First recorded in 1940–45
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This once-over-lightly approach is perhaps appropriate, given that Stritch was not inclined to introspection.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2019
It’s more a once-over-lightly juxtaposition of soil types and wine characteristics, along with a look at the grapes that thrive in each type of soil and suggestions of wine producers to seek out.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2017
She was not one for a once-over-lightly look at what the policy team was advocating.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2016
It all adds up to an entertaining 88 minutes, despite the film’s ramshackle construction and its once-over-lightly approach to political, cultural and athletic history.
From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2011
And long before any of these, the Knights of Columbus began sponsoring magazine ads giving once-over-lightly explanations of Roman Catholic doctrine.
From Time Magazine Archive
Six days a week he eyes the sports field once over lightly, knocks out a chatty, chummy column called the Morning After.
From Time Magazine Archive
Her pretty posturing, pouts, stunned, exotic stares are meaningless when she tries to do them once over lightly.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
