Word.ws English Dictionary

run down the clock

run down the clock verb: to waste time at the end of a match such that it is terminated by running out of time, or during a match so a time penalty is made less severe.

Verb

run down the clock (third-person singular simple present runs down the clock, present participle running down the clock, simple past ran down the clock, past participle run down the clock)

  1. (idiomatic) To waste time at the end of a match such that it is terminated by running out of time, or during a match so a time penalty is made less severe.
    • Energetic Malouda was denied twice by Jussi Jaaskelainen late on before Ancelotti ran down the clock by introducing Salomon Kalou and Paulo Ferreira in the closing seconds as Chelsea arrested their slide.2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC

Synonyms of run down the clock

Forms of run down the clock

third-person singular presentruns down the clock
present participlerunning down the clock
pastran down the clock
past participlerun down the clock

Questions about run down the clock

What does run down the clock mean?
Run down the clock means to waste time at the end of a match such that it is terminated by running out of time, or during a match so a time penalty is made less severe.
What part of speech is run down the clock?
Run down the clock is a verb.
What is the past tense of run down the clock?
The past tense of run down the clock is ran down the clock.

Words near run down the clock in the dictionary

  1. run circles around
  2. run circles round
  3. run counter
  4. run deep
  5. run down
  6. run down the clock
  7. run dry
  8. run errands
  9. run feast
  10. run feasts
  11. run for cover

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: run down 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-run down the clock.ogg.

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