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o'clock

o'clock

554 1.0
At the exact hour shown on a clock, for example five
  • adverb
  • /əˈklɒk/
: en punto
  • The train departs at six o'clock in the morning.

And that night around about one or two o'clock away and we always had combo checks.

Examples

  • I have some reports to get out by noon o'clock.

  • And that night around about one or two o'clock away and we always had combo checks.

  • So every day, three o'clock, if I'm lucky, after I've exercised, I sit down.

  • So every day, three o'clock if I'm lucky, after I've exercised, I sit down.

  • Let's meet at five o'clock for dinner.

  • The meeting starts promptly at three o'clock.

Synonyms

sharp
vso'clock
65 1.0

Exactly at the stated time

indicates the hour exactly without adding emphasis on punctuality
top of the hour
vso'clock
35 3.0

The exact time when a new hour begins, for example 3:00

is used to state the exact hour when telling the time

Idioms

Exactly at three o'clock

Compounds

21 1.0

The time when the clock shows twelve, either noon or midnight

beer o'clock
  • Slang
1 9.5

A time after work or at a social event when people drink beer

wine o'clock
  • Slang
1 8.9

A time in the evening for relaxing and drinking wine

stupid o'clock
  • Informal
1 9.9

A very early inconvenient time when you must be awake

1 7.7

A garden plant with colorful, fragrant flowers that open in the late afternoon

A wildflower with purple-red flowers that open in the late afternoon

A wildflower with deep pink tube-shaped flowers that open in the evening

A garden plant with scented flowers that open late afternoon

A desert plant with deep pink, tube-shaped flowers that open in the evening

four-o'clock family
  • Specialized
9.5

A group of flowering plants like herbs, shrubs, and vines that open in the afternoon

A leafy wildflower with light purple flowers that open in the evening and last into the next morning

A leafy wildflower with sweet-smelling white or pale pink trumpet flowers that blooms late afternoon

A low plant with groups of three deep pink flowers near the ground

Surface Forms

o'clock positive

Morphology

o'clock = clock (semi-transparent) = o' + clock

Formally a contraction of 'of the clock' so the relation to 'clock' is visible, but the contracted 'o'' is not a productive or obvious prefix for learners.

Etymology

O'clock comes from an old phrase made of of and clock, short for 'of the clock' when people said the time shown by a clock. So o'clock is used to give the exact hour, as in 'five o'clock'.