time of it these last few months. I just lost all track of time. (=a long tradition)· In time-honoured tradition, they have a drink in every pub along the high street.
These are troubled times for the coal industry. The beginning of the show is often a trying time because of latecomers. Steve turned up late, as usual. We must reduce costs and shorten turnaround times. They're screening "The Wizard of Oz" again for the umpteenth time. ‘This is crazy,’ she told herself for the umpteenth time. She remembered the day when Paula had first arrived. We just sat around and watched TV the whole time (=the only thing we did was watch television). I work part-time in a library.· In recent years part-time work has become more popular.
· Are you available for full-time work?
· A high percentage of the female staff were part-time workers.
· The bureau has only two full-time workers.
It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.· Success hinged on timing their arrival just as the last fat slice of sun slid below the horizon.· He had timed their arrival for early evening with few people around.· He had timed his arrival for shortly after midday in the hope that lunchtime would find the staff free of commitments.· We had timed our arrival well as the local Highland Games took place the next day.· In fact, I saw from the station clock that I had timed my arrival just about perfectly.
· Dickey would not be the first coach to time his departure with the graduation of a key group of seniors.
· I was in their house there a dozen times.· He turned his head nervously half a dozen times to see if anybody was watching.· He pounded down in me a few dozen times, quickly.· And yet those who have seen it a dozen times will come out and watch a dozen more.· In the next decade, the newspaper was bombed more than a dozen times.· I pummel myself with my fists, hard, a dozen times.· We Elwoods must have seen him a dozen times.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► again and again/time and (time) again/over and over again► give somebody time/a few weeks/all day etc► in good time (for something/to do something)► as good a time/place etc as any► time hangs/lies heavy on your hands► kill time/an hour etc► in less than no time► let the good times roll► be a long time/ten years etc in the making► many’s the time/day etc (that/when)► me time► it’s time I was moving/we ought to get moving etc► time is moving on► now’s the time (for somebody) to do something► be old before your time► twice over/three times over etc► somebody puts his pants on one leg at a time► pass the time of day (with somebody)► be pressed for time/cash etc► be pressed for time/money etc► be pushed for time/money etc► three years/five times etc running► the sands of time► a stitch in time (saves nine)► be having a thin time (of it)► be (caught/locked/stuck) in a time warp► every time somebody turns around► unearthly hour/time etc► watch the time► have a whale of a time► price-wise/time-wise etc
- And it was still a bad time for the people in the middle.
- And then uh, he was the homecoming king and oh, gosh, that was a bad time in my life.
- Calls to assistant general manager Mike Port came at a bad time.
- I thought it would be great down there, but I started having a bad time so I went back to Newcastle.
- It was a bad time to have chosen for confrontation.
- Strawberry had had a bad time.
- The prolonged federal government shutdown could not have come at a worse time for businessman Herb Stein.
- While I have no problem with this, the issue is that my friends are giving me a bad time about it.
- a conductor beating time with his baton
- At one stage, he joined her, pacing with her, beating time with one hand.
- In employment systems, after all, people are not mustered to play together as their manager beats time.
- It is not true that elsewhere they obey it without beating it, since one beats time wherever choruses are sung.
- Significantly, he follows the use of conducteur by recalling more recent occasions on which he beat time.
- The lord began to tap his foot and beat time with his hand against his thigh.
- Even at the best of times the roads are dangerous.
- A salmon is slippery enough to handle at the best of times, but one of this size ...
- But reason told her it was a precarious business at the best of times.
- In fact Polanski, unconventional at the best of times, takes us to the limit - and beyond.
- It was run on a shoestring at the best of times and Kelly was merely adding to his problems.
- Listening is a difficult and complex skill at the best of times.
- Memory was mischievously selective at the best of times Trivia stuck limpet-like and the useful filtered away.
- Rising living standards and well-being are ambiguously related at the best of times, and not simply for ecological reasons.
- The mind was a delicate mechanism that he disliked interfering with at the best of times.
- Investors are biding their time, trying to figure out what the next successful stock will be.
- Bide your time, Lissa, she told herself, bide your time.
- Be patient, tolerant and bide your time.
- He has bided his time, and now he feels he has arrived.
- Keenan certainly bided his time before coming forward to lodge his complaints.
- Or wiser than we are; silent and strong, biding their time?
- Some say they're biding their time before becoming more aggressive again.
- The nurse was biding her time till another idea came to her that would put her on top again.
- Where does it bide its time?
- He played in clubs for years before making it to the big time.
- The text can be put on an overhead and revealed a bit at a time.
- Euro Disney had a bumpy ride as the market digested its results, sinking to a low of 813p down 35p.
- It had been a bumpy ride, through the tail end of a thunderstorm.
- It is therefore going to be, at best, a bumpy ride.
- It was the same man who had jostled her repeatedly during a bumpy ride on the Lexington Avenue Express subway.
- Since the programme was announced in 1998, like previous eradication campaigns, it has had a bumpy ride.
- The plant had had a bumpy ride since Cellatex was sold off by the chemicals giant Rhne-Poulenc in 1991.
- But he bought himself family time and independence.
- Jack tipped him five and got behind the wheel of his Lincoln, which he was buying on time.
- Meanwhile, their opponents are busy taking out newspaper advertisements, buying air time and working the telephones.
- Obviously, you only score the points of any player you buy from the time you get him.
- The advantages are that it can be bought at any time, changed without penalty and fully refunded.
- The diversion bought him some time.
- There would be water from the sink to quench his thirst, and that would buy him some time.
- Why did they buy at that time?
- Besides the unlimited license to overcharge, the prosecutor has a crowbar called time to hold over your head.
- It is tempting, then, to call time on G8 summits.
- Read in studio Britain's most exclusive clockmaker is about to call time on his business - because of the recession.
- Survey calls time on fears Government concerns that the 1988 Licensing Act would encourage greater consumption of alcohol have been proved unfounded.
- This is called time-dating.
- Washington State called time out, then had three chances from inside 10 feet but could not convert.
- A literal offering of bread and wine has in the course of time been included in the eucharistic ritual.
- As new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer.
- It has also been clearly established that in the course of time evaluation of particular variants can change or even be reversed.
- Physical death follows in the course of time.
- The critical question was: Why has life undergone this progressive development in the course of time?
- Once, long ago, at the dawn of time, he had persuaded man to disobey in a garden.
- Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth.
- But I've always found the Flying V and its derivatives a devil of a job to sit down with and play.
- He was taking a devil of a time to change.
- If he filled those in they'd have a devil of a job lifting them!
- It took me a devil of a time to find it I can tell you.
- She hasn't had an easy time of it since Jack left.
- Hu did not have an easy time of it at first.
- He could be followed to the end of time, and still nothing would happen.
- Every time it rains we get a flood in the bedroom.
- Every time she sees me she says looks away.
- Every time we talk about money, we get into an argument.
- Don't ask me for money every time you want to buy a drink.
- It seems like every time I play basketball, I get hurt.
- My neck hurts every time I turn my head.
- Fernandez, a Miami native, was not packing the place every time he pitched.
- He would remember every time he had been humiliated at school or home, exaggerating the feeling and circumstances involved.
- I don't want to have to take out a new mortgage every time I move up the ladder.
- I shudder with embarrassment every time I think about it.
- It just works so perfectly every time they start laughing at him.
- That latency will get you every time.
- The price looks higher every time you speak, Captain Owen.
- Tired of getting leaves and debris caught in your roof gutters and clogging them every time it rains?
- At 21 she is set for stardom, but she still finds time for people who have fallen on hard times.
- Even by political standards, Gingrich very quickly fell on hard times.
- I assumed that if a person fell on hard times some one else in the wider family would rescue them.
- Interestingly, though, the bottom 10 includes many household names fallen on hard times.
- The Cambridge University Automobile Club had clearly fallen on hard times, too.
- The model cities program fell on hard times soon after it began.
- With the outbreak of war, the shop fell on harder times.
- Worse, because of Jack the father has fallen on hard times and must meet all kinds of debts.
- Evening Today I had four baths to fill in time and I invented you.
- Recreational reading can be defined as a pastime by which the reader fills in time pleasantly.
- Tip-top young fellow, filling in time before Cambridge.
- At present, Akeakamai can understand sentences of up to five words, and can understand commands even when hearing them for the first time.
- By hearing them, we recognise them and we also, perhaps for the first time, see them as strange.
- It rained for the first time since we arrived in Sian today.
- Remember, these twelve artistic masterpieces are now on collectors' plates for the first time.
- She leans forward-and, for the first time since the first time-she kisses him.
- That day, the skies had clouded and, for the first time, the weather was cooler.
- The Federal Communications Commission began to regulate rates for the first time.
- Before fixing a date do some research.
- Employers generally fix a time limit on the payment of these allowances.
- He added that while Yeltsin is breathing somewhat easier than he had been, there is no fixed date for his discharge.
- She said she loved him, they said they loved him, but somehow nobody would fix a date for a marriage.
- The court will either grant the request on written application or fix a date for hearing.
- The court will then fix a date for consideration and serve notice on the applicant.
- The court will usually fix a time limit for service when making directions and this must be complied with.
- They fixed a date for the weekend and he kissed her goodbye.
- "Hasn't the afternoon passed quickly?" said Carol. "Time flies when you're having fun."
- Is it 5:30 already? Boy, time sure flies!
- Is Richard eight already? Doesn't time fly?
- Dearest Jeanette How time flies especially when one is meant to be writing lots of letters.
- There are so many diversions here that the time flies by on wings.
- Think how time flies in periods of intense, purposeful activity.
- No rocks, to our knowledge, are untouched by life in former times.
- It was resolved that from this day forward they shall be called by the name of the Veterinary College, London.
- But looking after the wear and tear was a full-time job.
- But most people in Hanoi could not afford consumer luxuries, and even acquiring necessities was a full-time job.
- C.-it was a full-time job and there was no choice in the matter.
- It really was a full-time job.
- It was a full-time job and if the husband was gone, it was a major loss.
- Job hunting is a full-time job.
- Managing diversity will be a full-time job for anyone with a niche in the interlinked economy.
- Now it really is a full-time job.
- I'm sure he'll tell us everything in the fullness of time.
- And in the fullness of Time the seed S grew into a beautiful Tree, which is what T stands for.
- Doubtless their minds are uncluttered by the thought that in the fullness of time they themselves will appear on the list.
- The rules allowed them this 2:1 majority but in the fullness of time it would become unacceptable to members.
- "Well, let me see," he said slowly, trying to gain time before answering the question.
- Dexter wondered if his vagueness was due to the shock of his wife's murder or an attempt to gain time.
- I accepted a chair and asked for a glass of water instead of the brandy, trying to gain time.
- I don't like those fancy French desserts. Give me a bowl of chocolate ice cream any day.
- And so this rural scene to which we had escaped gave me a frame of reference to understand my parents.
- Half an hour later, I was in a forest eating the bread they had given me.
- I gave her your number and told her to give me five minutes to warn you first.
- Just give me the one with 80 percent meat, 20 percent filler.
- Minna pulled away and gave me a look that was part triumph and part astonishment.
- Thelma, haggard and overly lipsticked, gave me a refill.
- They'd be sorry for me, they'd give me whisky and aspirins and send me to a psychiatrist.
- This gave me more information about the teams than any of the other committee members had.
- "When are we going to open the presents?" "All in good time."
- "When are you going to pay me?" "All in good time."
- But don't fret, you shall have a puppy all in good time.
- He would do what had to be done in his own good time; she must leave him to it.
- Once the rabbit is dead it can be retrieved in your own good time.
- The problems are the normal ones of adolescence and will pass in their own good time.
- Tina had felt let down, but knowing Bobby, he would tell them in his own good time what had happened.
- Whatever Jack wanted to do or say he would do or say in his own good time.
- My mother gave me a really hard time about Freddy. She couldn't stand him.
- She left the company because her boss was giving her a really hard time.
- Stop giving me such a hard time. I'm doing my best.
- When I first came here everyone gave me a really hard time, because I was the first woman to run a department.
- Her boss, Detective Hineline, is always giving her a hard time and she never gets really mad at him.
- If you wonder why people give you a hard time, it's because you write shit like this.
- Maybe Modigliani gave them a hard time, I don't know.
- The crew gave him a hard time, and even the cast was cautious about him.
- The laughter had stopped a while ago and, ever since, Lydia's imagination had been giving her a hard time.
- Tom gave him a hard time.
- Watson had been given a hard time from the Wednesday crowd before those goals but is now hoping the tide has turned.
- Yet Wakefield gave them a hard time throughout.
- A lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet.
- Anyone calling the 202 area code this weekend had a hard time getting through.
- I'm still having a hard time getting the company to pay me.
- I tried to find the house but I had such a hard time, I decided to give up.
- Premature babies have a hard time even under the best of circumstances.
- By contrast, books such as Randi's have a hard time finding enthusiastic editors.
- Cynics will have a hard time taking this seriously.
- Even the birds have a hard time of it, and you and Mr.
- He may have a hard time persuading lawmakers.
- I have a hard time eating meals when I should.
- The innovation of Private Eye ensured that deference, if not quite dead, would henceforth have a hard time.
- We have a hard time pulling off one conference.
- Your boy have a hard time getting it across?
- It's high time we pulled together and got the job done right.
- But his interest in the farm grew, even after he hit the big time.
- I know he talked to her about what it was like before Jett hit the big time.
- Sandier hits the big time as the loveable three killer sharks to increase their brain mass.
- Still, even session men can hit the big time.
- As long as Moira was around, Tamar was living on borrowed time.
- But now, as long as they existed, he was living on borrowed time.
- Uh, and says, uh, long time no see,.
- Ah well, better luck next time, Andy.
- And if you didn't win, better luck next time.
- Back to the West Indies with it, and better luck next time.
- He's girl crazy! He went to a boys' school and now he's making up for lost time.
- The bus driver was speeding to make up for lost time.
- After a century or so of political apathy, Hong Kong's young people were making up for lost time.
- He was eager to make up for lost time and published prolifically.
- Meanwhile Keith and Mae are settling down to married life, making up for lost time.
- None the less, we immediately started our other meetings to make up for lost time.
- Once I settled into my new life, I did everything I could to make up for lost time.
- Time to make up for lost time.
- All of us face identity crises as time marches on.
- At present these are banned, as are crossbows, but will these eventually be admitted with the march of progress?
- But in 1874-not ten years earlier or later-city and nation endured a painful pause in the march of progress.
- Like Franco, Arrese was trying to hold back the march of history.
- New discoveries have opened up all kinds of possibilities for holding back the march of time.
- They succeeded because they brought hope to the losers whom the march of progress had left behind.
- This little community is still in existence, largely untouched by the march of time.
- Parkinson's Disease seems to be marking time at the moment.
- Investors are marking time, waiting for evidence that the market is growing.
- Amusing, but Ackroyd marking time.
- Gaultier has remained true to himself, and must therefore mark time until fashion comes back around to his idiosyncratic viewpoint.
- The clock apparently marks time by carrying out a predictable and elaborate process of synthesizing and destroying molecules within living cells.
- The deep tones of the cannon marked time to the incessant roll of musketry..
- The hind legs have to mark time while the forelegs cross over, making the outer ring of a wheel.
- We marked time at Po Ti Island for a day hoping that the north-east head wind would change in our favour.
- We have to lie still for five minutes, while the teachers whisper to each other as they mark time.
- Yet computer cuts in the services sector mean that, for now, it can do little more than mark time.
- It was only a matter of time before Lynn found out Phil's secret.
- You'll learn how to do it eventually -- it's only a matter of time.
- Your father is dying and there's nothing we can do. I'm afraid it's just a matter of time.
- But they believe it's only a matter of time before the disease crosses the county boundary.
- If he hasn't already killed somebody, then it's only a matter of time.
- They think it's only a matter of time before he breaks.
- And, for some reason lost in the mists of time, we need to do that.
- What actually transpired upon the outbreak of the Civil War is lost in the mists of time it would seem.
- You move with the times, or you fail, in this business.
- But even Rolls-Royce must be seen to be moving with the times.
- Hugh Puddephat, she discovered, had certainly moved with the times.
- Male speaker We've got to move with the times.
- Mrs Bottomley told them the health service had to move with the times and some closures were inevitable.
- Nowadays, he said, prisons had moved with the times like everything else.
- Still, I suppose we must move with the times.
- They haven't moved with the times, and nor, perhaps, could they.
- Radio contact was established in the nick of time and we managed to transmit a message to the ship.
- She escaped from her smoke-filled home just in the nick of time.
- The money came through just in the nick of time.
- But all was well in the nick of time.
- But better in the nick of time than not at all.
- Enter Taligent with its promised solution for rapid applications prototyping and customization in a hardware-independent environment just in the nick of time.
- He did, however, in the nick of time, and I was issued uneventfully into the governance of Calvin Coolidge.
- It finally happened -- and just in the nick of time.
- Patience, she counselled herself, and turned the chicken in the nick of time.
- Those doughty editorial professionals at the Star have once again helped us avert a foolish mistake just in the nick of time!
- With repairs completed in the nick of time she sailed for the operation with a depleted crew.
- Nine times out of ten I just skip breakfast and have a coffee.
- Nine times out of ten we can beat them, but last night they creamed us.
- Nine times out of ten, jobs that become vacant are filled from inside the organization.
- And in no time at all, they see their dreams come true.
- He got back to normal in no time.
- He made Tracy in no time.
- If Sien went back with them, she would be driven back to her old life in no time.
- If you're telling the truth, Peter, you can be back here in no time.
- The thick pungent smoke from the spliff filled the car in no time as Firebug took long leisurely tokes and sat back.
- We were off the tanks in no time.
- Your house will be sold in no time at all!
- He could play with Orlando any old time.
- If you believed that, then you'd believe any old thing.
- A slight drizzle appeared, just for old times' sake.
- I just thought it might have been kinda fun, you know, for old times' sake.
- Or even, for old times' sake, one of the left splinter parties.
- Then one day, just for old times' sake, I paid a visit to Winston Street.
- This was really just for old times' sake, just for fun.
- Once upon a time children did what they were told.
- After all, it is once upon a time.
- However, once upon a time the mathematician was a child too.
- I'd have done anything for you once upon a time.
- One could spend a lifetime learning a small range of mountains, and once upon a time people did.
- Perhaps objects like these had been fashionable in churches once upon a time, but no longer, hence the attic.
- She might never have ironed shirts, but she too had once upon a time brought Jacob little surprises, little presents.
- There was, once upon a time, another book from which this kind of scientific certainty was derived.
- For those who are waiting for the most opportune time to invest in a home, this is an excellent time to do that.
- This seemed like an opportune moment to ask the government to mount a tree-planting program.
- His work - and his mission - comes at an opportune time.
- I waited, hoping for an opportune moment to discuss the possibility of my earning a little money.
- Meanwhile, he would take up the matter with Archbishop Perier at an opportune time.
- Porter bought Goat Island and Preserved it at an opportune moment.
- The announcement Tuesday may have come at an opportune time.
- To her now he was just a young fellow who happened to be in the house at an opportune time.
- Would this be an opportune time to suggest a move to help reduce the fragmentation of the industry?
- If anything, fashion is moving closer to the context of his style with the passage of time.
- Increased and improved communication plus the passage of time and more frequent face-to-face contacts should greatly improve understanding.
- Quite simply, the passage of time and new techniques had taken their toll.
- She knew she ought to report the death, but felt she could not because of the passage of time.
- They are lonely, sitting in quiet living rooms with clocks that loudly announce the passage of time with each tick.
- This balance changes with the passage of time as experience fashions these blueprints into more serviceable guides.
- Under these circumstances the future details of a transaction can be settled only when uncertainty is resolved by the passage of time.
- We were oblivious of the passage of time.
- The passing of the years has not weakened his artistic ability.
- He had time for his garden, time to talk to his Stratford friends, time to play with his granddaughter Elizabeth.
- Lennie knows he hasn't any time to play with if Boro are to stay in the big time.
- Then it's time to play with the topper dinghies!
- Stop playing for time and give us an answer.
- The rebel's current ceasefire doesn't amount to much more than playing for time.
- The U.S. strategy over the past weeks has been to play for time.
- Edmond Herv is a close friend and he tells me that sometimes you have to play for time to solve a problem.
- He decides, literally, to play for time and makes a debut at Nero's banquet that evening.
- Henry's only plan at this moment was to play for time.
- Mr Kasyanov seems now to be playing for time, hoping to get through January without ferocious clashes with creditors.
- The confused evidence suggests they are acting on their own initiative, not on directives from East Berlin to play for time.
- The government is playing for time.
- The governments, nervous, are playing for time.
- Truman played for time by appointing a brains trust of three to advise him.
- For quite some time he lived with the expectation that he was going to die.
- He found out we had been pulling the wool over his eyes for quite some time.
- If the skin and gills are kept moist they can remain out of water for quite some time.
- In other words, it Adll be quite some time before the kinks are worked out of the system.
- It must have taken quite a time.
- It was brought to her before I really got to know her, but it was with her for quite some time.
- Judging the competition has taken quite some time and was no easy matter.
- Uh I have no for quite some time.
- During these years she made her journeys in record time.
- Everyone in Knockglen heard about it in record time, but what they heard bore little relation to the facts.
- No question, and he did it in record time.
- She shifts into high gear and gets out of the house, down the hill and over to Starbucks in record time.
- The human species has probably not undergone much genetic change in recorded time.
- We got home in record time.
- We had finished the drive back down to the highway from Can-yon de Chelly in record time.
- We pulled out all the stops and gave the company a response in record time.
- "You did well to get that contract.'' "Not really, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.''
- An off--duty cop happened to be in the right place at the right time to stop a robbery.
- Being a successful news photographer is all about being in the right place at the right time.
- He could be in the right place at the right time when top jobs come up for grabs next summer.
- He was in the right place at the right time and hustling as he usually does.
- If we do not provide sufficient places, the necessary skill will not be in the right place at the right time.
- It was in the right place at the right time.
- They just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
- You have to be in the right place at the right time with the right partner and the right judges.
- Amato thinks the time is ripe for educational reform.
- The time was ripe for change in the company.
- As with acupuncture, this is a difficult field for research, but the time is ripe for active scientific investigations.
- So the time is ripe for a major overhaul of the sixth form.
- Don called - he's running late, so we'll start without him.
- He makes our trains run on time.
- In other words: - Keep the job running on time.
- Maybe she could get the London Underground to run on time?
- Passenger trains never ran on time now.
- Station refurbishment seems a mere insult when the trains don't run on time.
- Are you supposed to press these two buttons at the same time?
- Charlie and I arrived at the same time.
- His wife had a baby at the same time as Elaine.
- Karl and I were hired at the same time.
- So you want to talk to them, identify that they are a candidate, and then give them the test all at the same time?
- The media's criticism can be hard to take. But at the same time, we've got to keep doing our jobs.
- We've launched an appeal, and at the same time we are sending out supplies, shelters, and blankets.
- We both started talking at the same time.
- You must have been at Harvard at the same time as I was.
- And there was firing and screaming and hollering at the same time.
- But at the same time most people find the expression of their individuality through work.
- Each document is at the same time unique and existing in a thousand places.
- I wanted to throw up, pass out, scream and cry at the same time.
- Once we had five homicides on trial at the same time.
- Remarkably, they can still swill and swagger at the same time, weaving toward an exit.
- She felt an absolute wreck, yet at the same time she felt acutely self-aware.
- So a television picture changed at the same time as you saw your ex-lover walking down the road opposite.
- Employees may try working at the new location for a short time and then decide not to continue.
- In this way a carcass can draw vultures from far away in a short time.
- Just a short time ago the forest was impenetrable ... and safe.
- Now that he's on short time he's doing more round the house.
- One year is a very short time.
- Police arrested a male juvenile a short time later.
- The forest has reclaimed the fields even in this short time since I was last there.
- At the time, I took this decay merely as a sign of the times.
- But in a sign of the times, Army Chief Gen.
- But Reagan read the signs of the times.
- Is this a sign of the times?
- It was a sign of the times. 1956.
- That we owe this to the vast reach of cyberspace is indeed a sign of the times.
- This is a real sign of the times and completely eclipses global fears about ecology or famine.
- The crows meanwhile have taken on another persona of small-time crooks.
- But it was the key sort of time, wasn't it?
- Got to call opposite number in Coventry office about outstanding claim ... 16.22 Meeting time not like any other sort of time.
- It was the sort of price any commander had to pay for hoped-for victory.
- It was the sort of time and place where poems flourished along with the vegetation.
- Most of us do not have that sort of time to spare.
- Of course, a tactless dealer irritated him even more at this sort of time.
- Of course, there were other sorts of times too.
- I had to find out a lot of things about you in a short space of time.
- In old age several major losses may occur within a short space of time.
- In such a short space of time, he had plunged from the pinnacle of success to the depths of defeat.
- Just how much things can change in a short space of time.
- Still, he had been knocked out twice in a short space of time and would appreciate some rest.
- That was an extraordinarily fine achievement in such a short space of time.
- The problem is getting the material under control in order to reach ambitious learning goals in a short space of time.
- The problem was more one of having to absorb a vast amount of information in a short space of time.
- Darby was a cheerfully relaxed young man who compiled cryptic crosswords for a monthly magazine in his spare time.
- In her spare time she makes and decorates cakes of different shapes and sizes for all occasions.
- In his spare time, Grigsby gave legal advice to the Black Panthers.
- In many schools, teachers are spending their spare time fund-raising and making equipment to support the new Curriculum.
- Q: What do you do in your spare time?
- Q: When you have spare time, what do you do?
- We had some spare time, so we started messing around with samples and sequencers and stuff.
- All those below were too busy and had not time to spare to comfort him with a few minutes' companionship.
- But with time to spare, we rummaged around.
- I do not have the time to spare to meander through mountains.
- They maintain the government will have money to spare by 2011.
- Unfortunately, I haven't very much time to spare.
- We don't smoke or drink, so we have some money to spare.
- With time to spare, the Age Bulgers dominated all levels of politics and made sure their special interests came first.
- Did he think he was so important that he could finish the cottage in his own sweet time?
- I'd rather carry on in my own sweet way, and I'd rather be in Stockholm.
- I probably love him, in my own sweet way.
- You can just sit back and read the responses and decide the winner in your own sweet time.
- And I don't really know my Two Times Table.
- For Peter, puzzles are great fun; he likes to learn such details as state capitals and the times tables.
- I expect to recycle our work on the times tables.
- She knew her times tables and her Catechism.
- After all, you have been telling the time for years, haven't you?
- Because it is inexpensive, burning incense-sticks to tell the time continued to be used down to the present century.
- But her hand was shaking so much that she could not tell the time.
- Functional rather than ostentatious, for telling the time rather than for telling others who he was.
- So your watch should tell the time accurately.
- The clock did a lot more besides telling the time of day.
- These star charts were provided to enable the deceased to tell the time of night or the date in the calendar.
- Time Be able to tell the time and understand times expressed in terms of 12- and 24-hour clocks.
- Barcelona, having lost the 1961 and 1986 finals, hope it will be third time lucky.
- Everyone is praying that this time it will be third time lucky.
- Maybe he's out there thinking: third time lucky.
- Odds-on favourite last time at Haydock, he was narrowly beaten into third place, but tomorrow should prove third time lucky.
- A: I am going to take time out and go to college.
- Actress Beverley D'Angelo is taking time out from her screen career to perform a risqué country set across the Bible belt.
- At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.
- Despite his increasingly hectic schedule, Haden graciously took time out to be interviewed about the Quartet and the Jazzfest tour.
- I shall take time out to call at Aurae Phiala.
- If you actually worked for Jobs, he took time out from preaching the Mac gospel to meddle in your life.
- Nurses in Training Questions: Do nurse teachers take time out to discuss their teaching methods with their peers?
- The 73-year-old Republican standard-bearer took time out of his busy campaign schedule last week to search for those roots.
- An unrealistically low offer is a waste of time.
- As I said, many of these divisions of investigation will be a waste of time.
- But it was a waste of time.
- He may protest to the auditor that this is a waste of time.
- I feel annoyed, it is a waste of time.
- Marx thought that scholarly contemplation was a waste of time.
- Which was a waste of time really, because all I wanted to do was join Granpa on the barrow.
- While some thought that they did a good job, a substantial minority felt that they were a waste of time.
- Peter wasted no time finding himself another girlfriend.
- Additionally, less electricity is used and the chef wastes no time waiting for the correct temperature to be reached.
- Emil, the crew and I wasted no time watching.
- If it demurred, the Corps might waste no time in trying to build it instead.
- Lee wasted no time entering Maryland, the men being in high spirits as the bold move was made.
- Ringwald wastes no time wedging herself between McGaw and his coed girlfriend, Sarah Lassez.
- Shouting to Wemyss to cope with this situation, Douglas wasted no time.
- The man's wife had wasted no time going through his closets picking up worn and odd pairs.
- The Right was wasting no time, meanwhile.
- Although it is easy to dismiss meetings as time wasters, the above indicates why you should take them seriously.
- Cons: Writing with pen and paper is perhaps one of the greatest time wasters in the business world.
- FoE pinpointed fridges, light bulbs, washing machines, dishwashers, televisions, and tumble driers as energy wasters.
- Good experience and dedication, no time wasters.
- Romantic as it may be, a fireplace without glass doors is a real energy waster.
- And, as the wheel of fortune continues on its inexorable cycle, values are likely to start going up again soon.
- Then the wheel of fortune turned.
- An outside problem can sometimes be helped by, say, more flexible working hours and so be resolved at management level.
- Earnings might vary because of piece-work, overtime or short-time working.
- Flexible Hours Question: Has consideration been given to the introduction of flexible working hours?
- Meanwhile, solicitors were last week urged to consider flexible working for staff in line with the government's family friendly policies.
- Recruitment procedures focus on individual skills and potential for flexible working.
- Through grants to local authorities, we are financing schemes to introduce more flexible working practices - such as job sharing.
- Vauxhall bosses admit that the threat of short-time working at Ellesmere Port still remains a possibility.
- Wage freezes have been brought in across most of the company and some short-time working introduced.
- Kambule claims he was just a bystander when the shooting occurred, a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- The driver was drunk and hit her as she was crossing the road. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
WORD FAMILYnountimeovertimetimertimingtimelessnessadjectivetimelesstimely ≠ untimelyverbtimeadverbtimelessly
1to arrange that something should happen at a particular time: I saw from the station clock that I had timed my arrival perfectly.be timed to do something The tour has been timed to allow visitors to attend the opening night of the Verona opera season. Her book was timed to coincide with (=arranged to be at the same time as) an exhibition of Goya’s paintings at the National Gallery.be timed for something The meeting has been timed for three o'clock.GRAMMAR Time is often passive in this meaning.2to measure how fast someone or something is going, how long it takes to do something etc: We had to run up the stairs while the Sergeant timed us.time somebody/something at something They timed the winner at 2 minutes and 14.05 seconds.3to hit a ball or make a shot at a particular momenttime something well/badly etc Keith timed the pass well. a beautifully timed shot → ill-timed, well-timed