Expressions with TIME

 Commonly-used expressions - Expressions with TIME

Expression	Meaning	Example
As time goes by	As the time passes	As time goes by I have become more aware of the necessity to preserve our planet.
Ahead of time	In advance, before the set time	If I finish the project ahead of time I'll be able to focus on the presentation.
Behind the times	Be old-fashioned; have ideas that are out of date	The way he runs his coffee shop is completely behind the times.
By the time	Before reaching the time when something happens (with no specific time mentioned).	By the time Julie arrived at the station the train had left.
By this time	Similar to 'before now'. At some time before the present moment (a specific time).	Look at the time! It's midnight. By this time I'm usually asleep in bed!
By that time	Similar to 'before then'. Before a specific time in the past or the future.	- Past: Julie arrived at the station at 11.15, but by that time the train had left. - Future: What will I be doing in 2070? Not much because by that time I'll be an old man!
Do/serve time	Spend time in prison	He's doing time  for a bank robbery.
For the time being	For the moment; temporarily	Laura has left John and is living with her parents for the time being.
Have the time of your life	Enjoy yourself very much	The kids had the time of their lives at Disneyland.
High time	Past the appropriate time	It's high time  you got out of bed!.
In the nick of time/ Just in time	At the last minute, before it's too late	We arrived in the nick of time. The bus was about to leave!
Make time	Find the time to do something	It's important to make time for your family.
Matter of time	Not long before something happens	It's only a matter of time before the company is taken over.
Pass the time	Occupy yourself while waiting	The train was late so I made some phone calls to pass the time.
Pressed for time	Need to hurry	How long will it take? I'm really pressed for time.
Race against time	Have to work quickly to get something done before a set time	It was a race against time to get everything ready for the inauguration.
Run out of time	Have no time left	Paul ran out of time and had to finish the test quickly.
Save time	Do something the quickest way	We'll save time if we go through the park.
Short of time	Not have much time	I'll be brief because we're short of time.
Spend time	Pass time doing something	How much time do you spend  on  your homework?
Stand the test of time	Something still found valuable and useful after many years	The teaching method has stood the test of time. It is still used in schools today.
Time after time	Do something again and again; repeatedly	Time after time Alex arrives late at school.
Time flies	Time goes by or passes very quickly.	It's hard to believe we've been living here two years already. Time flies!
Time is money	Time should not be wasted because you could be using it to earn money.	Don't waste time on minor details. Time is money!
Time is ripe	A suitable time to do something	I'll wait until the time is ripe before asking my parents to lend me the money.
Time will tell	Only in the future will the result be known	Have we made the right choice? (Only) time will tell.
Waste time	Spend too much time on something	Don't waste time  on unimportant details.
(A) waste of time	Spend too much time on something pointless or useless	It's a waste of time  calling them. You'lll just get an answering machine!