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once over lightly

 - 3 dictionary results

once-o⋅ver-light⋅ly

  [wuhns-oh-ver-lahyt-lee]
Use once over lightly in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
a hasty or superficial treatment, look, examination, etc.; once-over: The maid gave the room the once-over-lightly.
Origin:
1940–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To once over lightly
Slang Dictionary
once over lightly

  1. mod.
    quickly and superficially; carelessly; cursorily. (This is hyphenated before a nominal.) : He looked at it once over lightly and agreed to do it.
  2. n.
    a perfunctory examination; a quick glance. : Once over lightly is not enough.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Idioms & Phrases

once over lightly

Cursorily, quickly, as in I did go over the program once over lightly, but perhaps I should read it more carefully. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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