lose time


Operate too slowly. For example, My watch loses time, or This clock loses five minutes a day. This usage is always applied to a timepiece. [Mid-1800s]

Words Nearby lose time

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use lose time in a sentence

  • You will not wonder that I lose time and catch at every hope, rather than involve myself in that labyrinth of Chicane and expense.

  • Well, he could die but once; this whole affair was detestably risky; he must not lose time in shuddering over the first steps.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • But we lose time; select your men, let them be the bravest and most active you have—their weapons may be needed.

    Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
  • Troubridge's ships were to call off Palermo for further instructions, but not to lose time by coming to anchor there.

    The Life of Nelson, Vol. I (of 2) | A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
  • Not to lose time, our hero took the night train for the metropolis.

    From Farm to Fortune | Horatio Alger Jr.