the clock

noun

1

: a clock that is used in sports and that shows how much time remains for a particular part of a game

They were winning by 2 points with 10 seconds (left) on the clock.

They stopped the (game) clock with eight seconds remaining.

2

: a special clock that is used to record the times when an employee starts and stops working : time clock

I punched the clock at 8:45 and started working right away.

3

chiefly British : a device that shows how far a vehicle has traveled

a car with 100,000 miles on the clock

Examples of the clock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kusilek, who quarterbacked the Falcons from 2012-15, earning all-WIAC Conference honors, stood with a smile pasted to his face and his eyes glued to Wisconsin-River Falls coach Matt Walker as the final minute of time ticked off the clock. —Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2026

Green’s layup made it 103-102 with 33 seconds left on the clock. —Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026

One thing that particularly excited him was turning back the clock for exteriors on New York’s Lower East Side, where the tight shooting schedule often required the art department to transform locations as quickly as possible. —Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 6 Jan. 2026

Essentially, any deadline seller is leveraging its ability to be patient about winning in the short term to charge a premium price for a useful, win-now player from a team that’s very much on the clock. —Thomas Drance, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for the clock

• alcock
• beanstalk
• bedrock
• boardwalk
• catwalk
• cornstalk
• crosswalk
• deadlock
• feedstock
• fetlock
• flintlock
• goshawk