From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishat the timeat the timeat a particular moment or period in the past when something happened, especially when the situation is very different now I was about ten or eleven at the time. → time
Examples from the Corpus
at the time• Montaine was still living in the attic at the time.• Twenty two had active colitis at the time serum was obtained.• From what I learned of their disappearance at the time, I never believed they would re-surface intact.• In fact, at the time it must have seemed a remarkably good idea.• A spokesman for the Housing Department would only say that the tower blocks had seemed a good idea at the time.• And I must admit I didn't know at the time exactly what her flying weight should be.• Apparently, Shaw was not skiing with her husband or sons at the time of the accident, said Malik.• My view is that he combined two qualities that were, at the time of his ascendancy, regarded as mutually exclusive. 