B1idiomworkIELTS-friendly
a nine-to-five job
USUK
a regular office job with fixed hours, usually from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Often contrasts stable office work with freelance or shift work. People also just say 'a nine-to-five'.
In context
After five years of freelancing, I'm happy to have a nine-to-five job with a steady salary.
My sister left a safe nine-to-five job to open a small coffee shop in Da Lat.
More idioms about work
- bite off more than you can chewto try to do more than you are able to manage
- call it a dayto decide to stop working, usually because you have done enough for now
- cut cornersto do something quickly or cheaply by skipping steps, often lowering quality or safety
- drop the ballto make a mistake by forgetting or failing to do something you were responsible for
- get the sackto be told by your employer that you no longer have a job, often for doing something wrong