like greased lightning

Idioms  

1. Also, like a blue streak; like the wind; like blazes. Very fast indeed, as in He climbed that ladder like greased lightning, or She kept on talking like a blue streak, or The children ran like the wind when they heard there'd be free ice cream. The likening of speed to lightning dates from the 1500s, and grease was added in the early 1800s to further accentuate the idea of haste. The first variant, blue streak, also dates from the early 1800s and alludes to something resembling lightning. The wind in the second variant has been a metaphor for swiftness since ancient Roman times. The blazes in the last variant, first recorded in 1925, alludes to fire or lightning.

---

Example Sentences

I went down it like greased lightning and came out at the bottom of it and once again I was on the floor.

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

Her crochet hook was racing like greased lightning by then.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

They're fine, weatherly craft, and with the wind abeam she ought to skip over the bar like greased lightning.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

He always goes like greased lightning when he's on dispatch duty, till he has delivered his message.

From Bruce by Terhune, Albert Payson

She ain't making any fuss about it, but she's a-slipping along like greased lightning, deep and mighty powerful.

From The Master of Appleby A Novel Tale Concerning Itself in Part with the Great Struggle in the Two Carolinas; but Chiefly with the Adventures Therein of Two Gentlemen Who Loved One and the Same Lady by Lynde, Francis

Related Words

• quick
• quickly
• rapidly
• soon
• swift
• swiftly