clock1

[klok] /klɒk/
noun
1.
an instrument for measuring and recording time, especially by mechanical means, usually with hands or changing numbers to indicate the hour and minute: not designed to be worn or carried about.
2.
time clock.
3.
a meter or other device, as a speedometer or taximeter, for measuring and recording speed, distance covered, or other quantitative functioning.
4.
biological clock.
5.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Horologium.
6.
Computers. the circuit in a digital computer that provides a common reference train of electronic pulses for all other circuits.
verb (used with object)
7.
to time, test, or determine by means of a clock or watch:
The racehorse was clocked at two minutes thirty seconds.
8.
Slang. to strike sharply or heavily:
Somebody clocked him on the face.
Verb phrases
9.
clock in, to begin work, especially by punching a time clock:
She clocked in at 9 on the dot.
10.
clock out, to end work, especially by punching a time clock:
He clocked out early yesterday.
Idioms
11.
around the clock,
  1. during all 24 hours; ceaselessly.
  2. without stopping for rest; tirelessly:
    working around the clock to stem the epidemic.
12.
clean (someone's) clock, to defeat; vanquish.
13.
kill the clock, Sports. to use up as much game time as possible when one is winning, as to protect a lead in basketball, ice hockey, or football.
Also, run out the clock.
14.
stop the clock, to postpone an official or legal deadline by ceasing to count the hours that elapse, as when a new union contract must be agreed upon before an old contract runs out.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English clok(ke) < Middle Dutch clocke bell, clock; akin to Old English clucge, Old High German glocka (German Glocke), Old Irish clocc bell; cf. cloak

clock2

[klok] /klɒk/
noun
1.
a short embroidered or woven ornament on each side or on the outer side of a sock or stocking, extending from the ankle upward.
verb (used with object)
2.
to embroider with such an ornament.
Origin
1520-30; origin uncertain
Examples from the web for clock
  • The software uses the computer's clock as a time stamp.
  • Bats wake up to hunt because their clock tells them it's dusk-summer or winter, no matter.
  • After six centuries, time has caught up with the world's oldest hand-wound clock.
  • Check the local tide level at a glance with this personalized tide clock.
  • That's the ticking of the clock-- although nobody really knows how the telomere clock might control cell division.
  • To the hands of the clock, it is the face going counterclockwise.
  • But when one team has had more time to adjust its biological clock than the other, the advantage begins.
  • Time enters mechanics as a measure of interval, relative to the clock completing the measurement.
  • There exists an alarm clock that doesn't beg to be thrown against walls and through windows.
  • You've got to dig through your closet and change clock after clock after clock.
British Dictionary definitions for clock

clock1

/klɒk/
noun
1.
a timepiece, usually free-standing, hanging, or built into a tower, having mechanically or electrically driven pointers that move constantly over a dial showing the numbers of the hours Compare digital clock, watch (sense 7)
2.
any clocklike device for recording or measuring, such as a taximeter or pressure gauge
3.
the downy head of a dandelion that has gone to seed
4.
an electrical circuit that generates pulses at a predetermined rate
5.
(computing) an electronic pulse generator that transmits streams of regular pulses to which various parts of the computer and its operations are synchronized
6.
short for time clock
7.
around the clock, round the clock, all day and all night
8.
the clock, an informal word for speedometer, mileometer
9.
(Brit) a slang word for face
10.
against the clock
  1. under pressure, as to meet a deadline
  2. (in certain sports, such as show jumping) timed by a stop clock: the last round will be against the clock
11.
put the clock back, to regress
verb
12.
(transitive) (Brit & Austral, NZ, slang) to strike, esp on the face or head
13.
(transitive) (Brit, slang) to see or notice
14.
(transitive) to record time as with a stopwatch, esp in the calculation of speed
15.
(electronics) to feed a clock pulse to (a digital device) in order to cause it to switch to a new state
See also atomic clock, biological clock, clock off, clock on, clock up
Derived Forms
clocker, noun
clocklike, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Middle Dutch clocke clock, from Medieval Latin clocca bell, ultimately of Celtic origin

clock2

/klɒk/
noun
1.
an ornamental design either woven in or embroidered on the side of a stocking
Word Origin
C16: from Middle Dutch clocke, from Medieval Latin clocca bell
Word Origin and History for clock
n.

late 14c., clokke, originally "clock with bells," probably from Middle Dutch clocke (Dutch klok) "a clock," from Old North French cloque (Old French cloke, Modern French cloche), from Medieval Latin (7c.) clocca "bell," probably from Celtic (cf. Old Irish clocc, Welsh cloch, Manx clagg "a bell") and spread by Irish missionaries (unless the Celtic words are from Latin); ultimately of imitative origin.

Replaced Old English dægmæl, from dæg "day" + mæl "measure, mark" (see meal (n.1)). The Latin word was horologium; the Greeks used a water-clock (klepsydra, literally "water thief"). Image of put (or set) the clock back "return to an earlier state or system" is from 1862. Round-the-clock (adj.) is from 1943, originally in reference to bomber air raids.

"ornament pattern on a stocking," 1520s, probably identical with clock (n.1) in its older sense and meaning "bell-shaped ornament."

v.

"to time by the clock," 1883, from clock (n.1). The slang sense of "hit, sock" is 1941, originally Australian, probably from earlier slang clock (n.) "face" (1923). Related: Clocked; clocking.

Slang definitions & phrases for clock

clock

verb
  1. To hit; sock: who clocked me when I wasn't looking/ She clocked him with the portable telephone (1920s+ Australian)
  2. To time, esp with a stopwatch: They clocked her at 6:05:03.65 (1880s+)
  3. To achieve a specified time: I clocked a two-minute lap yesterday (1892+)
  4. To get; amass: Malcolm Forbes is clockin' megadollars (1980s+ Teenagers)
  5. To watch; keep one's eye on: He is always clockin' girls (1980s+ Teenagers)
  6. To waste one's time; detain one: Why're you clockin' me? I got people to see (1980s+ Teenagers)
Related Terms

clean someone's clock

[first sense probably related to clock, ''face'']


clock in Technology
processor
A circuit in a processor that generates a regular sequence of electronic pulses used to synchronise operations of the processor's components. The time between pulses is the cycle time and the number of pulses per second is the clock rate (or frequency).
The execution times of instructions on a computer are usually measured by a number of clock cycles rather than seconds. Clock rates for various models of the computer may increase as technology improves, and it is usually the relative times one is interested in when discussing the instruction set.
(1994-12-16)
Idioms and Phrases with clock

clock

also see: