beat the clock—complete the task before a stated time:
- Any job is much harder if you are trying to beat the clock.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase flog the clock—(Nautical) move the hands of the clock forward (to quit one’s job before the due time):
- I got suspicious that the clock was being flogged in the interest of making the time of those in the mate’s watch shorter.
beat the time—
1. (Music) mark or follow the rhythm with the feet, a baton, etc. (also: beat time):
- The captain joined in with a long raucous song, beating time on the tea tray.
2. (Sport) improve on smb.’s achievement:
- He’s hoping to ride two hundred miles in less than eight and a half hours, beating the time set by an eccentric Yorkshireman in 1831.