round the clock meaning: definition, quotations

round the clock

prep_phrasealso spelled round-the-clock

Idiomatic Nonstop, 24 hours per day.

He had his team work round the clock to get the project finished in time.
Here were the practice rooms where right round the clock one heard pianos playing scales and snatches of classical music, heard sopranos giving tongue, heard the gruff commentary of tubas practising.1978, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 6, in Livia, New York: Viking, published 1979, page 198:

round the clock

noun

Games A variant of the game of darts in which players attempt to hit each section of the dartboard sequentially, from lowest to highest number.

round-the-clock

adj

Continuous; incessant; without interruption; all day long, 24 hours per day; nonstop: from the concept that it happens while the hands of the clock go all the way around.

They are protected by round-the-clock guards.
My correspondent should enquire what it is that prompts the continuous building, even in Great Britain, with the disadvantage of imported fuel, of diesel shunters: it is, of course, continuous "round-the-clock" availability.1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 12:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for round the clock and round-the-clock.