COUNTDOWN Definition & Meaning

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countdown

[kount-doun]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

the backward counting in fixed time units from the initiation of a project, as a rocket launching, with the moment of firing designated as zero.
the final preparations made during this period.
a period of increasing activity, tension, or anxiety, as before a deadline.

countdown

/ ˈ�첹ʊ�Գ�ˌ�岹ʊ�� /

the act of counting backwards to time a critical operation exactly, such as the launching of a rocket or the detonation of explosives

to count numbers backwards towards zero, esp in timing such a critical operation

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1950–55, noun use of verb phrase count down

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Examples have not been reviewed.

Not even the digital countdown could generate the sizzling, clanking, sniping roar of chronic, organic anxiety that fueled the first two seasons.

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The ad showing a girl counting petals she pulls from a daisy blends into a countdown for the launch of nuclear missile.

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But deadlines come and go on this show, and though we’re treated to repeated shots of the countdown clock, it doesn’t create much actual tension.

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Bland wrote that Bartkus had posted online “an audio-recorded manifesto, a countdown to the bombing, and a video of the suicide bombing.”

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Raducanu will play Joint as the countdown to Wimbledon - which begins on 30 June - continues.

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