at a time

phrase

1

: during one particular moment

I can only do one thing at a time.

Please speak one at a time and not all at once.

We carried the boxes two at a time up the stairs.

2

: during one period of time without stopping

She can sit and read for hours at a time.

Examples of at a time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Associated Press Seven major oil-exporting countries agreed Sunday to keep production steady in November at a time when the Iran war has driven the price of benchmark Brent crude oil above $100 a barrel. — ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026

The bill was reintroduced in 2025, at a time where there was a national shortage of 57,259 physicians. — Esha Desai, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026

The woman and her children lived in the nice part of the house and the foster girls — three to five at a time — ate dinner separately in the basement. — Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 3 Oct. 2026

The 25th-anniversary collection brought old styles back at a time when Y2K fashion was already finding a new audience. — Ashley Lynch, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for at a time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime