beat the clock

Finish something or succeed before time is up, as in The paper went to press at five o'clock, and they hurried to beat the clock. The term comes from various sports or races in which contestants compete within a certain time limit.

Words nearby beat the clock

beat poets, beat someone at his or her own game, beat the air, beat the band, beat the bushes for, beat the clock, beat the drum for, beat the dutch, beat the living daylights out of, beat the meat, beat the pants off