clockwork

noun

clock·​work ˈkläk-ˌwərk 

1

: the inner workings of something

2

: the machinery (such as springs and a train of gears) that run a clock

also : a similar mechanism running a mechanical device (such as a toy)

3

: the precision, regularity, or absence of variation associated with a clock or clockwork

a clockwork operation

—used in the phrase like clockwork to describe something that happens or works in a regular and exact way

This type of star has a wonderful property: Its brightness waxes and wanes like clockwork…

—Ron Cowen

If everything went like clockwork, it would have taken a year to get items in stores.

—Brooks Barnes

Examples of clockwork in a Sentence

the clockwork inside a mechanical toy soldier

Recent Examples on the Web

Just like clockwork, Amazon’s Labor Day sale is back and features thousands of hard-to-miss fashion deals for under $10. — Mia Huelsbeck, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2026

Fortunately, labels both affordable and luxury are coming out with new takes on this trend like clockwork, saturating the market with colorful jackets for every personal aesthetic and practical need under the sun (or, more accurately, the rain). — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2026

Appropriately so, given the placid recent range and the clockwork mechanics of sector rotation and low-correlation restraining index-level volatility. — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026

But Panettiere’s own struggles with substance use and grief began to show up in her Nashville pages like clockwork. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for clockwork

• artwork
• beadwork
• berserk
• breastwork
• brickwork
• brushwork
• casework
• classwork
• coursework
• ductwork
• earthwork
• falsework

Kids Definition

clockwork

noun

clock·​work ˈkläk-ˌwərk 

: machinery (as in a mechanical toy) containing a set of small cogwheels