time warp
Related to time warp: Time travel
time warp
1. In science fiction, an occurrence of traveling forward or backward through time. The scientists activated a time warp so that Thompson could stop the war from ever happening. Traveling into the black hole acted as a time warp, sending us several millennia into the future.
2. A person, place, or thing that manifests the characteristics or aesthetics of a previous time period. The restaurant is a true time warp, delivering an authentic 1950s diner experience to its customers. The film is an odd mashup—a time warp in appearance and aesthetic to the likes of "Casablanca," while having the graphic language and gore of modern R-rated fare.
See also: time, warp
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
time warp
A stoppage in the passage of time; also, a distortion of time whereby an event or person could hypothetically move from one era to another. For example, Nothing in their lives has changed since the sixties; they're in a time warp, or Having a seventy-year-old actress portray a teenager-that was some time warp! This term originated in science fiction, where it signifies "a supernatural movement from one era to another," and came to be used more loosely. [c. 1950]
See also: time, warp
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
time warp
A distortion of space/time causing a person to remain stationary or travel back and forth in time. Originating in the mid-1900s in science fiction, the term soon was used about people or things who seemed to be caught in a particular stage of the past. Thus, Modern Railways used it in February 1986: “The collapse of the Advanced Passenger Train project has left InterCity services on the West Coast main line in a 1970 ‘time warp.’”
See also: time, warp
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- any time means no time
- against time
- against the clock
- any time
- (it's) time to run
- anytime
- (it's) time to push along
- about time
- (it's) (a)bout time
- (it's) time to hit the road