around the clock
/əˌraʊnd ðə ˈklɒk/NEUTRAL · C1
Meaning
continuously throughout the day and night
Examples
- 1The support desk operates around the clock, so customers can call even at three in the morning.
- 2Rotating teams kept the pumps running around the clock throughout the wet weekend.
- 3The machines run around the clock; one shift replaces another without stopping production.
- 4You can contact this helpline around the clock, including weekends and the middle of the night.
- 5Staff monitored the incubator around the clock, changing shifts without leaving it unattended.
Grammar
An adverbial phrase; round the clock is also accepted. Use hyphens in around-the-clock before a noun.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about time
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →against the clockhurrying to finish before a deadlineat the crack of dawnvery early in the morning as daylight beginsin the long runeventually, when considering effects over a lengthy periodfor the time beingtemporarily, until the situation changesbehind the timesold-fashioned and unaware of modern developmentsahead of your timemore innovative than most people of your period
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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