against the clock

Idioms  

1. Also, against time. In a great hurry, as fast as possible, as in With her term paper due on Monday, she was racing against the clock to finish it, or They were working against time to stay on schedule. The term comes from various sports in which the contestants do not directly compete against each other but instead are timed individually, the winner being the one who is fastest. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

against the clock

Our executive producers are running against the clock trying to get all the moving pieces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

At one of Snabbit's training hubs in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, workers rehearse tasks such as chopping vegetables against the clock.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

The island is broken up into seven sections, and the team must work against the clock and the elements to make sure they have accounted for every puffin.

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

A large digital clock appeared at the start of each episode, with bright numerals showing the current time in 24-hour format, as Bauer raced against the clock to avert disaster.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026

What one historian has called “the perishability of revolutionary time” meant that the political will to act was also racing against the clock.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis