count downs
Ten to zero
Countdowns is the standard spelling; count downs appears occasionally but is nonstandard.
A countdown is the backward counting of seconds or units before an event—a rocket launch, a new year, a deadline.
The term extends to any final period of anticipation: The countdown to the wedding has begun.
To count down is to perform this backward enumeration: We counted down from ten.
- clockDevice displaying time
- rocketPropulsion-driven spacecraft
- startTo set going
- timerDuration-tracking mechanism
- liftoffMoment of ascent
blastoff · launch · final · ignition · preparation · digits · tick · T-minus · zero hour · mission control · spaceflight · New Year's Eve · excitement · anticipation · backwards · space launch · tension · suspense
temporal anticipation vs. reflection
count downselapsed time
Time that has passed
stopwatches · odometers · counters · timers