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borrowed time

noun

Definitions

  1. A period of time whose precise duration is not known but which can be expected to be…

    A period of time whose precise duration is not known but which can be expected to be quite limited, and at the end of which one's situation, benefits, or opportunities will be entirely terminated.

    • to live on borrowed time
    • [A]t eighty a body is living on borrowed time.
    • A century ago you could expect to live 40 years. […] Anything beyond that was borrowed time.

  2. A length of time whose duration has traditionally expired, but which continues…

    A length of time whose duration has traditionally expired, but which continues nonetheless.

    • Having survived when many others died, she decided to make good use of her borrowed time.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for borrowed time. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA