ticking away
Seconds steadily departing
Ticking away describes time passing steadily, like the regular tick of a clock.
The phrase often carries urgency or foreboding—a reminder that time is finite: The clock is ticking away, With the deadline ticking away, we worked through the night.
It can also suggest gradual depletion: His patience was ticking away.
- tickingRhythmic mechanical sound
- secondsTime units, or extras
- clockworkSpring-driven gear system
- borrowed timeExtension beyond expected limits
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
sands of time · gears · urgency · every second · anticipation · countdown · minutes · deadline · against the clock · days · regret · escapement · quartz movement · pendulum · fleeting moments · time flies · weeks · hours
temporal motion
ticking awaystanding still
Absence of motion
stopped · at a standstill · paused · suspended · frozen in time