U.S. Army. the fastest rate of marching troops, a slow jog in which 180 paces, each of 3 feet (0.9 meters), are taken in a minute.
a slow run by troops in step.
a rate of overtime pay that is twice the regular wage rate.
a doubled wage rate, paid for working on public holidays, etc
music
a time twice as fast as an earlier section
two beats per bar
a slow running pace, keeping in step
army a fast march of 180 paces to the minute
First recorded in 1850–55
First recorded in 1850–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They can include time-and-a-half or double time, testing in a separate room to reduce distractions or having unlimited breaks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
“If I need to make something from scratch, I need to work double time before I finish the product,” she explains.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2024
"So all of you people feel underused now, get a good night's sleep, because next year you're going to be working double time," he said.
From Reuters ● Nov. 15, 2023
He describes the song as akin to a “slow reggae” with “a double time and a half time all strung together in ballad form, kind of.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
Overtime was plentiful, and men jumped at the chance to work holidays, which paid double time.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
The rushing double-time builds and releases of trance are heard on “Love Sensation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
At that moment, the song explodes into a baroque rock opera, all power chords and chunky harmonies, before jumping into a double-time groove that recalls Laura Branigan's 1980s hit Gloria.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
The big moment came as the song reached its fever pitch with drummer Ringo Starr going into a mind-boggling double-time.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
In some cases, workers can earn a double-time rate for normal hours worked, according to the agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
So I double-time it toward the big university library.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
They double-timed it back to grab them, but officials hit them with a delay of game penalty — officially deemed an administrative technical foul — because the start had to be postponed a few minutes.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2023
Another student, dressed as Cleaveland, rowed up, declared: "This place is too dirty to build a colony," and double-timed back down the river to the almost equally scabrous Lake Erie.
From Time Magazine Archive
Gart lost five pounds, and says he hasn't done so much footwork since he double-timed across Germany from the Rhine to the Elbe with the Ninth Army in World War II.
From Time Magazine Archive
He double-timed all the way back into town and invested all his savings in a wool cap with earflaps and a pair of bicycle goggles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Over every smooth stretch the men were double-timed, and there was an unusual animus against stragglers.
From The Long Roll by Johnston, Mary
If only Rose and Frankie would dump the double-timing bastard and go off with each other or run for office or take up painting restoration.
From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2011
Here I've been, dressed in fatigues and combat boots, double-timing in platoon formation without realizing the social significance of my actions.
From Time Magazine Archive
As usual, the general is double-timing on his new job.
From Time Magazine Archive
The most steadfast vigilance on the part of administrators has been unable to prevent successful cases of malingering, double-timing and false pretenses of need.
From Time Magazine Archive
By the way, I'm convinced that Murray is double-timing me.
From The Martian Cabal by Starzl, Roman Frederick
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.
