use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

clock 1 (klŏk)
Share:
n.
1. An instrument other than a watch for measuring or indicating time, especially a mechanical or electronic device having a numbered dial and moving hands or a digital display.
2. A time clock.
3. A source of regularly occurring pulses used to measure the passage of time, as in a computer.
4. Any of various devices that indicate measurement, such as a speedometer or a taximeter.
5. A biological clock.
6. The downy flower head of a dandelion that has gone to seed.
v. clocked, clock·ing, clocks
v.tr.
1. To time, as with a stopwatch: clock a runner.
2. To register or record with a mechanical device: clocked the winds at 60 miles per hour.
3. Informal To strike or hit (someone) forcefully, especially in the face.
v.intr.
1. To record working hours with a time clock: clocks in at 8:00 and out at 4:00.
2. To be measured or registered, especially at a certain speed or rate. Often used with in: a fastball that clocks in at 95 miles per hour.
Phrasal Verb:
clock up Chiefly British Slang
To accumulate; rack up: clocked up a number of wins.
Idioms:
around/round the clock
Throughout the entire 24 hours of the day; continuously.
clean (someone's) clock Slang
To beat or defeat decisively: "Immense linemen declared their intentions to clean the clocks of opposing players" (Russell Baker).
kill/run down/run out the clock
Sports To preserve a lead by maintaining possession of the ball or puck until playing time expires.

[Middle English clokke, from Old North French cloque, bell, or from Middle Dutch clocke, bell, clock, both from Medieval Latin clocca, of imitative origin.]

clocker n.
(click for a larger image)
clock1

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
clock 2 (klŏk)
Share:
n.
An embroidered or woven decoration on the side of a stocking or sock.

[Perhaps from CLOCK1, bell (obsolete), from its original bell-shaped appearance.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.