🗓️ Idiom: Clock In / Clock Out
💬 Meaning
- To officially record the time you start (clock in) or finish (clock out) work.
- It can also refer more generally to starting or ending a work shift.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Employees must clock in by 9:00 AM or they’re considered late.
- She forgot to clock out yesterday and had to ask HR to adjust her hours.
- Most factory workers are required to clock in and out every day.
🏛️ Origin
The expression comes from traditional punch card time clocks, where employees would insert a card into a machine to stamp their work hours. While modern systems are often digital, the phrase has remained common in workplace language.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Don’t forget to __________ out before you leave or you won’t be paid correctly.
Answer
clock
2. Choose the correct meaning of “clock in / clock out”:
A) To take a break
B) To record the start or end time of a work shift
C) To attend a training session
Answer
B) To record the start or end time of a work shift
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“He started work at 8 AM and finished at 4 PM.” → Change the sentence using: clock in / clock out
Answer
He clocked in at 8 AM and clocked out at 4 PM.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 HR and Recruitment Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit