clock

noun

/klɒk/

/klɑːk/

Idioms

jump to other results

enlarge image

[countable] an instrument for measuring and showing time, in a room, on the wall of a building or on a computer screen (not worn or carried like a watch)
- The clock struck twelve/midnight.
- The clock is fast/slow (= showing a time later/earlier than the true time).
- The clock has stopped.
- The clock is right/wrong.
- My clock said 9.02.
- by a clock It was ten past six by the kitchen clock.
- the clock face (= the front part of a clock with the numbers on)
- The hands of the clock crept slowly around.
- The sound of a clock ticking somewhere in the house kept him awake.
- Ellen heard the loud ticking of the clock in the hall.
- on a clock She checked the time on the clock.
see also 24-hour clock, alarm clock, atomic clock, biological clock, body clock, carriage clock, cuckoo clock, grandfather clock, grandmother clock, o’clock, time clock, water clockTopics Engineeringa1
Extra Examples
- Her clock told her it was time to get up.
- His countdown clock reads forty seconds.
- It's ten o'clock by the kitchen clock.
- Pressing the 'Yes‘ or 'No‘ response button stops the clock.
- Pressing the buzzer stops the clock.
- That clock's fast.
- The clock on the mantelpiece said twelve o'clock.
- The clock struck the hour.
- This clock doesn't keep time.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- accurate
- 12-hour
- 24-hour
- …
verb + clock
- reset
- set
- wind
- …
clock + verb
- beep
- buzz
- chime (something)
- …
clock + noun
- face
- tower
- radio
- …
preposition
- against the clock
- around the clock
- round the clock
- …
phrases
- the dial of a clock
- the face of a clock
- the hands of a clock
- …
See full entry
the clock
[singular] (informal) the milometer in a vehicle (= an instrument that measures the number of miles the vehicle has travelled)
- on the clock a used car with 20 000 miles on the clock
Topics Transport by car or lorryc2

Word Originlate Middle English: from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch klocke, based on medieval Latin clocca ‘bell’.

Idioms

against the clock

if you do something against the clock, you do it fast in order to finish before a particular time
- It was a race against the clock to get the building work finished in time.
- to work against the clock

around/round the clock

all day and all night without stopping
- Staff have been working around the clock to resolve the problems.

beat the clock

to finish a task, race, etc. before a particular time
- The player beat the clock and set a new record.

clean somebody's clock (North American English, informal)

to beat somebody at something
- She really cleaned his clock in that debate.
to physically attack someone
- Rosario delivered a blow that cleaned his clock, leaving him disabled.

the clock is ticking (down)

used to say that there's not much time left before something happens
- The clock is ticking down to midnight on New Year’s Eve.
- The clock is ticking for one mystery lottery winner who has less than 24 hours to claim a £64 million prize.

the clocks go forward/back

the time changes officially, for example at the beginning and end of summer
- The clocks go back tonight.

put/turn the clock back

to return to a situation that existed in the past; to remember a past age
- I wish we could turn the clock back two years and give the marriage another chance.
- Let's turn back the clock to the last decade.
(disapproving) to return to old-fashioned methods or ideas
- The new censorship law will turn the clock back 50 years.

put the clocks forward/back (British English)

(North American English set/move the clocks ahead/back)

to change the time shown by clocks, usually by one hour, when the time changes officially, for example at the beginning and end of summer
- Remember to put your clocks back tonight.

a race against time/the clock

a situation in which you have to do something or finish something very fast before it is too late
- Getting food to the starving refugees is now a race against time.

run down/out the clock

if a sports team tries to run down/out the clock at the end of a game, it stops trying to score and just tries to keep hold of the ball to stop the other team from scoring compare time-wasting

stop the clock

to stop measuring time in a game or an activity that has a time limit

watch the clock

(disapproving) to be careful not to work longer than the required time; to think more about when your work will finish than about the work itself
- employees who are always watching the clock
see also clock-watcher

clock

verb

/klɒk/

/klɑːk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they clock	/klɒk/ /klɑːk/
he / she / it clocks	/klɒks/ /klɑːks/
past simple clocked	/klɒkt/ /klɑːkt/
past participle clocked	/klɒkt/ /klɑːkt/
-ing form clocking	/ˈklɒkɪŋ/ /ˈklɑːkɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

jump to other results

clock something to reach a particular time or speed
- He clocked 10.09 seconds in the 100 metres final.
to measure the speed at which somebody/something is travelling
- clock somebody doing something The police clocked her doing over 100 miles an hour.
- clock somebody/something (at something) Wind gusts at 80 mph were clocked at Rapid City.
Topics Transport by car or lorryc2
clock somebody | clock that… | clock what/where, etc… (British English, informal) to notice or recognize somebody
- I clocked her in the driving mirror.
clock somebody (informal) to hit somebody, especially on the head
- He said it again, so I clocked him on the nose!
clock something (British English, informal) to illegally reduce the number of miles shown on a vehicle’s milometer (= instrument that measures the number of miles it has travelled) in order to make the vehicle appear to have travelled fewer miles than it really has

Word Originlate Middle English: from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch klocke, based on medieval Latin clocca ‘bell’.