What does "clock" mean?
A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
Clock
/klɒk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
- Grammar: clock is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: beat time, big ben, brood, chronometer.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, clock out, delay.
- Usage evidence: The clock in the church tower struck nine.
How to use "clock"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "clock" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "clock" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "clock" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "clock" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "clock" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "beat time" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "clock", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. countable, uncountable
"When the clock says midnight."
- 2 A pattern near the heel of a sock or stocking.
"But this you can't stand, so you throw up your hand, and you find you're as cold as an icicle, In your shirt and your socks (the black silk with gold clocks), crossing Salisbury Plain on a bicycle"
- 3 A large beetle, especially the European dung beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius).
- 4 a timepiece that shows the time of day wordnet
- 5 A common noun relating to an instrument that measures or keeps track of time. attributive, countable, uncountable
"A 12-hour clock system; an antique clock sale; Acme is a clock manufacturer."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 The odometer of a motor vehicle. British, countable, uncountable
"This car has over 300,000 miles on the clock."
- 7 An electrical signal that synchronizes timing among digital circuits of semiconductor chips or modules. countable, uncountable
- 8 The seed head of a dandelion. countable, uncountable
- 9 A time clock. countable, uncountable
"I can't go off to lunch yet: I'm still on the clock."
- 10 A CPU clock cycle, or T-state. countable, informal, uncountable
"Executing a NEXT to code takes 7 clocks, or 1.05 microseconds."
- 11 A luck-based patience or solitaire card game with the cards laid out to represent the face of a clock. uncountable
- 12 A watch (timepiece). UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Arthur Morrison, Chance of the Game But if the clock was a red 'un, and the opportunity undoubted; to be pinched in the Bow Road merely might well imply loss of caste in the mob, but nobody need be ashamed to be pinched anywhere for a gold watch, after all."
- 13 A face; the head. countable, slang, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To measure the duration of. transitive
- 2 To ornament (e.g. the side of a stocking) with figured work. transitive
- 3 To make the sound of a hen; to cluck. Scotland, dated, intransitive
- 4 measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time wordnet
- 5 To measure the speed of. transitive
"He was clocked at 155 miles per hour."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 To hatch. Scotland, dated, intransitive
- 7 To hit (someone) heavily. slang, transitive
"When the boxer let down his guard, his opponent clocked him."
- 8 To notice; to take notice of (someone or something). informal, transitive
"Clock the wheels on that car!"
- 9 To recognize; to assess, register. informal, transitive
"I'd already clocked her as someone who couldn't reliably be believed when she spoke. And now this too!"
- 10 To identify (someone) as having some attribute (for example, being trans or gay). informal, transitive
"Once my transition was complete I considered moving to London, where I felt there was less chance of being clocked and a larger support network."
- 11 To falsify the reading of the odometer of a vehicle. British, slang
"I don't believe that car has done only 40,000 miles. It's been clocked."
- 12 To beat a video game. Australia, British, New-Zealand, slang, transitive
"Have you clocked that game yet?"
- 13 To expose or attack someone, typically in a targeted and insulting manner. ambitransitive
"Did you hear what she said about my outfit? She kind of clocked me."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The clock in the church tower struck nine."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "clock"?
Common synonyms include: beat time, big ben, brood, chronometer, clock movement, clock pulse.
How do you use "clock" in a sentence?
The clock in the church tower struck nine.
How do you pronounce "clock"?
Pronounced /klɒk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
First use appears c. 1370. From Middle English clokke, clok, cloke (“clock”), from Middle Dutch clocke (“bell, clock”), from Old Dutch *klokka, from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell, clock, cloak”), probably of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *klokkos (“bell”) (compare Welsh cloch (“bell”), Old Irish cloc (“bell, clock”)), either onomatopoeic or from Proto-Indo-European *klek- (“to laugh, cackle”) (compare Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną (“to laugh”)). Cognate with Old English clucge (“bell”), Saterland Frisian Klokke (“bell, clock”), Dutch klok (“clock, bell”), Low German Klock (“bell, clock”), German Glocke (“bell”), Danish and Norwegian klokke (“clock, bell”), Faroese klokka (“clock, bell”), Icelandic klukka (“clock, bell”), Swedish klocka (“clock, bell”). Doublet of cloak and cloche.
Etymology 2
Uncertain; designs may have originally been bell-shaped and thus related to Etymology 1, above.
Etymology 3
From Middle English clokken, from Old English cloccian, ultimately imitative; compare Dutch klokken, English cluck.