race against the clock

race against the clock

1. noun An attempt to accomplish something in a short amount of time. After getting a flat tire, it was a race against the clock to make it to the airport in time.
2. verb To act quickly to accomplish something in a short amount of time. Jen's going to have to race against the clock if she wants to get her story in tomorrow's newspaper—it's almost time to send it to the publisher!
See also: clock, race
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a ˌrace against ˈtime/the ˈclock

a situation in which you have to do something or finish something very fast before it is too late: It was a race against time to reach the shore before the boat sank.
See also: clock, race, time
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • high
  • high, wide, and handsome
  • wear (one's) apron high
  • bummer
  • jack
  • jacked
  • jacking
  • angle
  • angling
  • mickey mouse
References in periodicals archive
Race against the clock and overcome obstacles to cook dishes for hungry patrons.
Criminal Minds Sky Witness, 9pm It's a race against the clock for Penelope (Kirsten Vangsness, left) and the rest of the BAU to capture vigilantes behind a series of attacks taking place every 27 minutes in Washington DC.
GIM-CRACKER SPEED is again of the essence in the Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack Stakes (York 3.00), which is ironic as the horse it commemorates did his racing at between two and four miles and once competed in a 221/2-mile race against the clock in France.
Another individual race against the clock, with climb was from start to finish but not as steep as the climbs Jody is used to in Yorkshire.
Liverpool face a race against the clock to complete the signing of Nabil Fekir.
Join Fogg and his loyal valet, Passepartout, as they voyage from the misty alleys of Victorian London to the exotic subcontinent and the Wild West in a race against the clock.
Morales, who captured two of Ronda's three legs last year for the overall crown, clocked one hour, five minutes and 42 seconds to rule Thursday's 12th stage, a 40-kilometer race against the clock.
The women were detained in Boussy-Saint-Antoine in a "veritable race against the clock," he said.
"It's been a race against the clock really for me to be fit and ready to play here," the 35-yearold said at Oakmont yesterday.
The Cyprus Trail Runners, an amateur sports team, are challenging everyone on Saturday to race against the clock.
This emotionally charged series follows three patients in every episode, minute by minute from the 999 call, as frontline doctors and paramedics race against the clock to treat their injuries.
Valcke raised a number of concerns over stadiums in Natal, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo as they race against the clock to be completed in time for the start of the World Cup on June 12.
Miley Cyrus faces a race against the clock to recover in time for her European tour after an "extreme" allergic reaction to medication for a sinus infection.
Washington, Feb 1 ( ANI ): A 102-year old French man has reportedly broken his own record in the over-100s category by riding 16.7 miles in one hour, more than 2.5 kilometers better than his previous best time in the race against the clock two years ago.
! Brussels, Safar 16, 1435, Dec 19, 2013, SPA -- European Union finance ministers agreed late Wednesday on a scheme to wind down troubled banks, in a race against the clock to hammer out a deal this year, so the crisis-thwarting measure can be agreed with EU lawmakers and come into effect by 2015, according to dpa.