12 o'clock
13
1.0
- noun
- /twɛlv əˈklɑk/
:
las doce
- It's exactly 12 o'clock, so let's start the meeting now.
Examples
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After it officially went on pre-sale at 12 o'clock midnight Pacific Time last night, the stock of the iPhone 5 was gone by 1 a.m.
Blog text (8) -
There were days when I used to sleep at 5 o'clock in the morning and wake up at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, but since I have started working, I now have to sleep at 12 o'clock at night to wake up at 7 o'clock in the morning.
Blog text (30) -
And here it is, only 12 o'clock in the day.
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Here is the news at 12 o'clock.
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I record that I was born on a Friday at 12 o'clock at night.
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It's 12 o'clock, wake up already!
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At 12 o'clock today, the guards at those doors will leave their posts and their replacements are going to be five minutes late.
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At 12 o'clock, the lights inside the pyramid were shut off, and everyone inside began to hum.
Academic text (2010) -
The clock struck 12 o'clock, marking the start of the new day.
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Make sure you're home by 12 o'clock tonight to avoid any trouble.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ('the time when the hour hand points to twelve') is directly derivable from the constituents: '12' (the number) combined with 'o'clock' (denoting a specific hour). This compositional pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
The time expression 12 o'clock comes from the clock: when the hour hand points to 12 at the top, it marks the exact moment of 'noon' or 'midnight'. So 12 o'clock means the exact time when the hand is on 12, either '12:00' in the day or at night.