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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

on the spot en · ADP

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) At that very moment.
    • He liked the house, so he made an offer on the spot.
    • There are in the Armies a great many Inſtances of Gun-ſhot Wounds of the Arm near the Scapula, which require Amputation at the Shoulder; but the Apprehenſion of loſing their Patients on the Spot by the Hæmorrhage, has deterred Surgeons from undertaking it. 1739, Samuel Sharp, “Of Amputation” (chapter XXXVII), in A Treatise on the Operations of Surgery, London: J. Brotherton, page 221:
  2. (idiomatic) Having to answer or decide without warning or preparation.
    • All the sudden questions put him on the spot and he had to think quickly.
  3. (idiomatic) In a particular place.
    • We exercised by jumping up and down on the spot.
    • I had accepted an engagement to go out with Mystofilms Ltd. in Fake of Dead Man's Bush—the dwarf-men picture, you know, taken on the spot among the Australian bushmen. 1928, Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers”, in Lord Peter Views the Body:
    • This report comes from our man on the spot in Gaza.
    • […] on October 29, 1888, the Russian imperial train was derailed at Borki by defective track, and twenty-one persons were killed. Although these did not include the Emperor Alexander III, who escaped with a bruising, a footman serving coffee to him at the critical moment, and his dog, which was lying on the floor beside him, were both killed on the spot. 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, pages 251–252:

Descendants

ar an spota

Relateds

on the dot · on-the-spot · hit the spot

Synonyms

in the room · on the stand · then and there · on the premises · on site · right away · on location · in place

Translations (46)

pt na hora (at the very moment) · fi paikalla (in a particular place) · ga láithreach bonn (at the very moment) · it immediatamente (at the very moment) · id seketika (at the very moment) · grc παραχρῆμα (at the very moment) · nn på flekken (at the very moment) · ba шунда уҡ (at the very moment) · pl z miejsca (at the very moment) · fr séance tenante (at the very moment) · sh na mjestu (in a particular place) · fr sur place (in a particular place) · la ilico (at the very moment) · ga ar an toirt (having to answer or decide without warning) · fi tiukille (having to answer or decide without warning) · fi paikan päällä (in a particular place) · mk на лице место (at the very moment) · pt no momento (at the very moment) · sv på fläcken (at the very moment) · ga láithreach bonn (having to answer or decide without warning) · nl ter plekke (in a particular place) · gd anns an spot (at the very moment) · it subito (at the very moment) · it sul posto (in a particular place) · el αυτή τη στιγμή (at the very moment) · nl ter plekke (at the very moment) · ga ar an ásc sin (at the very moment) · pt ali mesmo (at the very moment) · gd sa bhad (at the very moment) · ka ეგრევე (at the very moment) · ka მაშინვე (at the very moment) · la praesto (at the very moment) · fr sur-le-champ (at the very moment) · ru ту́т же (at the very moment) · gd anns a' bhad (at the very moment) · el επί τόπου (in a particular place) · nb på flekken (at the very moment) · ru сра́зу (at the very moment) · de auf der Stelle (at the very moment) · ga ar an spota (at the very moment) · fi saman tien (at the very moment) · ru неме́дленно (at the very moment) · la illico (at the very moment) · fi siinä paikassa (at the very moment) · ru на ме́сте (in a particular place) · cmn 當場 /当场 (at the very moment)