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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

clock is ticking en · X

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, qualifier:almost always preceded by the and often followed by for) Time is running out; a deadline is approaching.
    • The clock is ticking. And with every tick, the Trudeau government’s goal of bringing 25,000 refugees from the Middle East to Canada by the end of the year grows more improbable. 2015 November 12, John Ibbitson, “Politics notebook: Clock is ticking for Trudeau to resettle 25,000 refugees”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 22 Dec 2015:
    • "We know the clock is ticking, and the longer it takes us to find the person who has been kidnapped, the less likely the case is to have a successful outcome." 2006 February 19, Alasdair Palmer, “‘We know the clock is ticking. Kidnap is a murder waiting to happen’”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 22 Dec 2015:
    • You must be Jules, which would make you Vincent. Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. Is that right, Jimmie? 1994 May 21, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel), Los Angeles, Calif.: Miramax Films, →OCLC:
    • Near-synonym: tick-tock (interjection)
    • The clock is ticking for Mikhail Gorbachev too. Of all the failures of political and economic theory in this century, the Soviet failure is the most spectacular. 1986 April 23, James Reston, “Washington The Ticking Clock”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 Dec 2015:
    • I have the feeling that even while the clock is ticking we are moving on to terrible things. 1922, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 2, in The Great Prince Shan:

Coordinates

time is of the essence · time is ripe · time is up

Relateds

time flies

Synonyms

tick-tock · clock is running · time is short · time is ticking

Translations (6)

ta மணி ஆகிறது (time is running out; a deadline is approaching) · pl zegar tyka (time is running out; a deadline is approaching) · az vaxt daralır (time is running out; a deadline is approaching) · fr l'horloge tourne (time is running out; a deadline is approaching) · hu az óra ketyeg (time is running out; a deadline is approaching) · is klukkan tifar (time is running out; a deadline is approaching)