A clockwork toy or device has machinery inside it which makes it move or operate when it is wound up with a key.
...a clockwork train-set.
2.
See like clockwork
clockwork in British English
(ˈklɒkˌwɜːk)
noun
1.
the mechanism of a clock
2.
any similar mechanism, as in a wind-up toy
3. like clockwork
clockwork in American English
(ˈklɑkˌwɜrk)
noun
1.
the mechanism of a clock
2.
any similar mechanism, consisting of springs and geared wheels, as in some mechanical toys
Idioms:
like clockwork
More idioms containing
clockwork
like clockwork
Examples of 'clockwork' in a sentence
clockwork
Whether it is all running like clockwork depends on results.
The Sun (2012)
They all ran like clockwork and were free.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Japanese cars in the main seem to run like clockwork.
The Sun (2009)
You can also see the clockwork mechanism that made the light flash.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Now my day runs like clockwork.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
All week it worked like clockwork.
Frankie Dettori with Jonathan Powell FRANKIE: The Autobiography of Frankie Dettori (2004)
Hopefully you'll sort any hitches so the whole wedding runs like clockwork.
The Sun (2009)
For years, the last day of the season has run like clockwork.
The Sun (2016)
Me and a cameraman with a clockwork wind-up camera.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The Olympic village ran like clockwork.
The Sun (2012)
A grey mental gloom settles over them with clockwork regularity as soon as the days draw in and the mornings get darker.
Martlew, Gillian & Silver, Shelley Stay Well This Winter (1989)
But, after that, the system at the hospital went like clockwork.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He felt himself running in slow motion, slower and slower, like a clockwork toy running down.
Diana Wynne Jones CHARMED LIFE (1977)
For those of us lucky enough to have been in Beijing, it was the way the whole thing ran like clockwork.
The Sun (2011)
They are dull from a distance, audible by clicks and ribald whistles, and up close as glossy and iridescent as clockwork toys.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
As usual, though, the moment a plan does not go like clockwork from the outset there are calls for it to be abandoned.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
England carried themselves wearily from the beginning, conscious that they had forfeited the game the day before, going through their activities now like clockwork toys winding down.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
clockwork
British English: clockwork ADJECTIVE
A clockwork toy or device has machinery inside it which makes it move when it is wound up with a key.
...a clockwork train-set.
American English: clockwork
Brazilian Portuguese: de corda
Chinese: 带发条装置的
European Spanish: de cuerda
French: mécanique
German: aufziehbar
Italian: a molla
Japanese: ぜんまい仕掛けの
Korean: 태엽 장치
European Portuguese: de corda
Latin American Spanish: de cuerda
Chinese translation of 'clockwork'
clockwork
(ˈklɔkwəːk)
n
to go like clockwork顺(順)利地进(進)行 (shùnlì de jìnxíng)