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.
The readings on deck for this week will be backward-looking, and that could mean investors take them with a grain of salt.
From MarketWatch
On deck, she reminds the crew that the captain, who may yet recover, ordered Mr. Keeler restrained.
In his “Lonely Flowers” special, he jokes about encouraging his mom to retire because he thought he was on deck for the big “Daily Show” job, saying, “I had to call my mama back six months later, ‘You didn’t quit yet did you?’”
After a bit of practice walking in trousers, which she rather liked once she got used to it, she ventured on deck.
From Literature
That afternoon she ventured on deck for some air, and Captain Strøm himself approached her.
From Literature
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.
