broken time
Americannoun
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a span of time that is unscheduled, irregular, or not continuous.
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Sports. time spent away from one's role as a player on a team, especially in rugby.
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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.
Other Word Forms
- unbroken time noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It felt like, for Nadia and Alan, what would be the worst case scenario of broken time?
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2022
What do we do with these feelings of broken time and in-between-ness?
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2022
But that promise has been broken, time and again.
From New York Times • Aug. 22, 2019
We went to the beach after days of grief, perhaps hoping to reclaim some pattern in a broken time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 10, 2016
I sought a watch dealer in the hope of replacing my broken time piece, but was unsuccessful.
From Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life by Knox, Thomas Wallace
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
