clock

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

clock, n. [AS. clucge bell; akin to D. klok clock, bell, G. glocke, Dan. klokke, Sw. klocka, Icel. klukka bell, LL. clocca, cloca (whence F. cloche); al perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. clog bell, clock, W. cloch bell. Cf. Cloak.].

•  A machine for measuring time, indicating the hour and other divisions; in ordinary mechanical clocks for domestic or office use the time is indicated on a typically circular face or dial plate containing two hands, pointing to numbers engraved on the periphery of the face, thus showing the hours and minutes. The works of a mechanical clock are moved by a weight or a spring, and it is often so constructed as to tell the hour by the stroke of a hammer on a bell. In electrical or electronic clocks, the time may be indicated, as on a mechanical clock, by hands, but may also be indicated by direct digital readout, with the hours and minutes in normal Arabic numerals. The readout using hands is often called analog to distinguish it from the digital readout. Some clocks also indicate the seconds. Clocks are not adapted, like the watch, to be carried on the person. Specialized clocks, such as atomic clocks, may be constructed on different principles, and may have a very high precision for use in scientific observations.  [1913 Webster]
•  A watch, esp. one that strikes.  Walton.  [1913 Webster]
•  The striking of a clock.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]
•  A figure or figured work on the ankle or side of a stocking.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

  " The phrases what o'clock? it is nine o'clock, etc., are contracted from what of the clock? it is nine of the clock, etc."  [1913 Webster]

Alarm clock. See under Alarm. -- Astronomical clock. (a) A clock of superior construction, with a compensating pendulum, etc., to measure time with great accuracy, for use in astronomical observatories; -- called a regulator when used by watchmakers as a standard for regulating timepieces. (b) A clock with mechanism for indicating certain astronomical phenomena, as the phases of the moon, position of the sun in the ecliptic, equation of time, etc. -- Electric clock. (a) A clock moved or regulated by electricity or electro-magnetism. (b) A clock connected with an electro-magnetic recording apparatus. -- Ship's clock (Naut.), a clock arranged to strike from one to eight strokes, at half hourly intervals, marking the divisions of the ship's watches. -- Sidereal clock, an astronomical clock regulated to keep sidereal time.

clock, v. t. 

 To ornament with figured work, as the side of a stocking.  [1913 Webster]

clock, v. t. & i. 

 To call, as a hen. See Cluck.  [1913 Webster]

clock, n. 

 A large beetle, esp. the European dung beetle (Scarabæus stercorarius).  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

clock, n. & v.
--n.
1 an instrument for measuring time, driven mechanically or electrically and indicating hours, minutes, etc., by hands on a dial or by displayed figures.
2 a any measuring device resembling a clock. b colloq. a speedometer, taximeter, or stopwatch.
3 time taken as an element in competitive sports etc. (ran against the clock).
4 Brit. sl. a person's face.
5 a downy seed-head, esp. that of a dandelion.
--v.tr.
1 colloq. a (often foll. by up) attain or register (a stated time, distance, or speed, esp. in a race). b time (a race) with a stopwatch.
2 Brit. sl. hit, esp. on the head.

Idiom

clock golf a game in which a golf ball is putted into a hole from successive points in a circle. clock in (or on) register one's arrival at work, esp. by means of an automatic recording clock. clock off (or out) register one's departure similarly. clock radio a combined radio and alarm clock. round the clock all day and (usu.) night. watch the clock = CLOCK-WATCH.

clock, n. an ornamental pattern on the side of a stocking or sock near the ankle.

Etymology

16th c.: orig. unkn.

DEVIL DICTIONARY

clock

n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time remains to him.

A busy man complained one day:
"I get no time!" "What's that you say?"
Cried out his friend, a lazy quiz;
"You have, sir, all the time there is.
There's plenty, too, and don't you doubt it --
We're never for an hour without it."
Purzil Crofe

THESAURUS

clock

Big Ben, beat time, brood, chronometer, clock movement, clockworks, cover, fix the time, horologe, horologium, keep time, mark time, measure time, set, set the time, sit, ticker, time, timekeeper, timepiece, timer, turnip, watch, watchworks

ROGET THESAURUS

clock

Chronometry

N chronometry, horometry, horology, date, epoch, style, era, almanac, calendar, ephemeris, register, registry, chronicle, annals, journal, diary, chronogram, clock, wall clock, pendulum clock, grandfather's clock, cuckoo clock, alarm clock, clock radio, watch, wristwatch, pocket watch, stopwatch, Swiss watch, atomic clock, digital clock, analog clock, quartz watch, water clock, chronometer, chronoscope, chronograph, repeater, timekeeper, timepiece, dial, sundial, gnomon, horologe, pendulum, hourglass, clepsydra, ghurry, chronographer, chronologer, chronologist, timekeeper, annalist, calendar year, leap year, Julian calendar, Gregorian calendar, Chinese calendar, Jewish calendar, perpetual calendar, Farmer's almanac, fiscal year, chronological, chronometrical, chronogrammatical, cinquecento, quattrocento, trecento, o'clock.

Measurement

N measurement, admeasurement, mensuration, survey, valuation, appraisement, assessment, assize, estimate, estimation, dead reckoning, reckoning, gauging, horse power, metrology, weights and measures, compound arithmetic, measure, yard measure, standard, rule, foot rule, compass, calipers, gage, gauge, meter, line, rod, check, dividers, velo, flood mark, high water mark, Plimsoll line, index, scale, graduation, graduated scale, nonius, vernier, bathometer, galvanometer, heliometer, interferometer, odometer, ombrometer, pantometer, pluviometer, pneumatometer, pneumometer, radiometer, refractometer, respirometer, rheometer, spirometer, telemeter, udometer, vacuometer, variometer, viameter, thermometer, thermistor (heat) &c, barometer (air), anemometer (wind), dynamometer, goniometer, (angle) 244 meter, landmark, balance, scale, marigraph, pneumatograph, stethograph, rain gauge, rain gage, voltmeter (volts), ammeter (amps), spectrophotometer (light absorbance), mass spectrophotometer (molecular mass), geiger counter, scintillation counter (radioactivity), pycnometer (liquid density), graduated cylinder, volumetric flask (volume), radar gun (velocity), radar (distance), side-looking radar, (shape, topography), sonar (depth in water), light meter (light intensity), clock, watch, stopwatch, chronometer (time), anemometer (wind velocity), densitometer (color intensity), measurability, computability, determinability, coordinates, ordinate and abscissa, polar coordinates, latitude and longitude, declination and right ascension, altitude and azimuth, geometry, stereometry, hypsometry, metage, surveying, land surveying, geodesy, geodetics, geodesia, orthometry, altimetry, cadastre, astrolabe, armillary sphere, land surveyor, geometer, measuring, metric, metrical, measurable, perceptible, noticeable, detectable, appreciable, ponderable, determinable, fathomable, geodetical, topographic, topographical, cartographic, cartographical.