like clockwork

Save This Word!

See synonyms for like clockwork on Thesaurus.com

Also, regular as clockwork. With extreme regularity, as in Ruth arrives every Wednesday morning just like clockwork, or You can count on his schedule, which is regular as clockwork, or Their assembly line runs like clockwork. This idiom alludes to the mechanical and therefore very regular action of a clock. [Second half of 1600s]

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby like clockwork

like anything, like a shot, like as not, like as two peas in a pod, like a ton of bricks, like clockwork, like crazy, like death warmed over, like father, like son, like fun, like gangbusters

How to use like clockwork in a sentence

So I just patted him kind-like on the shoulder and sat down.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Where these laser-like missiles are falling out of the sky onto a city and you have to stop each of them from hitting the targets?
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange|Marlow Stern|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It got so bad, that the school resorted to “Groupon-like services” to fill seats.
Is Any College Football Coach Worth $60 Million? Jim Harbaugh Is|Jesse Lawrence|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Though not in production yet, the high-end heels will be sold through a Tesla-like model.
The Coolest Fashion Innovations of 2014|Raquel Laneri|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He was kept in a dorm-like building, which has also been reported in other allegations.
Beaten By His Church for Being Gay|Justin Jones|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
May looked along at the dimpled grace, And then at the saint-like, fair old face, “How funny!”
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
His strong legs and his broad, spade-like feet helped to make him a fine swimmer.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
The wave-like movement of these animals is particularly graceful and cleverly done.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
These dreamy, Madonna-like beauties are the result of the most severe and protracted study.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Rarely, sodium urate occurs in crystalline form—slender prisms, arranged in fan- or sheaf-like structures (Fig. 32).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

like clockwork

Words nearby like clockwork

Words related to like clockwork

How to use like clockwork in a sentence