clock
    n 1: a timepiece that shows the time of day
    v 1: measure the time or duration of an event or action or the
         person who performs an action in a certain period of time;
         "he clocked the runners" [syn: clock, time]

Clock \Clock\ (kl[o^]k), v. t.
   To ornament with figured work, as the side of a stocking.
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Clock \Clock\, v. t. & i.
   To call, as a hen. See Cluck. [R.]
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Clock \Clock\, n. (Zool.)
   A large beetle, esp. the European dung beetle (Scarab[ae]us
   stercorarius).
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Clock \Clock\ (kl[o^]k), n. [AS. clucge bell; akin to D. klok
   clock, bell, G. glocke, Dan. klokke, Sw. klocka, Icel. klukka
   bell, LL. clocca, cloca (whence F. cloche); al perh. of
   Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. clog bell, clock, W. cloch
   bell. Cf. Cloak.]
   1. A machine for measuring time, indicating the hour and
      other divisions; in ordinary mechanical clocks for
      domestic or office use the time is indicated on a
      typically circular face or dial plate containing two
      hands, pointing to numbers engraved on the periphery of
      the face, thus showing the hours and minutes. The works of
      a mechanical clock are moved by a weight or a spring, and
      it is often so constructed as to tell the hour by the
      stroke of a hammer on a bell. In electrical or electronic
      clocks, the time may be indicated, as on a mechanical
      clock, by hands, but may also be indicated by direct
      digital readout, with the hours and minutes in normal
      Arabic numerals. The readout using hands is often called
      analog to distinguish it from the digital readout. Some
      clocks also indicate the seconds. Clocks are not adapted,
      like the watch, to be carried on the person. Specialized
      clocks, such as atomic clocks, may be constructed on
      different principles, and may have a very high precision
      for use in scientific observations.
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   2. A watch, esp. one that strikes. [Obs.] --Walton.
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   3. The striking of a clock. [Obs.] --Dryden.
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   4. A figure or figured work on the ankle or side of a
      stocking. --Swift.
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   Note: The phrases what o'clock? it is nine o'clock, etc., are
         contracted from what of the clock? it is nine of the
         clock, etc.
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   Alarm clock. See under Alarm.

   Astronomical clock.
      (a) A clock of superior construction, with a compensating
          pendulum, etc., to measure time with great accuracy,
          for use in astronomical observatories; -- called a
          regulator when used by watchmakers as a standard for
          regulating timepieces.
      (b) A clock with mechanism for indicating certain
          astronomical phenomena, as the phases of the moon,
          position of the sun in the ecliptic, equation of time,
          etc.

   Electric clock.
      (a) A clock moved or regulated by electricity or
          electro-magnetism.
      (b) A clock connected with an electro-magnetic recording
          apparatus.

   Ship's clock (Naut.), a clock arranged to strike from one
      to eight strokes, at half hourly intervals, marking the
      divisions of the ship's watches.

   Sidereal clock, an astronomical clock regulated to keep
      sidereal time.
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clock


    n.,v.

    1. [techspeak] The master oscillator that steps a CPU or other digital
    circuit through its paces. This has nothing to do with the time of day,
    although the software counter that keeps track of the latter may be derived
    from the former.

    2. vt. To run a CPU or other digital circuit at a particular rate. ?If you
    clock it at 1000MHz, it gets warm.?. See overclock.

    3. vt. To force a digital circuit from one state to the next by applying a
    single clock pulse. ?The data must be stable 10ns before you clock the
    latch.?

clock

    A circuit in a processor that generates a
   regular sequence of electronic pulses used to synchronise
   operations of the processor's components.  The time between
   pulses is the cycle time and the number of pulses per second
   is the clock rate (or frequency).

   The execution times of instructions on a computer are usually
   measured by a number of clock cycles rather than seconds.
   Clock rates for various models of the computer may increase
   as technology improves, and it is usually the relative times
   one is interested in when discussing the instruction set.

   (1994-12-16)

CLOCK, n.  A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern
for the future by reminding him what a lot of time remains to him.

    A busy man complained one day:
    "I get no time!"  "What's that you say?"
    Cried out his friend, a lazy quiz;
    "You have, sir, all the time there is.
    There's plenty, too, and don't you doubt it --
    We're never for an hour without it."
                                                          Purzil Crofe