A timed mutex is a regular mutex type, but with a number of added functions which give one control over the time period during which it should be attempted to obtain the lock, that is, try_lock_for and try_lock_until.

The former tries to obtain the lock during the specified time period (std::chrono object) before returning the result (true or false). The latter will wait until a specific point in the future before returning the result.

The use of these functions mostly lies in offering a middle path between the blocking (lock) and non-blocking (try_lock) methods of the regular mutex. One may want to wait for a number of tasks using only a single thread without knowing when a task will become available, or a task may expire at a certain point in time at which waiting for it makes no sense any more.