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Glite Dictionary
grandfather clock

grandfather clock

5 3.8
A tall freestanding clock with a long swinging weight that tells time
  • noun
  • /ˈɡrændˌfɑːðər klɒk/
translation icon : reloj de pie
  • When they finally settle, the clicks and clongs of the grandfather clock take over the house.
  • the grandfather clock chimes
  • the grandfather clock ticks
  • the grandfather clock strikes

Examples

  • Rachel is winding an old grandfather clock with a key.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The grandfather clock chimed 3:00 a.m.

    The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

  • And she said she heard the grandfather clock go off twice.

  • David notices a huge, broken grandfather clock.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The grandfather clock on the landing reminds him of the last time he slept over.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The living room has a marble fireplace with a grandfather clock on the mantel.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • No sounds were in the house, just the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The grandfather clock facing Delia ticked so slowly that it seemed each tick might be its last.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • As the grandfather clock in the corner chimed seven, Stuart Pierce and Willis Guthrie entered together.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • As the guests arrived, the old grandfather clock in the corner chimed to announce the hour.

Synonyms

pendulum clock
vsgrandfather clock
1 4.9

A clock that uses a swinging weight to keep time

is specifically a tall freestanding weight driven timekeeper enclosed in a narrow case
longcase clock
vsgrandfather clock
6.2

A tall, freestanding clock with a long wooden case and a swinging pendulum

is the more familiar popular name for the same item

Surface Forms

grandfather clock singular
grandfather clocks plural

Morphology

grandfather + clock

The constituents 'grandfather' + 'clock' allow a learner to infer a clock associated with a grandfather (often an older or traditional clock), so there is a clear, partly compositional relation. However, the precise meaning — a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum (longcase) clock — is not fully deducible from the parts and could be misinterpreted as simply 'a clock owned by a grandfather', making the relation only partially predictable.

Etymology

The noun grandfather clock comes from a popular song in the 1800s. One popular story says the song 'My Grandfather's Clock' told of a tall clock that stood in a grandfather's house and stopped when he died, so people began calling the old 'longcase clock' a 'grandfather clock'.