on time
Idioms-
Punctually, according to schedule, as in I hope the plane will be on time . [Early 1800s]
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By paying in installments, on credit, as in They are buying their car on time . The time here refers to the designated period in which payments must be made. [Mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
CoreWeave looks like “the company that can deliver significant GPU capacity on time and at spec,” he said, referring to specification, which indicates a chip’s task and performance.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Anything unexpectedly or especially moving, rousing, funny or strange, things that go against the grain of a production that wants to keep things controlled in order to bring the ship in on time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
It refers to how quickly the ballot was handled by the Postal Service, not whether the ballot reached the election officials on time.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
But despite the increase across the continent, 72.6 percent of flights arrived on time, up 1.2 percentage points on 2025.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
He did not have a grasp on time to know how long he lay there.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
