Meanings
- USidiomaticWithin a very short distance; especially, with agile precision in a very confined space and suddenly.
This boat can turn on a dime.
2 more examples
This car has excellent brakes that will stop it on a dime.
Everything will stop on a dime / Everything will crash into itself in good time / Do you want to beat your own heart, beat your own heart / Or leave it behind / Or leave it behind
2012, Ingrid Michaelson, “Do It Now”, in Human AgainSynonyms: on a sixpence
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseWithin a very short distance; especially, with agile precision in a very confined space and suddenly.
Translations
Spanish por el canto de un duro
- por el canto de un durowithin a very short distance
Cite this entry
on a dime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20dime
“on a dime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20dime. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on a dime,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20dime.
Source: on a dime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.