Wiktionary
prep.phr. (context idiomatic English) In a time-restricted manner, to meet a deadline, hurriedly, timed.
WordNet
adv. as fast as possible; before a deadline; "it was a race against the clock" [syn: against time]
Usage examples of "against the clock".
Pen's note, which she had propped up against the clock, had fallen down, and so missed his eye.
Richard stooped to pile on more logs from the basket by the hearth and, straightening, came face to face with an envelope addressed to himself, and propped against the clock that stood in the middle of the mantelpiece.
All the carefully planned strategy had degenerated into a race against the clock and the Klingons.
He bumped against the clock and it struck a note, a trembling note-urgent and deep.
Then after that, we gotta spread the Word against the clock, because if this world doesn't start some serious repenting .
A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed I was already yards in front of any of my rivals, so it was only me against the clock.
As the Chinese cargo ship draws ever closer to its end port, Smith must race against the clock to uncover the truth about the ship and its cargo, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party, the faction in Washington working to undermine the elected government, and the international cabal who is thrusting the world to the very brink of war.
Which is why ethnobotanists, racing against the clock and forest fires, are trying to record as much as possible.
They were running against the clock, and everyone on the project knew it.