(as) regular as clockwork

1. Occurring at consistent, predictable intervals or points in time. One thing I loved about living in Germany was that the trains were always regular as clockwork. Every evening at 8 PM, as regular as clockwork, my dad sits in his armchair and reads the newspaper for exactly 45 minutes. We're almost at Christmas break, and my students have zero interest in class. The same thing happens every year, regular as clockwork.

2. slang Apt to have to reliable, healthy bowel movements. I've been as regular as clockwork ever since I started eating a healthier balance of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. Drinking all of this prune juice keeps me regular as clockwork! Lately, I've been dealing with constipation. I miss the days when I was regular as clockwork.

See also: clockwork, regular

at regular intervals

At an equal distance apart. Make sure to position those Christmas lights so that the flashing ones appear at regular intervals. I hope you scheduled things so that these clients show up at regular intervals—otherwise, we'll be swamped. Nurse, is my mother all right? That machine she's hooked up to keeps beeping at regular intervals.

be as regular as clockwork

1. To happen at predictable intervals. My daughter starts crying every night at bedtime—it's as regular as clockwork. One thing I loved about living in Germany was that the trains were always regular as clockwork. If it's 8 PM, Dad is probably sitting in his armchair and reading the newspaper. It's an occurrence that's as regular as clockwork around here.

2. slang To have reliable, healthy bowel movements. I've been as regular as clockwork ever since I started eating a healthier balance of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. I'm only as regular as clockwork because I drink all of this prune juice! Lately, I've been dealing with constipation. I miss the days when I was regular as clockwork.

See also: clockwork, regular

Joe Regular

The average, ordinary, or typical person, especially a boy or man. Primarily heard in US. The inner workings of Congress might be familiar to a political science student like yourself, but to Joe Regular, it is often a completely unknown process. We strive to ensure that our computers can handle the highest demands of an IT professional but still remain accessible to Joe Regular.

keep (some kind of) hours

1. To maintain a particular pattern or schedule of being awake and asleep. Because of the huge time difference, Sam has kept really strange hours since coming back from Japan. It's important that the kids start keeping regular hours when they are young, since having unpredictable bedtimes can cause a lot of problems with sleep.

2. To maintain particular business hours. The local doctor has always kept rather irregular hours. Sometimes it just comes down to luck whether he'll be there at all on a given day.

like clockwork

Predictably and dependably. Everything is going like clockwork, so we should be ready to start construction by the end of the month. The conference went like clockwork from beginning to end.

See also: clockwork, like

on a regular basis

Quite often and/or in a consistent, regular manner. The general manager drops into the restaurant on a regular basis, so the staff members have to be on their toes at all times.

on the regular

Regularly. I used to go there on the regular, but I've been busy.

regular

informal A customer who patronizes a business in person on a frequent and reliable basis. Tom's been a regular of ours for years. He comes in every Tuesday and always orders a tall cappuccino with extra foam. There are a number of regulars I recognize whenever I go to the gym.

regular brick

A good-natured, dependable man. Oh, Earl will certainly help you with that—he's a regular brick.

regular fellow

A good-natured, dependable person. Oh, Sarah will certainly help you with that—she's a regular fellow. We're looking for a couple of regular fellows to help with our project this weekend.

regular fixture

A person or thing that appears very frequently, commonly, or dependably in or on something or some place. The region is now a regular fixture in the company's quarterly earnings reports, as more and more people there embrace their products. The exaggerated character has become a regular fixture on the popular TV variety show. I know my dad was a regular fixture in this bar, so I figured if anyone would know what happened, they would be here.

regular guy

A good-natured, dependable man. Oh, Earl will certainly help you with that—he's a regular guy. We're looking for a couple of regular guys to help with our project this weekend.

regular Jane

An average, unexceptional, or ordinary girl or woman. Primarily heard in US. She was just a regular Jane like you or me before striking it rich in the tech industry. I like to think I'm a bit more intelligent than your regular Jane. We strive to ensure that our computers can handle the highest demands of an IT professional but still remain accessible to the regular Jane or Joe.

regular Joe

An average, unexceptional, or ordinary person, especially a boy or man. Primarily heard in US. He was just a regular Joe like you or me before striking it rich in the tech industry. I like to think I'm a bit more intelligent than your regular Joe. We strive to ensure that our computers can handle the highest demands of an IT professional but still remain accessible to the regular Joe or Jane.

work like a Trojan

To work very intensely for a long or continuous period of time, especially doing something thankless or menial. The boss had us working like Trojans to get the project ready on time. I worked like a Trojan the entire summer after high school to earn enough cash to buy my first guitar. I've been out here working like a Trojan while you sit inside sipping lemonade. Could you maybe lend me a hand?

at regular intervals

[of things in a series] at points that are equally distant from each other. You will find service stations at regular intervals along the highway. There are street lights at regular intervals on the main street of town.

*regular as clockwork

Cliché very regular; completely predictable. (*Also: as ~.) George goes down to the bus stop at 7:45 every morning, as regular as clockwork. You can always depend on Nancy to complain about the office for fifteen minutes every afternoon, regular as clockwork.

See also: clockwork, regular

regular fixture

someone who is found so frequently in a place as to be considered a fixture of, or part of the place. The manager attached himself to the luncheon club and became a regular fixture there.

regular guy

a normal and dependable guy. Don't worry about Tom. He's a regular guy. He won't give you any trouble.

like clockwork

Also, regular as clockwork. With extreme regularity, as in Ruth arrives every Wednesday morning just like clockwork, or You can count on his schedule, which is regular as clockwork, or Their assembly line runs like clockwork. This idiom alludes to the mechanical and therefore very regular action of a clock. [Second half of 1600s]

See also: clockwork, like

regular guy

Also, regular fellow. A nice or agreeable person, as in Luke's a regular guy, or Hilda's a regular fellow. [Colloquial; first half of 1800s]

like clockwork

COMMON

1. If something goes or runs like clockwork, it works very well and happens in exactly the way it is expected to. The journey there went like clockwork — flying out on Friday from Gatwick it took seven hours door-to-door. He soon had the household running like clockwork.

2. If someone does something like clockwork, they do it regularly, always at the same time. They would arrive like clockwork just before dawn. Every day at 3:00, like clockwork, he comes in here for a cup of coffee. Note: You can also say that someone does something, or that something happens, regular as clockwork. Every three years, regular as clockwork, the great Anne Tyler produces a new novel.

See also: clockwork, like

like clockwork

1 very smoothly and easily, with no disruptions or problems. 2 with mechanical regularity.

See also: clockwork, like

work like a Trojan

work extremely hard.

1974 Winifred Foley A Child in the Forest She put me to clean out all the fowls' cotes, and I worked at it like a Trojan.

(as) regular as ˈclockwork

very regularly; happening at the same time in the same way; reliable: She arrives at work on her bicycle at 8.45 every day, as regular as clockwork.

See also: clockwork, regular

like clockwork

With machinelike regularity and precision; perfectly: The project proceeded like clockwork.

See also: clockwork, like

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Trojan, he is a/works like a/a regular

A determined, energetic individual; hardworking. The term comes from Homer’s description of the Trojans in the Iliad and Virgil’s description in the Aeneid. In both epics they are pictured as brave patriots who work hard for their country. This view was adopted by later writers, such as Samuel Butler, who wrote (Hudibras, 1663), “There they say right, and like true Trojans.”