Idiom idiom
all the time
Meaning
Something that happens 'all the time' happens very often or continuously.
Examples
“My neighbor plays loud music all the time.”
“I have to explain how to use this software to my coworkers all the time.”
“Despite the constant repairs, the old engine seems to break down all the time, leaving the driver stranded on the highway.”
Origin
The expression is an ellipsis of the fuller construction all of the time. It entered the lexicon as a linguistic compression, removing the preposition while retaining the temporal function.
Last updated April 22, 2026