I. ˈkläk noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English clok, from Middle Dutch clocke bell, clock, from Old French or Medieval Latin; Old French dialect (Picard) cloque bell, from Medieval Latin clocca, of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish clocc bell
Date: 14th century
1. : a device other than a watch for indicating or measuring time commonly by means of hands moving on a dial ; broadly : any periodic system by which time is measured
2. : a registering device usually with a dial ; specifically : odometer
3. : time clock
4. : a synchronizing device (as in a computer) that produces pulses at regular intervals
5. : biological clock
•
- against the clock
- around the clock
- kill the clock
II. verb
Date: 1883
transitive verb
1.
a. : to time with a stopwatch or by an electric timing device
b. : to be timed at
2. : to register on a mechanical recording device
wind velocities were clock ed at 80 miles per hour
3. : to hit hard
4. chiefly British : attain , realize — usually used with up
just clock ed up a million…paperback sales — Punch
5.
a. : to travel (a distance) over time
clock s more than 15,000 miles a year on business
b. : put in 3
clock ing long hours at the office
intransitive verb
1. : to have a specified duration or speed — used with in
the movie clock ed in at just under 3 hours
broadly : to have a specified measure or value — used with in
the meal clock ed at about $15
2. : to register on a time sheet or time clock : punch — used with in, out, on, off
he clock ed in late
• clock·er noun
III. noun
Etymology: perhaps from clock (I)
Date: 1530
: an ornamental figure on the ankle or side of a stocking or sock