clock
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klahkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklɑk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
attributive
A common noun relating to an instrument that measures or keeps track of time.
A timepiece that shows the time of day
british
The odometer of a motor vehicle.
uncountable
A luck-based patience or solitaire card game with the cards laid out to represent the face of a clock.
The seed head of a dandelion.
verb
Measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time
transitive
To measure the speed of.
transitive
To ornament (e.g. the side of a stocking) with figured work.
transitiveinformalwith as
To recognize; to assess, register.
britishslang
To falsify the reading of the odometer of a vehicle.
(ambitransitive, chiefly African-American Vernacular and LGBTQ slang) To expose or attack someone, typically in a targeted and insulting manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
Used this way, clock is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
European weed naturalized in southwestern United States and Mexico having reddish decumbent stems with small fernlike leaves and small deep reddish-lavender flowers followed by slender…
The time taken to traverse a measured course.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
In the same direction as the rotating hands of a clock.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Register one's departure from work.
A physical pendulum used to regulate a clockwork mechanism.
A radio that includes a clock that can be set to turn it on automatically.
A reading of a point in time as given by a clock.
A tower with a large clock visible high up on an outside face.
Record a distance travelled.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Any mechanism of geared wheels that is driven by a coiled spring.
The view that the universe resembles a clock built by God and ticking along according to Newtonian mechanics.
California four o'clock with purple-red flowers.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.