Antonyms for gain time

Grammar : Verb

Spell : tahym

Phonetic Transcription : taɪm

Definition of gain time

Origin : Old English tima "limited space of time," from Proto-Germanic *timon "time" (cf. Old Norse timi "time, proper time," Swedish timme "an hour"), from PIE *di-mon-, from root *da- "cut up, divide" (see tide).
Abstract sense of "time as an indefinite continuous duration" is recorded from late 14c. Personified since at least 1509 as an aged bald man (but with a forelock) carrying a scythe and an hour-glass. In English, a single word encompasses time as "extent" and "point" (French temps/fois, German zeit/mal) as well as "hour" (e.g. "what time is it?" cf. French heure, German Uhr). Extended senses such as "occasion," "the right time," "leisure," or times (v.) "multiplied by" developed in Old and Middle English, probably as a natural outgrowth of phrases like, "He commends her a hundred times to God" (Old French La comande a Deu cent foiz).
to have a good time ( = a time of enjoyment) was common in Eng. from c 1520 to c 1688; it was app. retained in America, whence readopted in Britain in 19th c. [OED]
Time of day (now mainly preserved in negation, i.e. what someone won't give you if he doesn't like you) was a popular 17c. salutation (e.g. "Good time of day vnto your Royall Grace," "Richard III," I.iii.18). Times as the name of a newspaper dates from 1788. Time warp first attested 1954; time capsule first recorded 1938, in reference to New York World's Fair; time-traveling in the science fiction sense first recorded 1895 in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine." To do time "serve a prison sentence" is from 1865. Time frame is attested by 1964; time line (also timeline) by 1890; time-limit is from 1880. About time, ironically for "long past due time," is recorded from 1920. Behind the times "old-fashioned" is recorded from 1846, first attested in Dickens.

As in delay : verb cause stop in action

Example sentences :

She wasn't quite sure what she had wanted to gain time for, that afternoon.
Extract from : « The Innocent Adventuress » by Mary Hastings Bradley

But in the end she grew resigned and determined to gain time.
Extract from : « Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille » by Emile Zola

Everything he had done or left undone had been to gain time.
Extract from : « Chance » by Joseph Conrad

This was a crisis in which his only object had been to gain time—I fancy.
Extract from : « Falk » by Joseph Conrad

He must have been convinced of her death, and fled, using the boat to gain time.
Extract from : « Oswald Langdon » by Carson Jay Lee

He expanded on this idea as he nailed away, anxious to gain time.
Extract from : « Other Main-Travelled Roads » by Hamlin Garland

Lenore picked a rose to gain time, and looked into the wings.
Extract from : « The Lowest Rung » by Mary Cholmondeley

To gain time he asked her what she did with herself all day.
Extract from : « Fraternity » by John Galsworthy

I kept on asking these questions, because I wanted to gain time.
Extract from : « The Birthright » by Joseph Hocking

To gain time he put on his hat and coat, picked Bobby up, and opened the door.
Extract from : « Greyfriars Bobby » by Eleanor Atkinson

Synonyms for gain time

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019