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• double time
  double time

  noun

  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.
• double-time
  double-time

  verb (used with object)

  to cause to move in double time.

double time

¹ American  

noun

1. 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.

2. a slow run by troops in step.

3. a rate of overtime pay that is twice the regular wage rate.

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double-time ² American  

[duhb-uhl-tahym] / ˈdʌb əlˌtaɪm /

verb (used with object)

double-timed, double-timing

1. to cause to move in double time.

   Double-time the troops to the mess hall.

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verb (used without object)

double-timed, double-timing

1. to move in double time.

double time British  

noun

1. a doubled wage rate, paid for working on public holidays, etc

2. music

   1. a time twice as fast as an earlier section

   2. two beats per bar

3. a slow running pace, keeping in step

4. army a fast march of 180 paces to the minute

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verb

1. to move or cause to move in double time

Etymology

Origin of double time¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Origin of double-time²

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

double time double-time double-timed double-timing

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

And the pushed-down-out-of.sight, what-if, hope-waiting portion of Christopher’s heart rose up in his chest, and he felt it beating double time under his skin.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

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

“Try singing double-time and make sure your mouth is reading perfectly. In the second episode, we go backward and forward in time, and I had to sing backwards.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023

Their tails was moving double-time as they were eating their lunch.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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

To this end, he double-timed through ten states last week, from Oregon to Indiana to Arizona, for a total of 15 in his first fortnight of candidacy.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the autumn of 1942, Guy Sajer, 16, the French-speaking son of a German mother, cockily double-timed into Russia to help recharge the Third Reich's blitzkrieg on the steppes.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

We did an about-face at 12th Street and double-timed back to the folks.

From History of Ambulance Company Number 139 by Various

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

Kennedy's competitive instincts were aroused by an old T.R. order requiring that all Marine Corps company officers be able to march 50 miles in 20 hours, double-timing the last 700 yds.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

By 10:30 p.m., when the special session ends, the double-timing Brown instructors who teach it are usually a pale shade of grey.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the next thing Fred knew Captain Fulton's men were again double-timing up another street, whirling the crowd before them.

From Harper's Round Table, August 20, 1895 by Various