Clock In and Clock Out

Also:

Punch in
Punch out

Meaning of Idioms ‘Clock In’ and ‘Clock Out’

To clock in is to record your time of arrival at work, usually by punching a time clock; to begin work.

To clock out is to record your time of departure from work; to end work.

Usage

Although this idiom often refers literally to punching a time clock, this idiom can be used figuratively to mean beginning and ending work.

Examples Of Use

“I always clock in at nine o’clock on the dot. The one time I punched in five minutes late, my boss threw a fit.”

“I forgot to clock out yesterday. We both left work together so can you vouch for me?”

“I get paid a salary. It doesn’t really matter when I clock in and out, as long as I get my work done.”

Origin

Since the late 1800’s time clocks have been used to record the time workers arrive at and leave work. These clocks are special timers that punch a time on a card when it is inserted into a slot, hence the idiom ‘punch a clock.’ When one arrives at work, they use the time clock to ‘punch in’ to work and they ‘punch out’ when they leave. This allows the employers who pay workers an hourly wage to precisely track the amount of time each employee works. 1Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.,2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

More Idioms Starting with C

• Cotton To Someone or Something
• Cotton On To Something
• Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
• Cheap and Cheerful Meaning
• Call Names

More Clock Idioms

• Even a Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day

More In Idioms

• In The Pink
• Sleep In
• In the Black
• In the Red

More Out Idioms

• Out of the Corner of One’s Eye
• Iron Out
• Have Something Out
• Have It Out With Someone

More Time Related Idioms

• Million Times, a
• Have Time to Kill
• Kill Time
• High Time
• Time is Money

More Work Related Idioms

• Work One’s Fingers To the Bone

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