on deck
Idioms-
Available, ready for action, as in We had ten kids on deck to clean up after the dance . [ Slang ; second half of 1800s]
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In baseball, scheduled to bat next, waiting near home plate to bat, as in Joe was on deck next . [1860s] Both usages allude to crew members being on the deck of a ship, in readiness to perform their duties.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Christopher stood on deck as they came into the port, leaning out to watch, Gelifen on his shoulder.
From Literature
“Mr. Fleetwood, would you like to join me for a stroll on deck before we depart?”
From Literature
Those moves could be consolidated by a host of sector-specific earnings over this holiday-shortened week, with 3M, GE Aerospace, Freeport-McMoRan, and Halliburton all on deck.
From Barron's
Other indicators on deck include trade data and consumer price figures for December, set to be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
They lower themselves into one of the few lifeboats, leaving Jim on deck: Should he flee like a rat or wake the sleeping passengers, knowing that they, and he, cannot survive?
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
