Think of a clock cycle as one tick of the second hand (but generally at a much higher speed). Computer clocks run voltage through a tiny crystal that oscillates at a predictable speed to give a meaningful timing method to the computer. One clock cycle doesn't necessarily mean that the processor does one operation. Today's high-end processors often complete more than one operation per clock cycle, and sometimes, it will take several clock cycles to complete one operation.
the basic unit of processor activity.
Describes each tick generated by the system clock. 4.8
Fundamental time unit of a computer. Every operation executed by the computer takes at least one and possibly multiple cycles. Typically, the clock cycle is now in the order of one to a few nanoseconds.