clock
♦ clock /kl'ɒk/ (clocks clocking clocked)
1 [N-COUNT]
A clock is an instrument, for example in a room or on the outside of a building, that shows what time of day it is.
He was conscious of a clock ticking...
He also repairs clocks and watches...
...a digital clock.
2 [N-COUNT] oft n N
A time clock in a factory or office is a device that is used to record the hours that people work. Each worker puts a special card into the device when they arrive and leave, and the times are recorded on the card.
Government workers were made to punch time clocks morning, noon and night.
3 [N-COUNT] usu sing, the N
In a car, the clock is the instrument that shows the speed of the car or the distance it has travelled. (mainly BRIT)
The car had 160,000 miles on the clock...
4 [VERB] V n
To clock a particular time or speed in a race means to reach that time or speed.
Elliott clocked the fastest time this year for the 800 metres...
5 [VERB] usu passive, be V-ed at amount
If something or someone is clocked at a particular time or speed, their time or speed is measured at that level.
He has been clocked at 11 seconds for 100 metres...
6
see also alarm clock, biological clock, cuckoo clock, cuckoo clock, grandfather clock, o'clock
7 [PHRASE] PHR after v, n PHR
If you are doing something against the clock, you are doing it in a great hurry, because there is very little time.
The emergency services were working against the clock as the tide began to rise...
It's now become a race against the clock.
8 [PHRASE] PHR with v, PHR n
If something is done round the clock or around the clock, it is done all day and all night without stopping.
Rescue services have been working round the clock to free stranded motorists...
9 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you want to turn the clock back or put the clock back, you want to return to a situation that used to exist, usually because the present situation is unpleasant.
In some ways we wish we could turn the clock back...
We cannot put back the clock.alarm clock (alarm clocks)
[N-COUNT]
An alarm clock is a clock that you can set to make a noise so that it wakes you up at a particular time.
I set my alarm clock for 4.30.
= alarmbio|logi|cal clock (biological clocks)
[N-COUNT] oft poss N
Your biological clock is your body's way of registering time. It does not rely on events such as day or night, but on factors such as your habits, your age, and chemical changes taking place in your body.
For women, the `biological clock' governs the time for having children.body clock (body clocks)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your body clock is the internal biological mechanism which causes your body to automatically behave in particular ways at particular times of the day.
Jet lag is caused because the body clock does not readjust immediately to the time change.clock in
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
When you clock in at work, you arrive there or put a special card into a device to show what time you arrived.
I have to clock in by eight.
≠ clock offclock off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P, V P n
When you clock off at work, you leave work or put a special card into a device to show what time you left.
The Night Duty Officer was ready to clock off...
They clocked off duty and left at ten to three.
≠ clock inclock on
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
When workers clock on at a factory or office, they put a special card into a device to show what time they arrived.
They arrived to clock on and found the factory gates locked.
= clock inclock out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P of n, also V P
Clock out means the same as clock off.
She had clocked out of her bank at 5.02pm using her plastic card.clock tow|er (clock towers)
[N-COUNT]
A clock tower is a tall, narrow building with a clock at the top.clock up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you clock up a large number or total of things, you reach that number or total.
In two years, he clocked up over 100 victories...
= notch upcuckoo clock (cuckoo clocks)
[N-COUNT]
A cuckoo clock is a clock with a door from which a toy cuckoo comes out and makes noises like a cuckoo every hour or half hour.grand|father clock (grandfather clocks)
[N-COUNT]
A grandfather clock is an old-fashioned type of clock in a tall wooden case which stands upright on the floor.
1 [N-COUNT]
A clock is an instrument, for example in a room or on the outside of a building, that shows what time of day it is.
He was conscious of a clock ticking...
He also repairs clocks and watches...
...a digital clock.
2 [N-COUNT] oft n N
A time clock in a factory or office is a device that is used to record the hours that people work. Each worker puts a special card into the device when they arrive and leave, and the times are recorded on the card.
Government workers were made to punch time clocks morning, noon and night.
3 [N-COUNT] usu sing, the N
In a car, the clock is the instrument that shows the speed of the car or the distance it has travelled. (mainly BRIT)
The car had 160,000 miles on the clock...
4 [VERB] V n
To clock a particular time or speed in a race means to reach that time or speed.
Elliott clocked the fastest time this year for the 800 metres...
5 [VERB] usu passive, be V-ed at amount
If something or someone is clocked at a particular time or speed, their time or speed is measured at that level.
He has been clocked at 11 seconds for 100 metres...
6
see also alarm clock, biological clock, cuckoo clock, cuckoo clock, grandfather clock, o'clock
7 [PHRASE] PHR after v, n PHR
If you are doing something against the clock, you are doing it in a great hurry, because there is very little time.
The emergency services were working against the clock as the tide began to rise...
It's now become a race against the clock.
8 [PHRASE] PHR with v, PHR n
If something is done round the clock or around the clock, it is done all day and all night without stopping.
Rescue services have been working round the clock to free stranded motorists...
9 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you want to turn the clock back or put the clock back, you want to return to a situation that used to exist, usually because the present situation is unpleasant.
In some ways we wish we could turn the clock back...
We cannot put back the clock.alarm clock (alarm clocks)
[N-COUNT]
An alarm clock is a clock that you can set to make a noise so that it wakes you up at a particular time.
I set my alarm clock for 4.30.
= alarmbio|logi|cal clock (biological clocks)
[N-COUNT] oft poss N
Your biological clock is your body's way of registering time. It does not rely on events such as day or night, but on factors such as your habits, your age, and chemical changes taking place in your body.
For women, the `biological clock' governs the time for having children.body clock (body clocks)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your body clock is the internal biological mechanism which causes your body to automatically behave in particular ways at particular times of the day.
Jet lag is caused because the body clock does not readjust immediately to the time change.clock in
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
When you clock in at work, you arrive there or put a special card into a device to show what time you arrived.
I have to clock in by eight.
≠ clock offclock off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P, V P n
When you clock off at work, you leave work or put a special card into a device to show what time you left.
The Night Duty Officer was ready to clock off...
They clocked off duty and left at ten to three.
≠ clock inclock on
[PHRASAL VERB] V P
When workers clock on at a factory or office, they put a special card into a device to show what time they arrived.
They arrived to clock on and found the factory gates locked.
= clock inclock out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P of n, also V P
Clock out means the same as clock off.
She had clocked out of her bank at 5.02pm using her plastic card.clock tow|er (clock towers)
[N-COUNT]
A clock tower is a tall, narrow building with a clock at the top.clock up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you clock up a large number or total of things, you reach that number or total.
In two years, he clocked up over 100 victories...
= notch upcuckoo clock (cuckoo clocks)
[N-COUNT]
A cuckoo clock is a clock with a door from which a toy cuckoo comes out and makes noises like a cuckoo every hour or half hour.grand|father clock (grandfather clocks)
[N-COUNT]
A grandfather clock is an old-fashioned type of clock in a tall wooden case which stands upright on the floor.