From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcountdowncount‧down /ˈkaʊntdaʊn/ noun [countable usually singular] 1 the period of time before something happens, such as a spacecraft being launched, when someone counts backwards until the event happens2 the period of time before an important event, when people become more and more excited about itcountdown to the countdown to the World Cup
Examples from the Corpus
countdown• The chart countdown, performed yesterday by Bruno Brookes, is one of Radio One's most popular shows.• Four seperate police forces are monitoring every traveller's vehicle in the four day countdown to midsummer.• So the election countdown has effectively begun, though the poll probably will not be until May or June next year.• The progress of time is paced by weekly fire and boat drills and the countdown of dive days remaining.• As the countdown reaches the two-minute mark, the room seems to tremble.• NASA has stopped the countdown for the space shuttle mission because of technical problems.• The shuttle's tanks have been filled by the time that the countdown reaches the 3 hours mark. 