work against the clock

to work very fast because you know you only have a limited period of time to do something Scientists were working against the clock to collect specimens before the volcano erupted again.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Griffith	['grifiθ]
Normina	-	English (Rare)
Jaqueline	JAK-ə-leen (English), JAK-ə-lin (English)	English (Modern), Portuguese (Brazilian)
VerÍSsimo	-	Portuguese
Finley	['finli]
Christina	kris-TEEN-ə (English), kris-TEE-nah (German, Swedish, Dutch)	English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch