flog the clock
flog the clock verb: to set the clock forward in order to shorten one's time on watch.
Verb
flog the clock (third-person singular simple present flogs the clock, present participle flogging the clock, simple past and past participle flogged the clock)
- To set the clock forward in order to shorten one's time on watch.
- I recall that I was in the second mate's watch when he accused me of flogging the clock. He did not see me put it forward but obviously he knew the ways of boys.1956, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 1449
- On one trip three lads on night watch all had the same idea, and when the skipper went up to the wheelhouse the following morning he was spitting mad, wanting to know who'd flogged the clock a half-hour forward.2011, Jimmy Buchan, Trawlerman: Life at the Helm of the Toughest Job in Britain
Forms of flog the clock
| third-person singular present | flogs the clock |
|---|---|
| present participle | flogging the clock |
| past participle | flogged the clock |
| past | flogged the clock |
Questions about flog the clock
- What does flog the clock mean?
- Flog the clock means to set the clock forward in order to shorten one's time on watch.
- What part of speech is flog the clock?
- Flog the clock is a verb.
- What is the past tense of flog the clock?
- The past tense of flog the clock is flogged the clock.
Words near flog the clock in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: flog the clock (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “flog the clock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flog_the_clock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.