turn the clock back

turn the/(one's) clock(s) back

1. To adjust the time on one's clock(s) back by one hour to account for the end of daylight saving time. Don't forget to turn your clock back tonight. I hate having to turn the clocks back every autumn, it's such an antiquated custom.

2. To attempt to return to an earlier time or situation. I really don't know if she'll forgive you—you said some terrible things to her, and you can't just turn the clock back. I wish I could turn my clock back to when I was a kid and didn't have any responsibilities.

See also: back, turn

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

turn the clock back

 and turn back the clock 

1. Lit. to set a clock to an earlier time. I have to turn the clocks back each fall. Please turn back the clock.

2. Fig. to try to return to the past. You are not facing up to the future. You are trying to turn the clock back to a time when you were more comfortable. Let us turn back the clock and pretend we are living at the turn of the century—the time that our story takes place.

See also: back, clock, turn

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

turn the clock back

or

turn back the clock

COMMON If you would like to turn the clock back or to turn back the clock, you would like to return to an earlier period, usually because you would like the chance to change something that you did in the past. I'd like to turn the clock back and do things differently, but I can't. If I could turn back the clock, I might not have said that. Note: You can use the verb put instead of turn. No amount of money — not even millions like this — can put back the clock and change what happened.

See also: back, clock, turn

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

put/turn the ˈclock back

return to the past; return to old-fashioned ideas, customs, etc: Sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back to my days as a student. ♢ These new restrictions on medical research will undoubtedly put the clock back (by) 20 years.

See also: back, clock, put, turn

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

turn the clock back, to

To return to an earlier way of life; to restore past conditions. This metaphor dates from the nineteenth century and generally represents a vain attempt to return to a past era. “You can’t turn back the hands of the clock,” wrote Erle Stanley Gardner (The Case of the Turning Tide, 1941).

See also: clock, to, turn

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer