marking time
Staying in place
Marking time originally describes a military drill where soldiers march in place without advancing—lifting their feet rhythmically while staying put.
The phrase extends to any period of waiting or maintaining position without progress: She's just marking time until her visa comes through.
It suggests activity without forward movement, going through the motions while waiting for something to change.
- stationaryNot in motion
- at a standstillCompletely without movement
- waitingRemaining in expectation
- idlingOperating without working
- pausingStopping briefly mid-action
stagnation · temporizing · stalling · parade ground · cadence · standstill · limbo · treading water · spinning wheels · going nowhere · inertia · dormancy · in limbo · hiatus · intermission · beat · patience · suspension
- stagnationstagnation, standstill, stasis, deadlock, stalemate
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
- waitingwait, await, bide, hold on, hang on
- futilefutile, useless, pointless, fruitless, vain
- idlenessdoing nothing, idling, loafing, lounging, lazing
- time sayingscarpe diem, seize the day, better late than never, tempus fugit, haste makes waste
marking timemaking progress
moving forward · advancing · forging ahead · gaining ground · making headway
marking timetaking action
Initiating purposeful effort
getting down to business · diving in · taking initiative · carpe diem · committing
marking timerushing
Rapid forward movement
hurrying · accelerating · pressing on · hitting the ground running · scrambling
mark, marking, time, times, timed, timing, timer, timers, marked