at the time of sth
prep. phr..prep. phr.. This means at the specific moment that something else happened. It connects two events in time.
prep. phr.. A prepositional phrase that introduces the temporal context for another event, specifying the moment it occurred.
At the time of the accident, it was raining.
At the time of purchase, the phone seemed to work perfectly, but it broke a week later.
The legislation, which seemed so promising at the time of its passage, was later revealed to have numerous unforeseen and detrimental consequences.
This phrase is followed by a noun that names an event, such as 'the crash' or 'the decision'.
Contrast with 'at that time', which refers anaphorically to a previously mentioned moment, whereas 'at the time of' introduces the specific event that defines the moment.
At time of the crash, it was dark.At the time of the crash, it was dark.Both 'the' and 'of' are required parts of this fixed prepositional phrase.