Added 9 October 2026

clock

/klɒk/ noun

In Latin: horologium, hōrārium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about clock at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any device or mechanism that enables time to be measured or regulated.
A sundial is a type of clock that measures time through the movement of the sun's shadow.
In particular, a mechanical or electronic device that indicates the time of day through hands or a numeric display, and sometimes also through chimes.
The clock on the mantlepiece says midnight, but the church clock says quarter past.
A time clock.
I can't go off to lunch yet: I'm still on the clock.

To measure the duration of.
To measure the speed of.
He was clocked at 155 miles per hour.
To hit (someone) heavily.
When the boxer let down his guard, his opponent clocked him.

First use appears c. 1370. From Middle English clokke, clok, cloke (“clock”), from Middle Dutch clocke (“bell, clock”), from Old Dutch *klokka, from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell, clock, cloak”), probably of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *klokkos (“bell”) (compare Welsh cloch (“bell”), Old Irish cloc (“bell, clock”)), either onomatopoeic or from Proto-Indo-European *klek- (“to laugh, cackle”) (compare Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną (“to laugh”)).