quick/slow off the mark
idiom
: quick or slow to act or to understand something
As soon as the opportunity arose, he was quick off the mark in exploiting it.
I was slow off the mark and missed my chance.
Examples of quick/slow off the mark in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The epigraph page alone gestures toward the Gospel of Luke, Cosa Nostra murders, communist atrocities and, for anyone still slow off the mark, Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
—
Louis Bayard, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
The government has faced criticism from leading scientists, labor unions and opposition parties for being slow off the mark in securing the vaccines.
—S'thembile Cele, Bloomberg.com, 15 Jan. 2021
Rapidly developing China is enjoying a golden age of dinosaur discoveries, but Xing said that paleontologists like him have to be quick off the mark.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 23 July 2022
Producers, theater owners and artistic directors haven’t been quick off the mark.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2021
British medics were quick off the mark with early approvals for the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccines, and the roll-out has recently sped up.
—The Economist, 16 Jan. 2021
After opening with a loss to Chelsea, Brighton was quick off the mark to secure the win over Newcastle.
—Rob Harris, Star Tribune, 20 Sep. 2020
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illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
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Louis Bayard, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
The government has faced criticism from leading scientists, labor unions and opposition parties for being slow off the mark in securing the vaccines.
—S'thembile Cele, Bloomberg.com, 15 Jan. 2021
Rapidly developing China is enjoying a golden age of dinosaur discoveries, but Xing said that paleontologists like him have to be quick off the mark.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 23 July 2022
Producers, theater owners and artistic directors haven’t been quick off the mark.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2021
British medics were quick off the mark with early approvals for the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccines, and the roll-out has recently sped up.
—The Economist, 16 Jan. 2021
After opening with a loss to Chelsea, Brighton was quick off the mark to secure the win over Newcastle.
—Rob Harris, Star Tribune, 20 Sep. 2020
Dictionary Entries Near quick/slow off the mark
Cite this Entry
“Quick/slow off the mark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quick%2Fslow%20off%20the%20mark. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.
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