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clock radio

clock radio

9 2.6
A radio with a clock that you set to switch on or off at a chosen time
  • noun
  • /klɑk ˈreɪdioʊ/
translation icon : radio despertador
  • Molly reaches over and turns on the clock radio.
  • clock radio alarm
  • clock radio on her nightstand
  • digital clock radio

Anyway, I, you know, it's a clock radio.

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Examples

  • The clock radio on the nightstand automatically turns on at 7 AM.

  • Burnett and his young wife, Theresa, are jarred awake by the clock radio blaring on the nightstand.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Reaching for it, she saw the time on the clock radio.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Phil hits the clock radio to turn it off.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • "Are you still here?" she says, picking up her clock radio to study its dial.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • When our eyes got used to the darkness, we could make out a lamp and a clock radio.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And if your clock radio is set to go off at 7:18, it should be doing that right about now.

  • Jesus, what time is it?" The blue digits of his clock radio read 11:08.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The room is dark, except for the illuminated numbers on the clock radio beside the bed.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Sonny awoke as the music blared from her clock radio.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

alarm clock
vsclock radio
42 1.0

A clock that wakes you at a set time by making a sound

turns a radio on at a set time to play audio rather than to wake

How Automatic

clock radio
9 2.6
alarm clock
42 1.0

Surface Forms

clock radio singular
clock radios plural

Morphology

clock + radio

The meaning is directly compositional: combining 'clock' (timekeeping device) with 'radio' yields a radio that includes a clock/alarm function. This simple noun–noun compound follows productive English compounding and similar forms exist cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Clock radio comes from joining a clock and a radio into one machine. The clock can be set to turn the radio on at a chosen time, so the device became a common way to 'wake up' to music or news.