clock
n. countablen. an object that shows you the time. You can find clocks on walls, on desks, or on your phone screen.
n. an instrument for measuring and indicating time, typically by means of hands moving on a dial or a digital display.
The clock on the wall shows the time.
He glanced at the kitchen clock and realized he was late for his appointment.
The grandfather clock in the hall chimed every hour, its steady rhythm a comforting presence throughout the old house.
First use appears c. 1370. From Middle English clokke, clok, cloke (“clock”), from Middle Dutch clocke (“bell, clock”), from Old Dutch klokka, from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell, clock, cloak”), probably of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic klokkos (“bell”) (compare Welsh cloch (“bell”), Old Irish cloc (“bell, clock”)), either onomatopoeic or from Proto-Indo-European klek- (“to laugh, cackle”) (compare Proto-Germanic hlahjaną (“to laugh”)). Cognate with Old English clucge (“bell”), Saterland Frisian Klokke (“bell, clock”), Dutch klok (“clock, bell”), Low German Klock (“bell, clock”), German Glocke (“bell”), Danish and Norwegian klokke (“clock, bell”), Faroese klokka (“clock, bell”), Icelandic klukka (“clock, bell”), Swedish klocka (“clock, bell”), Asturian llueca (“cowbell”), Galician and Portuguese choca (“cowbell”), Doublet of cloak and cloche.
Uncertain; designs may have originally been bell-shaped and thus related to Etymology 1, above.
From Middle English clokken, from Old English cloccian, ultimately imitative; compare Dutch klokken, English cluck.
I looked at the clock on my wrist.I looked at the watch on my wrist.Learners often confuse 'clock' (for a wall or desk) with 'watch' (worn on the wrist).