clock

/klɑk/

/klɒk/

Other forms: clocks; clocked; clocking

A clock is a device that keeps time, displaying hours, minutes, and often seconds. If there's a clock in your calculus classroom, it can sometimes be hard to keep from watching the minutes tick by.

You might have an antique grandfather clock in your hall or an alarm clock beside your bed. Clocks are either analog, with hands that move around a numbered circular face, or digital, showing the time in digits, like 4:27. If you clock your friend as she runs a mile, it means you keep track of how long it takes her. Originally, the word was clokke, "clock with bells," from the Medieval Latin clocca, "bell."

Definitions of clock

1. noun

   a timepiece that shows the time of day
   examples:

   Big Ben

   clock in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, London

   types:

   alarm, alarm clock

   a clock that wakes a sleeper at some preset time

   analog clock

   a clock that displays the time of day by the position of hands on a dial

   chronometer

   an accurate clock (especially used in navigation)

   cuckoo clock

   clock that announces the hours with a sound like the call of the cuckoo

   digital clock

   a clock that displays the time of day digitally

   electric clock

   a clock using a small electric motor

   pendulum clock

   a clock regulated by a pendulum

   system clock

   a time-of-day clock in a computer system

   time clock

   clock used to record the hours that people work

   turret clock

   a clock with more than one dial to show the time in all directions from a tower

   wall clock

   a clock mounted on a wall

   clepsydra, water clock, water glass

   a clock that measures time by the escape of water; now historical

   grandfather clock, longcase clock

   a pendulum clock enclosed in a tall narrow case

   type of:

   horologe, timekeeper, timepiece

   a measuring instrument or device for keeping time
2. verb

   measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time
   “he clocked the runners”

   synonyms: time

   types:

   mistime

   time incorrectly

   type of:

   measure, quantify

   express as a number or measure or quantity