wind back the clock en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(figuratively, idiomatic) To return in time to an earlier period of history.
But wind the clock back some 60 years, and you would find that away from the South East of England, the North West once had the most extensive and varied selection of electric routes in the country.
2021 February 24, John Crosse, “North West Electrics”, in RAIL, number 925, page 62:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| winding back the clock | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| winds back the clock | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| wind the clock back | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wound back the clock | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| wound back the clock | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
turn back time (to return to an earlier time) · turn back the clock (to return to an earlier time)