- a variation of around-the-clock.
round-the-clock
Americanadjective
adjective
Explanation
Use the adjective round-the-clock to mean always, at any time of day. A security company that uses round-the-clock surveillance is keeping an eye on things 24 hours a day. Round-the-clock flights to New York leave all day and all night long, and a diner that offers round-the-clock breakfast will serve you pancakes whether it's six in the morning or midnight. If a patient needs round-the-clock care in the hospital, they'll have nurses checking on them nonstop, day and night. Round-the-clock dates from the 1940s and was first used to describe air raids during World War II.
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.
Iza typically paid Saavedra or his company around $100,000 per month for round-the-clock bodyguards, according to Saavedra’s plea agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The council member has invested more than $27 million in the park, including Peace Ambassadors, round-the-clock clean teams, overdose response, street medicine, youth programming, arts and culture and infrastructure improvements, according to Hernandez’s office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
In an illustration of the scale of destruction, Chinese state media said road access to hard-hit Gyirong Port in Tibet had only finally been restored on Wednesday after "days of round-the-clock repair work".
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Clean electricity that is available round-the-clock, such as geothermal, is considered especially valuable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The mansion’s sure to be heavily guarded, under round-the-clock camera surveillance, and laced with pods that could become live at the flick of a switch.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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.
