count the hours
Track time anxiously
To count the hours is to wait with acute awareness of time passing, usually in anticipation of something desired or dreaded.
The phrase suggests that time feels slow enough to track each hour individually.
I'm counting the hours until vacation.
Someone counting the hours until a deadline experiences time as a burden; someone counting the hours until a reunion experiences it as an obstacle to joy.
- timekeepingMeasuring duration's passage
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- waitingRemaining in expectation
- long waitProlonged period before something
- killing timePassing moments idly
anticipation · bated breath · expectation · impatience · longing · dread · suspense · sleepless nights · anxiety · restlessness · clock-watching · tick tock · passage of time · hope · yearning · preparation · excitement · nervousness
count the hourslose oneself
Become fully absorbed
time flies · be present · zone out · drift
count the hoursbe present
Exist at a location
go with the flow · take your time · stop and smell the roses
count, counts, counted, counting, counter, counters, recount, recounts, recounted