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clockwork

[ klok-wurk ]

/ ˈklɒkˌwɜrk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR clockwork ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the mechanism of a clock.

any mechanism similar to that of a clock.

Idioms for clockwork

like clockwork, with perfect regularity or precision: The launching of the spacecraft went off like clockwork.

Origin of clockwork

First recorded in 1620–30; clock¹ + work

Words nearby clockwork

clock-watcher, clocker, clocklike, clockmaker, clockwise, clockwork, clockwork universe, clod, cloddish, clodhopper, clodhopping

Example sentences from the Web for clockwork

And, like clockwork, they came: throngs of well-dressed art collectors and dealers, socialites, and fashion folk.

Kanye West Hosts Impromptu Listening Party During Art Basel Switzerland |Isabel Wilkinson |June 13, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
I was channeling Jim Morrison and Malcolm McDowell from A Clockwork Orange.

Matthew McConaughey on ‘Magic Mike,’ Thongs & Losing Weight |Ramin Setoodeh |November 27, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
There are set pieces and costumes from 2001: A Space Odyssey, artifacts from A Clockwork Orange, and costumes from The Shining.

A Starry Night: Los Angeles Honors Stanley Kubrick |Isabel Wilkinson |October 28, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Freedom is knowing the myriad moving parts of your professional life are operating like clockwork.

Your Week: What the Stars Hold |Starsky + Cox |September 4, 2011 |DAILY BEAST

But Belle finds a way to get back, and like clockwork, her beast transforms from hideous to hot.

12 Sexed-Up Fairy Tales |Alex Berg |March 8, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
The clockwork had been better adjusted than the slow match in the 'Fortune.'

History of the United Netherlands, 1584-86, Vol. I. (of IV) Complete |John Lothrop Motley
I should like a little tin train, to go by clockwork on rails so.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 24, 1892 |Various
My Argentine greatly resents such a move, and tries to circle like a clockwork mouse.

In the Ranks of the C.I.V. |Erskine Childers
Troop-trains from every part of the Fatherland arrived with the punctuality of clockwork.

The Invasion |William Le Queux
I dont think so said Bill, those things generally run by clockwork.

Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane |Dorothy Wayne

British Dictionary definitions for clockwork

clockwork

/ (ˈklɒkˌwɜːk) /

noun

the mechanism of a clock

any similar mechanism, as in a wind-up toy

like clockwork with complete regularity and precision