Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

clock1

[klok]
See more synonyms for clock on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an instrument for measuring and recording time, especially by mechanical means, usually with hands or changing numbers to indicate the hour and minute: not designed to be worn or carried about.
  2. time clock.
  3. a meter or other device, as a speedometer or taximeter, for measuring and recording speed, distance covered, or other quantitative functioning.
  4. biological clock.
  5. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Horologium.
  6. Computers. the circuit in a digital computer that provides a common reference train of electronic pulses for all other circuits.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to time, test, or determine by means of a clock or watch: The racehorse was clocked at two minutes thirty seconds.
  2. Slang. to strike sharply or heavily: Somebody clocked him on the face.
Show More
Verb Phrases
  1. clock in, to begin work, especially by punching a time clock: She clocked in at 9 on the dot.
  2. clock out, to end work, especially by punching a time clock: He clocked out early yesterday.
Show More
Idioms
  1. around the clock,
    1. during all 24 hours; ceaselessly.
    2. without stopping for rest; tirelessly: working around the clock to stem the epidemic.
  2. clean (someone's) clock, to defeat; vanquish.
  3. kill the clock, Sports. to use up as much game time as possible when one is winning, as to protect a lead in basketball, ice hockey, or football.Also run out the clock.
  4. stop the clock, to postpone an official or legal deadline by ceasing to count the hours that elapse, as when a new union contract must be agreed upon before an old contract runs out.
Show More

Origin of clock1

1350–1400; Middle English clok(ke) < Middle Dutch clocke bell, clock; akin to Old English clucge, Old High German glocka (German Glocke), Old Irish clocc bell; cf. cloak

clock2

[klok]
noun
  1. a short embroidered or woven ornament on each side or on the outer side of a sock or stocking, extending from the ankle upward.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to embroider with such an ornament.
Show More

Origin of clock2

First recorded in 1520–30; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

alarmtimertimepiecetattlerwatchchronometerchronographtimekeepermetronomependulumturnipsundialstopwatchtickerhourglass

Examples from the Web for clock

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The clock struck twelve, and it seemed as if it struck a thousand.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • You may almost distinguish the figures on the clock that has just told the hour.

  • When supper was over and the clock had struck twelve, the party separated.

    Life in London

    Edwin Hodder

  • While she was ill she had watched the clock for the time to listen for him.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • From the lower hall the clock chimed one with musical vibrations.

British Dictionary definitions for clock

clock1

noun
  1. a timepiece, usually free-standing, hanging, or built into a tower, having mechanically or electrically driven pointers that move constantly over a dial showing the numbers of the hoursCompare digital clock, watch (def. 7)
  2. any clocklike device for recording or measuring, such as a taximeter or pressure gauge
  3. the downy head of a dandelion that has gone to seed
  4. an electrical circuit that generates pulses at a predetermined rate
  5. computing an electronic pulse generator that transmits streams of regular pulses to which various parts of the computer and its operations are synchronized
  6. short for time clock
  7. around the clock or round the clock all day and all night
  8. the clock an informal word for speedometer, mileometer
  9. British a slang word for face
  10. against the clock
    1. under pressure, as to meet a deadline
    2. (in certain sports, such as show jumping) timed by a stop clockthe last round will be against the clock
  11. put the clock back to regress
Show More
verb
  1. (tr) British, Australian and NZ slang to strike, esp on the face or head
  2. (tr) British slang to see or notice
  3. (tr) to record time as with a stopwatch, esp in the calculation of speed
  4. electronics to feed a clock pulse to (a digital device) in order to cause it to switch to a new state
Show More
See also atomic clock, biological clock, clock off, clock on, clock up
Derived Formsclocker, nounclocklike, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Middle Dutch clocke clock, from Medieval Latin clocca bell, ultimately of Celtic origin

clock2

noun
  1. an ornamental design either woven in or embroidered on the side of a stocking
Show More

Word Origin

C16: from Middle Dutch clocke, from Medieval Latin clocca bell
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clock

n.1

late 14c., clokke, originally "clock with bells," probably from Middle Dutch clocke (Dutch klok) "a clock," from Old North French cloque (Old French cloke, Modern French cloche), from Medieval Latin (7c.) clocca "bell," probably from Celtic (cf. Old Irish clocc, Welsh cloch, Manx clagg "a bell") and spread by Irish missionaries (unless the Celtic words are from Latin); ultimately of imitative origin.

Replaced Old English dægmæl, from dæg "day" + mæl "measure, mark" (see meal (n.1)). The Latin word was horologium; the Greeks used a water-clock (klepsydra, literally "water thief"). Image of put (or set) the clock back "return to an earlier state or system" is from 1862. Round-the-clock (adj.) is from 1943, originally in reference to bomber air raids.

Show More

v.

"to time by the clock," 1883, from clock (n.1). The slang sense of "hit, sock" is 1941, originally Australian, probably from earlier slang clock (n.) "face" (1923). Related: Clocked; clocking.

Show More

n.2

"ornament pattern on a stocking," 1520s, probably identical with clock (n.1) in its older sense and meaning "bell-shaped ornament."

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with clock

clock

In addition to the idioms beginning with clock

  • clock in
  • clock is ticking, the
  • clock up

also see:

  • against the clock
  • beat the clock
  • clean someone's clock
  • like clock-work
  • set back (the clock)
  • stop someone's clock
  • stop the clock
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.