time

plural times · alternative obsolete tyme

1. uncountableThe inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.

   Time stops for nobody. the ebb and flow of time

   2 more examples

   Time is the fire in which we burn.

   1937, Delmore Schwartz, Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day

   One of the most common truisms on Earth is the advice to value or at least not waste time. Why has it become so widespread? Every person eventually realizes that time is the most valuable resource on the planet. Not oil or uranium. Not lithium or anything else, but time. Time. The very flow of time convinces us of this. Some people realize this sooner, and these are the lucky ones. Others realize it too late when they lose someone or something. People cannot avoid it, this is just a matter of time. But there is a fundamental difference that comes down to the question of time. The time of your life is under your control. The time of life of our force on the front line, the time of life of all Ukrainians who are forced to live through this terrible Russian aggression unfortunately is subject to many factors that are not all in their control. I do not wish anyone to feel like they are in my shoes, and it's impossible to give a manual on how to go through life so as not to waste time. However, one piece of advice always works. You have to know exactly why you need today and how you want your tomorrows to look like.

   2023 May 26, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 0:40 from the start, in Zelenskyy surprises the Johns Hopkins commencement ceremony, MSNBC, archived from the original on 26 May 2023

   1. uncountableThe feeling of the passage of events and their relative duration, as experienced by an individual.

      Time flies when you're having fun.

   2. uncountableusuallynatural sciencesA dimension of spacetime with the opposite metric signature to space dimensions; the fourth dimension.

      Both science-fiction writers and physicists have written about travel through time.

      2 more examples

      So long as I travelled at a high velocity through time, this scarcely mattered; I was, so to speak, attenuated – was slipping like a vapour through the interstices of intervening substances!

      1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 31

      We all have a visceral understanding of what it means for the universe to have multiple space dimensions, since we live in a world in which we constantly deal with a plurality — three. But what would it mean to have multiple times? Would one align with time as we presently experience it psychologically while the other would somehow be "different"?

      1999, Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, W. W. Norton & Company, published 2010, →ISBN, page 204

   3. uncountablenatural sciencesChange associated with the second law of thermodynamics; the physical and psychological result of increasing entropy.

      Time slows down when you approach the speed of light.

      2 more examples

      Given the connection between increasing entropy and the arrow of time, does the Big Crunch mean that time would run backwards as soon as collapse began?

      1992, Roger Highfield, Peter Coveney, Arrow of Time, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 179

      Eventually time would also die because no processes would continue, no light would flow.

      2012, Robert Zwilling, Natural Sciences and Human Thought, Springer Science+Business Media, →ISBN, page 80

   4. uncountablereductionist definitionnatural sciencesThe property of a system which allows it to have more than one distinct configuration.

      An essential definition of time should entail neither speed nor direction, just change.

2. A duration of time.
   1. uncountableA quantity of availability of duration.

      Are you finished yet? Time’s up!

      4 more examples

      More time is needed to complete the project.

      You had plenty of time, but you waited until the last minute.

      During the whole time of his abode in the Univerſity he generally ſpent 13 hours of the day in Study ;[…]

      1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond, London, page 7

      The teacher greeted us and moved methodically through the room, placing an object on each student's desk. It was a thin book―a spiral-bound planner. She strode to the front of the room. "If you want to succeed," she said, her syllables clear and careful, "you must learn to manage your time."

      2021, Lisa Miller, chapter 2, in The Awakened Brain, →ISBN, page 37

   2. countableA measurement of a quantity of time; a numerical or general indication of a length of progression.

      a long time

      5 more examples

      Record the individual times for the processes in each batch.

      Only your best time is compared with the other competitors.

      The algorithm runs in O(n²) time.

      I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 1

      The shock of the water, of course, woke him, and he swam for quite a time.

      1938, Richard Hughes, In Hazard, London: Chatto & Windus, page 248

   3. slanguncountableThe serving of a prison sentence.

      He is not living at home because he is doing time.

      2 more examples

      The judge leniently granted a sentence with no hard time.

      Arrested on duty at Fort Richardson, both parents had worked hard at blaming the other for their son’s death, but Kate’s meticulous recording of the detail of the bruising found on the child’s body and the physical evidence surrounding the scene, plus patient, painstaking interviews with neighbors above and below stairs had resulted in time for both.

      1994, Dana Stabenow, A Cold-Blooded Business, →ISBN, page 64

   4. countableAn experience.

      We had a wonderful time at the party.

   5. countableAn era; (articulated, sometimes in the plural) the current era, the current state of affairs.

      Roman times

      4 more examples

      the time of the dinosaurs

      That’s the way things were in those times.

      The time is out of ioynt: O curſed ſpight, That euer I was borne to ſet it right.

      c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 259, column 1

      Dr. Manuel: You're wasting your time. The age of humanity is over. Our extinction is inevitable.[...] Shepard: I don't have time for this. Dr. Manuel: Time? Our time is over.

      2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (science fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime

   6. uncountableA person's youth or young adulthood, as opposed to the present day.

      In my time, we respected our elders.

   7. countablefigurativelysingularuncountablehobbiesTime out; temporary, limited suspension of play.
3. An instant of time.
   1. uncountableThe duration of time of a given day that has passed; the moment, as indicated by a clock or similar device.

      Excuse me, have you got the time?

      4 more examples

      What time is it, do you guess? Ten o’clock?

      A computer keeps time using a clock battery.

      They will be asleep by this time, don'tcha think?

      Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

      2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children’s brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34

   2. countableA particular moment or hour; the appropriate moment or hour for something (especially with prepositional phrase or imperfect subjunctive).

      it’s time for (you to go to) bed; it’s time to sleep; we must wait for the right time; it's time we were going

      2 more examples

      The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

      It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime.

      2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19

   3. countableA numerical indication of a particular moment.

      At what times do the trains arrive?

      1 more example

      These times were erroneously converted between zones

   4. countableAn instance or occurrence.

      one more time

      5 more examples

      When was the last time we went out? I don’t remember.

      See you another time.

      That’s three times he’s made the same mistake.

      Okay, but this is the last time. No more after that!

      Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 15

      Synonyms: instant, juncture, instant, juncture, minute, moment, occasion, point in time

   5. UKcountableuncountableClosing time.

      Last call: it's almost time.

   6. countableuncountableThe hour of childbirth.

      […]came well to Exeter; where ſhe intended to ſtay, till ſhe was deliver’d; for ſhe was within little more than one Month of her time;[…]

      1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, book VIII, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater, page 370

   7. countableuncountableThe end of someone’s life, conceived by the speaker as having been predestined.

      It was his time.

4. countableThe measurement under some system of region of day or moment.

   Let's synchronize our watches so we're not on different time.

5. countableA ratio of comparison (see also usage notes and prepositional sense at 'times').

   That is four times as heavy as this.

   3 more examples

   Your car runs three times faster than mine.

   Canton is the regional primate city of Kuangtung. Its population of three million is ten times that of the second largest city, Shant'ou.

   1980, James Chan, “Modern Manufacturing Industries in Kuangtung”, in C. K. Leung, Norton Ginsburg, editors, China: Urbanization and National Development, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 220

   A mature silkworm is an impressive 2¾ inches (70 mm) long and eats 50,000 times its mature body weight over the course of its development.

   2026, Elise Young, “Yagaa: Reviving Sericulture in Southern Mexico”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 16

6. uncountableentertainmentThe measured duration of sounds.

   dance time; march time

   1. uncountableentertainmentTempo; a measured rate of movement.

      The musician keeps good time.

      1 more example

      some few lines set unto a solemn time

      1619–1620, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The False One. A Tragedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii

   2. uncountableentertainmentRhythmical division, meter.

      common or triple time; time signature

   3. uncountablejazzentertainmentA straight rhythmic pattern, free from fills, breaks and other embellishments.

      After the introduction, the drummer is to play time.

7. countableobsoleteuncountablegrammarSynonym of tense

   the time of a verb

   2 more examples

   Though we have, in the notes under the thirteenth rule of the Grammar, explained in general the principles, on which the time of a verb in the infinitive mood may be ascertained, and its form determined;[…]

   1823, Lindley Murray, Key to the Exercises Adapted to Murray’s English Grammar, Fortland, page 53f

   The participles of the future time active, and perfect passive, when joined with the verb esse, were sometimes used as indeclinable;[…]

   1829, Benjamin A. Gould, Adam’s Latin Grammar, Boston, page 153

   Synonyms: tense

8. Multicultural London EnglishabbreviationclippingcountableslanguncountableClipping of a long time.

   I used to pay for things but that was time ago.

   2019 September 15, “Wiley Flow” (track 12), in Heavy Is The Head, performed by Stormzy

   2 more examples

   Ats' mum is looking for him, says he ain't been back in time

   2022 March 18, Ronan Bennett, Gerry Jackson, Tyrone Rashard, Sagirah Gammon, 00:38:33 from the start, in Brady Hood, director, Top Boy(Good Morals) (4), episode 1 (TV), spoken by girl called B

   INCHEZ:Man this is long! We've been in here for time!

   2023 January 15, Layton Williams, 12:51 from the start, in Freddy Syborn, director, Bad Education(Prison) (4), episode 3 (TV), spoken by Inchez (Anthony J. Abraham)

   Synonyms: ages, long

present singular third person times · participle present timing · participle past timed · past timed · alternative obsolete tyme

1. transitiveTo measure or record the time, duration, or rate of something.

   I used a stopwatch to time myself running around the block.

2. transitiveTo choose when something commences or its duration.

   The bomb was timed to explode at 9:20 p.m.

   3 more examples

   The President timed his speech badly, coinciding with the Super Bowl.

   There is surely no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of things.

   1625, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the chapter)”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

   The human body uses light to correctly time myriad processes, ensuring that liver enzymes are made on schedule, hair cells divide at the right time, and blood pressure stays at a healthy level.

   2025 December 9, Veronique Greenwood, “Your Bedroom Probably Isn't Dark Enough”, in TIME

   Synonyms: set

3. obsoleteTo keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.

   With oar strokes timing to their song.

   1861, John Greenleaf Whittier, At Port Royal

4. obsoleteTo pass time; to delay.
5. To regulate as to time; to accompany, or agree with, in time of movement.

   Who overlooked the oars, and timed the stroke.

   1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses

   1 more example

   He was a thing of blood, whose every motion / Was timed with dying cries.

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

6. To measure, as in music or harmony.

   Synonyms: clock

alternative obsolete tyme

1. hobbiesReminder by the umpire for the players to continue playing after their pause.
2. The umpire's call in prizefights, etc.
3. A call by a bartender to warn patrons that the establishment is closing and no more drinks will be served.

   Time gentlemen please!

alternative obsolete tyme

1. USdatedby the time; once.

   "You'll likely not be so merry, time the day be done," he told them.

   1938, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling

   1 more example

   Well he fucked St. Peter and he fucked St. Paul, / he’ll be a fuckin’ motherfucker time the roll is called.

   1974, Bruce Jackson (scholar), Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me