stop the clock

stop the clock idiom
Postpone a deadline by not counting the elapsing hours. For example, Management agreed to stop the clock so that a new contract could be negotiated before the present one expired. [Mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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