like clockwork

Idioms  

1. 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]

---

Example Sentences

With everything working like clockwork, he's clearly run out of things to complain about.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

I’m not sure what would provoke anyone to tune in, but like clockwork, the viewership billowed to the thousands.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

My daughter and I brought the Santas out from the garage like clockwork each November to start decorating our home, and we kept them up well into the new year.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2025

Ask a futurist about self-driving cars, and you’ll hear an exciting story: traffic that flows like clockwork, pedestrians stepping into the street without fear, and collisions so rare they make the news.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025

Dedd did not appear that morning, and since that one was like clockwork, we knew something was wrong.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez