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• double time
  double time

  noun

  the fastest rate of marching troops, a slow jog in which 180 paces, each of 3 feet (0.9 meters), are taken in a minute.
• double-time
  double-time

  verb (used with object)

  to cause to move in double time.

double time

¹ American  

noun

1. U.S. Army. the fastest rate of marching troops, a slow jog in which 180 paces, each of 3 feet (0.9 meters), are taken in a minute.

2. a slow run by troops in step.

3. a rate of overtime pay that is twice the regular wage rate.

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double-time ² American  

[duhb-uhl-tahym] / ˈdʌb əlˌtaɪm /

verb (used with object)

double-timed, double-timing

1. to cause to move in double time.

   Double-time the troops to the mess hall.

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verb (used without object)

double-timed, double-timing

1. to move in double time.

double time British  

noun

1. a doubled wage rate, paid for working on public holidays, etc

2. music

   1. a time twice as fast as an earlier section

   2. two beats per bar

3. a slow running pace, keeping in step

4. army a fast march of 180 paces to the minute

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verb

1. to move or cause to move in double time

Etymology

Origin of double time¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Origin of double-time²

First recorded in 1850–55

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

double time double-time double-timed double-timing

Cooks in tie-dyed aprons and sky-blue baseball caps move in double time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

“If I need to make something from scratch, I need to work double time before I finish the product,” she explains.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2024

"So all of you people feel underused now, get a good night's sleep, because next year you're going to be working double time," he said.

From Reuters ● Nov. 15, 2023

He describes the song as akin to a “slow reggae” with “a double time and a half time all strung together in ballad form, kind of.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023

Now they moved at double time, still on land that sloped upward.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

The rushing double-time builds and releases of trance are heard on “Love Sensation.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Creighton tried to limit the 6-foot-5 Boston’s second-chance points by throwing four players on her at a time and forcing her to work double-time on the perimeter.

From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2022

The London-born musician was known for his double-time "speed rap" delivery, which had a major impact on the sound of British rap.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2022

True to the name of his burgeoning genre, Glaive’s music has a punky, proudly frenetic energy, with buzzing synth riffs and highly processed vocals over distorted beats that can explode suddenly into double-time spasms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

He set off in double-time for the cafeteria.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

They double-timed it back to grab them, but officials hit them with a delay of game penalty — officially deemed an administrative technical foul — because the start had to be postponed a few minutes.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2023

To this end, he double-timed through ten states last week, from Oregon to Indiana to Arizona, for a total of 15 in his first fortnight of candidacy.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the autumn of 1942, Guy Sajer, 16, the French-speaking son of a German mother, cockily double-timed into Russia to help recharge the Third Reich's blitzkrieg on the steppes.

From Time Magazine Archive

He double-timed all the way back into town and invested all his savings in a wool cap with earflaps and a pair of bicycle goggles.

From Time Magazine Archive

He double-timed his hoofbeats and, slowly forging on, was half a length ahead.

From The Preacher of Cedar Mountain A Tale of the Open Country by Ernest Thompson Seton

If only Rose and Frankie would dump the double-timing bastard and go off with each other or run for office or take up painting restoration.

From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2011

By 10:30 p.m., when the special session ends, the double-timing Brown instructors who teach it are usually a pale shade of grey.

From Time Magazine Archive

Kennedy's competitive instincts were aroused by an old T.R. order requiring that all Marine Corps company officers be able to march 50 miles in 20 hours, double-timing the last 700 yds.

From Time Magazine Archive

The most steadfast vigilance on the part of administrators has been unable to prevent successful cases of malingering, double-timing and false pretenses of need.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the next thing Fred knew Captain Fulton's men were again double-timing up another street, whirling the crowd before them.

From Harper's Round Table, August 20, 1895 by Various

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