Word.ws English Dictionary

o'clock

UK/əˈklɒk//əˈklɑk/

o'clock adverb: in conjunction with a numeral, indicates the time within a twelve-hour period (midnight to noon or noon to midnight), specifically the time when the hour hand of a clock points precisely to the symbol or marking corresponding to the designated numeral, i.e., at the hour.

o'clock: in conjunction with a numeral, indicates the time within a twelve-hour period (midnight to noon or...
Image: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adverb

o'clock (not comparable)

  1. (one to twelve) In conjunction with a numeral, indicates the time within a twelve-hour period (midnight to noon or noon to midnight), specifically the time when the hour hand of a clock points precisely to the symbol or marking corresponding to the designated numeral, i.e., at the hour.
    • We are expected to be there at six o'clock in the morning!
    • It is two o'clock.
  2. (humorous, informal) Used to indicate that it is time to do a specific action, or time for a specific action to occur.
    • I'm feeling peckish; I think it must be nearly dinner o'clock.
    • We're here at Waffle House, and it's waffles o'clock!
  3. (with-numeral, one to twelve) In conjunction with a numeral, indicates the direction, relative to the speaker or a vehicle, especially an aircraft, corresponding to the direction the hour hand is pointing at the time corresponding to the numeral, with twelve representing directly ahead on a horizontal plane, or directly up on a vertical plane, and three being to the right on either.
    • It's at nine o'clock about two feet in from the edge of the branch. You need to know your "o'clocks" (nondigital) to spot birds.1989, Aileen R. Lotz, Birding around the year: when to find birds in North America
    • Without moving your head, move your gaze upward to look at twelve o’clock. Now look down at six o’clock. Repeat three times, then blink several times, and rest with your eyes closed.1992, Herbert Benson with Eileen M. Stuart and Staff of the Mind/Body Medical Institute of New England Deaconess Hospital and Harvard Medical School, The Wellness book, page 86

o'clock meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

o'clock in Hindi

indication of time (the translations below are of "one o’clock")
एक बजा ek bajā
the translations below are of "at one o’clock"
एक बजे ek baje

o'clock in Marathi

indication of time (the translations below are of "one o’clock")
एक वाजला ek vājlā
the translations below are of "at one o’clock"
एक वाजता ek vājtā

o'clock in Urdu

indication of time (the translations below are of "one o’clock")
ایک بَجا ek bajā
the translations below are of "at one o’clock"
ایک بَجے ek baje

o'clock in Bengali

indication of time (the translations below are of "one o’clock")
একটা বাজে ekṭa baje
More languagesFewer languages
o'clock in Punjabi
ਇਕ ਵਜੇ ika vaje
o'clock in Tagalog
ala-una
o'clock in Arabic
السَّاعَة الْوَاحِدَة as-sāʕa al-wāḥida
o'clock in Malay
pukul satu, jam satu, pada pukul satu, pada jam satu
o'clock in Indonesian
jam satu, pukul satu, pada pukul satu, pada jam satu
o'clock in Thai
หนึ่งนาฬิกา nʉ̀ng naa-lí-gaa, ตีหนึ่ง dtii nʉ̀ng, บ่ายโมง bàai moong
o'clock in Vietnamese
một giờ

Examples of o'clock in a sentence

  • Hooray! Beer o'clock!
  • Shortly before five o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, April 12, 1945, after the Senate adjourned, I went to the office of House Speaker Sam Rayburn.1955, Harry S Truman, chapter 1, in Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Year of Decisions, volume I, Signet Books, published 1965, →OCLC, →OL, page...
  • Thus, you could tell them to "look at three o'clock," or "look just off-center toward nine o'clock," and so forth.1994, Peter Abramoff with Robert G. Thomson, Laboratory outlines in biology--VI, page 22:
  • Three o'clock and nine o'clock would be at the outer right and outer left sides of the tree, respectively, and so on.1997, Bill Thompson, Bird watching for dummies:

Forms of o'clock

alternative form (obsolete)a clock

Origin of o'clock

Shortened form of "of the clock", from Middle English of the clokke [from late 14th c.].

Words formed from o'clock

Phrases with o'clock

2 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with o'clock

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about o'clock

What does o'clock mean?
O'clock means in conjunction with a numeral, indicates the time within a twelve-hour period (midnight to noon or noon to midnight), specifically the time when the hour hand of a clock points precisely to the symbol or marking corresponding to the designated numeral, i.e., at the hour.
What is o'clock in Hindi?
O'clock in Hindi is एक बजा (ek bajā), एक बजे (ek baje). See O'clock meaning in Hindi.
How do you use o'clock in a sentence?
Hooray! Beer o'clock!
What part of speech is o'clock?
O'clock is an adverb.
How do you pronounce o'clock?
O'clock is pronounced /əˈklɒk/ (UK).

Words near o'clock in the dictionary

  1. O'Bummer
  2. O'Callaghan
  3. O'Casey
  4. O'Cawley
  5. O'Clery
  6. o'clock
  7. o'clockish
  8. O'cocker
  9. O'cockers
  10. O'Connell
  11. O'Connellism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: o'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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-o'clock.ogg.

Cite this entry: “o'clock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/o%27clock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.