Wiktionary
n. A freestanding weight-driven pendulum clock, having the pendulum and weights in a tall case.
WordNet
n. a pendulum clock enclosed in a tall narrow case [syn: grandfather clock]
Wikipedia
A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are commonly 1.8–2.4 metres (6–8 feet) tall. The case often features elaborately carved ornamentation on the hood (or bonnet), which surrounds and frames the dial, or clock face. The English clockmaker William Clement is credited with the development of this form in 1670. Until the early 20th century, pendulum clocks were the world's most accurate timekeeping technology, and longcase clocks, due to their superior accuracy, served as time standards for households and businesses. Today they are kept mainly for their decorative and antique value.
Usage examples of "longcase clock".
He could just make out the tapestries on the half-panelled walls, the longcase clock at the far end, for some reason its trunk door left open.
As she slipped from the room, the longcase clock in the foyer began to chime midnight.
Ifce ticking of a longcase clock, the rustle of the magazine, the occasional tapping of the librarian's heels were the only sounds, as he sat thinking over the events of the last twenty-four hours.
Apart from the occasional doggy snore or the crackle of a shifting log, there were no other sounds but the scratching of Lord Downey's pen and the ticking of the longcase clock by the door.