clocks

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of clock.

   The museum displays antique clocks from across three centuries.

   Twice a year, millions of clocks are reset for daylight saving time.

   Note

   A plural that does more work than it seems. The singular covers wall and wrist timepieces, a car's odometer in British use, the signal that keeps a chip's circuits in step, and even a dandelion's seed head, and every one of them takes the same -s. The identical spelling is also the present-tense verb, so in a sentence clocks can be either the thing or the action.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of clock.

   The radar gun clocks every car that passes the speed trap.

   The sprinter regularly clocks under ten seconds in the hundred meters.

   Note

   Here the -s marks agreement with a singular subject, and the meanings it carries range widely. A radar gun clocks a car's speed, and a stopwatch clocks a lap. In slang, someone who clocks a rival hits them hard. Informally, it also means to notice or recognize: she clocks the mistake at once. The form never changes, so only context tells you which meaning is meant.

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