clockwork

noun

clock·​work ˈkläk-ˌwərk How to pronounce clockwork (audio)
1
: the inner workings of something
2
: the machinery (such as springs and a train of gears) that run a clock
also : a similar mechanism running a mechanical device (such as a toy)
3
: the precision, regularity, or absence of variation associated with a clock or clockwork
a clockwork operation
used in the phrase like clockwork to describe something that happens or works in a regular and exact way
This type of star has a wonderful property: Its brightness waxes and wanes like clockworkRon Cowen
If everything went like clockwork, it would have taken a year to get items in stores.Brooks Barnes

Examples of clockwork in a Sentence

the clockwork inside a mechanical toy soldier
Recent Examples on the Web Although the moon’s shadow will arrive like clockwork and bring eerie darkness on schedule, to gawp at the sun’s corona requires a clear sky. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Like clockwork, fellow Clippers fans swoop in and help. Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 31 Jan. 2024 Placed over the light source, the Fresnel lens often rested on a clockwork mechanism hung with weights, like those of a gigantic grandfather clock. Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023 Photograph: Hublot The Swiss brand is marketing the design as a deconstruction of a typical clockwork system. Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 3 Feb. 2024 The Cure — 16 Years Since Last Record Last Album: Up until the late 2000s, the Cure released a new album every three or four years like clockwork. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2024 In conservative country, Trump’s campaign is moving with the brutal efficiency of clockwork. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2024 Perhaps our modern 28-day rhythms are evolutionary leftovers, cobbled together from bits of older cellular clockwork that, in some shallow primordial sea, once helped marine worms keep time to the cycle of the moon. Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 19 Dec. 2023 To pair with tutu skirts and white tights, the hair and makeup channeled ballerinas, who took to the stage like clockwork. Essence, 26 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clockwork.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of clockwork was in 1628

Dictionary Entries Near clockwork

Cite this Entry

“Clockwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clockwork. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

clockwork

noun
clock·​work ˈkläk-ˌwərk How to pronounce clockwork (audio)
: machinery (as in a mechanical toy) containing a set of small cogwheels

More from Merriam-Webster on clockwork

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