broken time

American  

[broh-kuhn tahym] / ˈbroʊ kən ˈtaɪm /

noun

1. a span of time that is unscheduled, irregular, or not continuous.

2. Sports. time spent away from one's role as a player on a team, especially in rugby.

3. an unexpected change in timing or rhythm, as in fencing when a fencer changes their actions to fool an opponent, or in jazz when a drumming pattern departs from a regular time signature.

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Other Word Forms

• unbroken time noun

Example Sentences

The leaders explained, “Our ancestors signed Treaties with the United States, often under threat of violence and death, in exchange for our ancestral lands and sacred places. Through these treaties, we retain the rights to practice and live in our traditional ways in these places. Yet, the promises made by the government have been broken time and time again.”

From Seattle Times

"The biggest problem, however, is probably that power grids across Europe must prepare for this sort of heat to happen much more frequently since these "all-time" records seem to be broken time and again now," he said.

From Reuters

New information technologies were rewiring our brains, leading to “broken time and broken attention.”

From Slate

When Nadia realizes that she's "broken time" due to some serious meddling in her own past, it makes sense that Ruth is the person repeating, an endless stream of Ruths coming up the stairs.

From Salon

It felt like, for Nadia and Alan, what would be the worst case scenario of broken time?

From Los Angeles Times