against the clock
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:
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against the clock
Also,
against time. In a great hurry, as fast as possible, as in With her term paper due on Monday, she was racing against the clock to finish it, or They were working against time to stay on schedule. The term comes from various sports in which the contestants do not directly compete against each other but instead are timed individually, the winner being the one who is fastest. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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