advanced in years
Meaning: old; elderly.
Example: “My uncle is advanced in years and can’t hear too well.”
Focused Idiom Category
Time Idioms
Time idioms describe speed, delay, age, duration, timing, frequency, beginnings, and endings. They allow speakers to say that something happened immediately, took a long time, occurred rarely, became old-fashioned, or reached a crucial moment without relying on plain time vocabulary. This category contains expressions whose recognised meaning is primarily temporal; phrases that merely contain a day or night image but mainly describe emotion, work, or travel are assigned to the more relevant topic. Each entry offers a concise meaning and a natural example sentence illustrating its time-related use. The A–Z navigation makes the collection easy to scan, while related categories connect readers with work schedules, movement, and everyday situations. Time idioms are essential for natural conversation because they appear frequently in planning, storytelling, deadlines, news, and personal experience.
44Relevant idioms
A
A Idioms
3 entriesall hours (of the day and night)
Meaning: very late in the night or very early in the morning.
Example: “Why do you always stay out until all hours of the day and night?”
all over bar the shouting
Meaning: decided and concluded; finished except for the formalities.
Example: “Tom said, “Well, it’s all over bar the shouting.” Tom has finished his exams and is waiting to graduate.”
B
B Idioms
4 entriesbe getting on for something
Meaning: to be close to something; to be nearly at something, such as a time, date, age, etc.
Example: “It’s getting on for midnight.”
be old hat
Meaning: to be old-fashioned; to be outmoded.
Example: “That’s a silly idea.”
before you can say Jack Robinson
Meaning: almost immediately.
Example: “And before you could say Jack Robinson, the bird flew away.”
bide one’s time
Meaning: to wait patiently.
Example: “I’ve been biding my time for years, just waiting for a chance like this.”
D
D Idioms
1 entriesdonkey’s ages and donkey’s years
Meaning: a very long time.
Example: “The woman hasn’t been seen for donkey’s ages.”
E
E Idioms
2 entriesearly bird
Meaning: someone who gets up or arrives early or starts something very promptly, especially someone who gains an advantage of some kind by so doing.
Example: “The Smith family are early birds.”
every time one turns around
Meaning: frequently; at every turn; with annoying frequency.
Example: “Somebody asks me for money every time I turn around.”
H
H Idioms
3 entrieshang fire
Meaning: to delay or wait; to be delayed.
Example: “I think we should hang fire and wait for other information.”
hardly have time to breathe
Meaning: to be very busy.
Example: “I hardly had time to breathe.”
hark(en) back to something
Meaning: to have originated as something; to have started out as something.
Example: “The word icebox harks back to the old-fashioned refrigerators which were cooled by ice.”
I
I Idioms
5 entriesin a flash
Meaning: quickly; immediately.
Example: “I’ll be there in a flash.”
in a jiffy
Meaning: very fast; very soon.
Example: “I’ll be there in a jiffy.”
in a split second
Meaning: in an instant.
Example: “The lightning struck, and in a split second the house burst into flames.”
in all one’s born days
Meaning: ever; in all one’s life.
Example: “I’ve never been so angry in all my born days.”
in broad daylight
Meaning: publicly visible in the daytime.
Example: “The thief stole the car in broad daylight.”
J
J Idioms
2 entriesjam tomorrow
Meaning: good things in the future.
Example: “The politicians promised the people jam tomorrow during the hard times.”
johnny-come-lately
Meaning: someone who joins in after it is under way.
Example: “She’s just a johnnycome-lately and doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
K
K Idioms
1 entrieskeep late hours
Meaning: to stay up or stay out until very late.
Example: “I’m always tired because I keep late hours.”
L
L Idioms
3 entriesland of Nod
Meaning: sleep.
Example: “The baby is in the land of Nod.”
late in life
Meaning: when one is old.
Example: “She’s taken to exercising rather late in life.”
late in the day
Meaning: far on in a project or activity; too late in a project or activity for action, decisions, etc., to be taken.
Example: “It was a bit late in the day for him to apologize.”
M
M Idioms
1 entriesmake good time
Meaning: to proceed at a fast or reasonable rate.
Example: “On our trip to Brighton, we made good time.”
N
N Idioms
4 entriesnight on the town
Meaning: a night of celebrating.
Example: “Did you enjoy your night on the town?”
night-owl
Meaning: someone who usually stays up very late.
Example: “Ann’s a real night-owl.”
nine days’ wonder
Meaning: something that is of interest to people only for a short time.
Example: “It’ll be a nine days’ wonder and then people will forget.”
nip something in the bud
Meaning: to put an end to something at an early stage.
Example: “John is getting into bad habits, and it’s best to nip them in the bud.”
O
O Idioms
7 entriesof the old school
Meaning: holding attitudes and ideas that were popular and important in the past, but are no longer considered relevant or in line with modern trends.
Example: “Grammar was not taught much in my son’s school, but fortunately he had a teacher of the old school.”
old enough to be someone’s mother and old enough to be someone’s father
Meaning: as old as someone’s parents.
Example: “He’s old enough to be your father!”
once and for all
Meaning: finally and irreversibly.
Example: “I want to get this problem settled once and for all.”
once in a blue moon
Meaning: very rarely.
Example: “I seldom go to the cinema— maybe once in a blue moon.”
once in a while
Meaning: occasionally.
Example: “I go to see a film once in a while.”
once upon a time
Meaning: once in the past.
Example: “Once upon a time, there were three bears.”
once-in-a-lifetime chance
Meaning: a chance that will never occur again in one’s lifetime.
Example: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
R
R Idioms
1 entriesrace against time
Meaning: to hurry to beat a deadline; to hurry to achieve something by a certain time.
Example: “We had to race against time to finish the work before the deadline.”
S
S Idioms
3 entriessame old story
Meaning: something that occurs or has occurred in the same way often.
Example: “It’s the same old story.”
save something for a rainy day
Meaning: to reserve something—usually money—for some future need.
Example: “I’ve saved a little money for a rainy day.”
see the light of day
Meaning: to be finished or produced.
Example: “The product will never see the light of day.”
T
T Idioms
1 entriesthick and fast
Meaning: in large numbers or amounts and at a rapid rate.
Example: “The enemy soldiers came thick and fast.”
W
W Idioms
2 entrieswater under the bridge
Meaning: something past and forgotten.
Example: “It’s all water under the bridge.”
when the time is ripe
Meaning: at exactly the right time.
Example: “I’ll tell her the good news when the time is ripe.”
Z
Z Idioms
1 entrieszero hour
Meaning: the time at which something is due to begin; a crucial moment.
Example: “We’ll know whether the new computer system works effectively at zero hour, when we switch over to it.”
Helpful Answers
Frequently asked questions
What are time idioms?
Time idioms are fixed expressions about speed, delay, age, duration, timing, frequency, beginnings, endings, or particular moments.
Do all time idioms contain time words?
No. Some communicate a temporal meaning without using words such as time, day, hour, or year directly.
Are time idioms common in planning?
Yes. They are frequently used for deadlines, schedules, waiting, urgency, frequency, and describing when events happen.
Can their meaning change by tense?
The core idiom remains stable, but verb tense and surrounding grammar change to match the situation.
How can I learn them efficiently?
Group them into fast, slow, early, late, frequent, rare, old, and new, then practise one sentence for each group.
