mark time

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mark time

verb marks time · marking time · marked time

To march in place, while still in step with the beat. When the colonel has given the signal for the music to beat time, he will give the caution for the movement as above; and the lieutenant colonel will immediately give the word to the right wing to mark time.
broadly, figuratively To stop making progress temporarily; to wait or stand still. Monday noon I chased over to the Auditorium and they was only about eighty in line ahead o' me[…] While I was markin' time I looked at the pitchers o' the different actors,

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verb to stop making progress

Русский	топта́ться на ме́сте toptátʹsja na méste

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MLA

"mark time." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mark%20time. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

mark time. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mark%20time

Chicago

"mark time." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mark%20time.

BibTeX

@misc{mark_time_2026,
  title = {mark time},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mark%20time},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}