quick and the dead
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The living and the dead, as in The explosion was loud enough to wake the quick and the dead. Although quick has been used for “living” since the 9th century a.d., it survives only in this idiom and in cut to the quick, and may be obsolescent.
QUIZ
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Words nearby quick and the dead
quiche, quiche Lorraine, Quichua, quick, quick-and-dirty, quick and the dead, quick as a wink, quick assets, quick bread, quick-change artist, quick draw
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.