Time is what we measure in minutes, hours, days, and years.

You use time to ask or talk about a specific point in the day, which can be stated in hours and minutes and is shown on clocks.

The time when something happens is the point in the day when it happens or is supposed to happen.

You use time to refer to the system of expressing time and counting hours that is used in a particular part of the world.

You use time to refer to the period that you spend doing something or when something has been happening.

If you say that something has been happening for a time, you mean that it has been happening for a fairly long period of time.

You use time to refer to a period of time or a point in time, when you are describing what is happening then. For example, if something happened at a particular time, that is when it happened. If it happens at all times, it always happens.

You use time or times to talk about a particular period in history or in your life.

You can use the times to refer to the present time and to modern fashions, tastes, and developments. For example, if you say that someone keeps up with the times, you mean they are fashionable or aware of modern developments. If you say they are behind the times, you mean they are unfashionable or not aware of them.

When you describe the time that you had on a particular occasion or during a particular part of your life, you are describing the sort of experience that you had then.

Your time is the amount of time that you have to live, or to do a particular thing.

If you say it is time for something, time to do something, or time you did something, you mean that this thing ought to happen or be done now.

When you talk about a time when something happens, you are referring to a specific occasion when it happens.

You use time after numbers to say how often something happens.

You use times after numbers when comparing one thing to another and saying, for example, how much bigger, smaller, better, or worse it is.

You use times in arithmetic to link numbers or amounts that are multiplied together to reach a total.

Someone's time in a race is the amount of time it takes them to finish the race.

The time of a piece of music is the number of beats that the piece has in each bar.

If you time something for a particular time, you plan or decide to do it or cause it to happen at this time.

If you time an action or activity, you measure how long someone takes to do it or how long it lasts.

If you say it is about time that something was done, you are saying in an emphatic way that it should happen or be done now, and really should have happened or been done sooner.

If you do something ahead of time, you do it before a particular event or before you need to, in order to be well prepared.

If someone is ahead of their time or before their time, they have new ideas a long time before other people start to think in the same way.

If something happens or is done all the time, it happens or is done continually.

You say at a time after an amount to say how many things or how much of something is involved in one action, place, or group.

If something could happen at any time, it is possible that it will happen very soon, though nobody can predict exactly when.

You say at the best of times when you are making a negative or critical comment to emphasize that it is true even when the circumstances are as favourable as possible.

If you say that something was the case at one time, you mean that it was the case during a particular period in the past.

If two or more things exist, happen, or are true at the same time, they exist, happen, or are true together although they seem to contradict each other.

At the same time is used to introduce a statement that slightly changes or contradicts the previous statement.

You use at times to say that something happens or is true on some occasions or at some moments.

If you say that something was before your time, you mean that it happened or existed before you were born or before you were able to know about it or remember it.

If someone has reached a particular stage in life before their time, they have reached it at a younger age than is normal.

If you say not before time after a statement has been made about something that has been done, you are saying in an emphatic way that you think it should have been done sooner.

If you call time on something, you end it.

Someone who is doing time is in prison.

If you say that something will be the case for all time, you mean that it will always be the case.

If something is the case or will happen for the time being, it is the case or will happen now, but only until something else becomes possible or happens.

If you do something from time to time, you do it occasionally but not regularly.

If you say that something is the case half the time you mean that it often is the case.

If you say that you have no time for a person or thing, you mean you do not like them or approve of them, and if you say that you have a lot of time for a person or thing, you mean you like them or approve of them very much.

If you say that it is high time that something happened or was done, you are saying in an emphatic way that it should happen or be done now, and really should have happened or been done sooner.

If you are in time for a particular event, you are not too late for it.

If you say that something will happen in time or given time, you mean that it will happen eventually, when a lot of time has passed.

If you are playing, singing, or dancing in time with a piece of music, you are following the rhythm and speed of the music correctly. If you are out of time with it, you are not following the rhythm and speed of the music correctly.

If you say that something will happen, for example, in a week's time or in two years' time, you mean that it will happen a week from now or two years from now.

If you arrive somewhere in good time, you arrive early so that there is time to spare before a particular event.

If you tell someone that something will happen in good time or all in good time, you are telling them to be patient because it will happen eventually.

If something happens in no time or in next to no time, it happens almost immediately or very quickly.

If you do something in your own time, you do it at the speed that you choose, rather than allowing anyone to hurry you.

If you do something such as work in your own time in British English, or on your own time in American English, you do it in your free time rather than, for example, at work or school.

If you keep time when playing or singing music, you follow or play the beat, without going too fast or too slowly.

When you talk about how well a watch or clock keeps time, you are talking about how accurately it measures time.

If you make time for a particular activity or person, you arrange to have some free time so that you can do the activity or spend time with the person.

If you say that you made good time on a journey, you mean it did not take you very long compared to the length of time you expected it to take.

If someone is making up for lost time, they are doing something actively and with enthusiasm because they have not had the opportunity to do it before or when they were younger.

If you are marking time, you are doing something that is not particularly useful or interesting while you wait for something more important or interesting to happen.

If you say that something happens or is the case nine times out of ten or ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you mean that it happens on nearly every occasion or is almost always the case.

If you say that someone or something is, for example, the best writer of all time, or the most successful film of all time, you mean that they are the best or most successful that there has ever been.

If you are on time, you are not late.

If you say that it is only a matter of time or only a question of time before something happens, you mean that it cannot be avoided and will definitely happen at some future date.

When you refer to our time or our times you are referring to the present period in the history of the world.

If you do something to pass the time you do it because you have some time available and not because you really want to do it.

If you pass the time of day with someone, you have a short friendly conversation with them.

If you play for time, you try to make something happen more slowly, because you do not want it to happen or because you need time to think about what to do if it happens.

If you say that something will take time, you mean that it will take a long time.

If you take your time doing something, you do it quite slowly and do not hurry.

If a child can tell the time, they are able to find out what the time is by looking at a clock or watch.

If something happens time after time, it happens in a similar way on many occasions.

If you say that time flies, you mean that it seems to pass very quickly.

If you have the time of your life, you enjoy yourself very much indeed.

If you say there is no time to lose or no time to be lost, you mean you must hurry as fast as you can to do something.

If you say that time will tell whether something is true or correct, you mean that it will not be known until some time in the future whether it is true or correct.

If you waste no time in doing something, you take the opportunity to do it immediately or quickly.