clock watcher
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noun
an employee who demonstrates lack of interest in a job by watching the time closely to be sure to stop work as soon as the workday or shift is over.
any person who watches the time closely, as in expectation of some news or event.
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Origin of clock watcher
First recorded in 1885–90
OTHER WORDS FROM clock watcher
clock watching, nounDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use clock watcher in a sentence
A salary of about $45,000 a year is being offered to the succesful clock-watcher.
He was no respecter of time, neither did he emulate his military colleague in being a clock-watcher.
Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons|Henry Charles MahoneyThat was one day when the best company man became a clock-watcher.
Exploiter's End|James CauseyLarner was anything but a clock-watcher, but on a certain bright day in June he was seated in his laboratory doing just that.
British Dictionary definitions for clock watcher
clock-watcher
noun
an employee who checks the time in anticipation of a break or of the end of the working day
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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