English

Noun

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

1. (idiomatic) A shockingly unattractive face.
   • 1891, "The Mystery Still Deep: Queer story told by a strange young Englishman," New York Times, 20 Mar., p. 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," Educational Research Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 7, p. 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, Barbara Hall, "Bookwise: Questions," Sunday Times (UK), 4 Jul. (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.