on the double

Slang Dictionary

on the double definition


  1. mod.
    very fast; twice as fast. (Originally military. Refers to double time in marching.) : Get over here right now—on the double! , She wants to see you in her office on the double.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

on the double

Very quickly, as in You'd better get here on the double. This expression, also put as at the double, came from the military, where it means "double time"that is, marching twice as fast as normally. [Early 1800s]

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