face that would stop a clock

English

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Noun

face that would stop a clock (plural faces that would stop a clock or faces that would stop clocks)

1. (idiomatic) A shockingly unattractive face.
   • 1891 March 20, “The Mystery Still Deep: Queer story told by a strange young Englishman”, in New York Times, page 5:

     He described the thug as a very ugly and wicked-looking man, with a face that "would stop a clock".

   • 1927, “Editorial Comment: Thinking Statistically”, in Educational Research Bulletin, volume 6, number 7, page 142:

     We realize that all women are fair only in theory and that if we arranged them in the order of fairness we should have at one end the face that launched a thousand ships and at the other end the face that would stop a clock.

   • 2004 July 4, Barbara Hall, “Bookwise: Questions”, in Sunday Times, UK, retrieved 5 July 2008:

     Archie was an artist, finely chiselled, "the type girls go for like catnip." He . . . was expected to marry an American heiress. But she loved a muscular curate with a face that would stop a clock.

2. (idiomatic) A shockingly attractive face.
   • 1983, John Cougar Mellencamp, Pink Houses:

     Hey darlin'
     I can remember when you could stop a clock.

Alternative forms

• face that could stop a clock