sands of time

English

Noun

the sands of time pl (plural only)

1. (literary) time considered as a finite commodity that is gradually running out, as the sand in an hourglass
   • 1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life. […]”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, stanza 7, page 7:

     […] And, departing, leave behind us / Footprints on the sands of time […]

Derived terms

• footprints on the sands of time

See also

• mists of time