Meanings
- uncountablecomputingThe actual time of day, as would be seen on a wall clock; contrasted with the (possibly inaccurate) time according to a computer system.
- uncountablecomputingThe actual amount of time taken from the start to the end of an operation, as opposed to CPU time, which only includes the periods of time during which the CPU was processing instructions.
Additionally, determining the wall time for specific functions or control structures (e.g. for loops) can help identify the most computationally-intensive portion of your program, and indicate which sections should be optimised if possible.
2019, Joshua Izaac, Jingbo Wang, Computational Quantum Mechanics, Springer, →ISBN, page 158Synonyms: clock time, elapsed real time, real-world time, wall-clock time
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe actual amount of time taken from the start to the end of an operation, as opposed to CPU time, which only includes the periods of time during which the CPU was processing instructions.
Origin
Ellipsis of wall-clock time.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wall time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wall%20time
“wall time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wall%20time. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wall time,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wall%20time.
Source: wall time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.