Father Time

American

noun

the personification of time as an old man, usually in a white robe, having a white beard, and carrying a scythe.

Father Time British

noun

time personified as an old bearded man, usually carrying a scythe and an hourglass

"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

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Father Time

Gary Fenton and Billy Koch have been sports fans long enough to know the cliché about Father Time being undefeated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

“But Mother Nature and Father Time remain undefeated, and the ‘deterioration bill’ is now coming due.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

The clearest sign Father Time is closing in on Djokovic?

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

Only this time, he was also competing against Father Time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Game Time cartwheeled off the table, leaving Father Time to it.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023