clock in

Idioms  

1. Begin work, as in She clocked in late again. Also, clock out, end work, as in Please wait for me; I forgot to clock out. The allusion here is to punching a time clock, a device that punches the time on a card to record when an employee arrives and departs. [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clock in

The National Trust said earlier this month that the administration was "working around the clock in an attempt to outrace judicial review."

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

Platforms such as Snabbit, Pronto and Urban Company function much like ride-hailing apps -- workers receive bookings online, travel to assigned homes and clock in on their phones.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

Advances in artificial intelligence, falling hardware costs and improving regulatory clarity are enabling real-world deployment, with some operators already running fully driverless services around the clock in select cities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

"Around 200 people have worked tirelessly around the clock in searching for this beautiful little girl who went missing five days ago," Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

She stood at the foot of the stairs and called them, but there was no answering patter of running feet, only the steady tick-tock of the old clock in the hallway.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

Related Words

• arrive
• come
• come out
• crop up
• develop
• emerge
• materialize
• occur
• pop up
• present
• show
• show up
• surface
• turn out
• turn up