1TPBritish EnglishBrEclockworktoys, trains, soldiers etc have machinery inside them that makes them move when you turn a key 〔玩具上的〕发条装置
mechanical toys powered by clockwork
以发条为动力的机械玩具
The tape was driven by a clockwork motor.
带子由发条式马达驱动。
2go/run like clockworkSUCCEED IN DOING somethingto happen in exactly the way you had planned 顺利地进行
The concert went like clockwork.
音乐会进行得很顺利。
Examples from the Corpus
go/run like clockwork• Then we had been surprised when our ascent of the nearby Jankopiti had gone like clockwork.• Sometimes it ran like clockwork, sometimes-as I wrote at the time-it ran like the movie Clockwise.• Whereas Prost had been delayed as the Ferrari mechanicsfiddled with the right-rear wheel, Senna's stop went like clockwork.• A universe that ran like clockwork also evinceddesign.• And if Lais and Leonore created the promiseddiversion the plan would go like clockwork.
3like clockwork (also (as) regular as clockwork)REGULARhappening at the same time and in the same way every time 非常准时的;极有规律的
Matt came round each Friday, regular as clockwork.
马特每星期五过来,非常准时。
Examples from the Corpus
like clockwork• At 6:30 every evening, like clockwork, Ari went out to milk the cows.• The charityevent was well organized and ran like clockwork.
4.with clockwork precision/accuracyEXACTin an extremely exact way 极精确地
Examples from the Corpus
clockwork• Every time they do it, it comes off like clockwork.• Like clockwork the three nurses and I followed along with the maleradiovoice and did a ten-minute exerciseroutine.• Many beginners start to practise their forms in a kind of clockwork, roboticmanner.• He clicked the lever, and the clockworkmotorwhirred.• You don't have to play these cat and mouse games with your clockwork soldiers.