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Glite Dictionary
off and running

off and running

4 4.8
Started well and now making good progress
  • idiom
translation icon : en marcha
  • "We're off and running," Pancho announced.
  • off and running now

And next thing we know we're having a meeting with Wells Fargo and we're off and running.

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Examples

  • With the project approved, our team is off and running to meet the deadline.

  • Trey integrated a plinko lead, and the band was off and running in an infectious opening sequence.

    Blog text (25)

  • The rest of the field is now off and running.

    Planes (2013)

  • And, uh, we were off and running.

    The Arrested Development Documentary Project (2013)

  • If we do, we're off and running.

    The Bedroom Window (1987)

  • And then we're off and running.

    It Could Happen to You (1994)

  • But class was off and running with questions about the recent lecture by one of my team teachers.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • They file as a general partnership, and the farm is off and running.

    Blog text (13)

  • With this small victory, he turned his attention to culture, and starting with the poison-pen note to the critic Binstock, he was off and running.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Andrew moved the Denver Stiffs name over to SB Nation, and we have been off and running ever since.

    Blog text (33)

Synonyms

on the up
vsoff and running
  • UK
3 7.5

Getting better and more successful

refers to a successful start and ongoing good progress instead of slow change
off to the races
vsoff and running
  • Informal
2 7.0

To start a task quickly with a lot of energy

focuses more on lasting successful progress rather than just energy
up and away
vsoff and running
  • Informal
1 4.6

Started well and now moving forward quickly

is about steady successful progress after a good beginning

Antonyms

unsuccessful
76 2.9

Not getting the result someone wants

standstill
35 3.5

A time when movement or activity stops completely

How Well

off and running
4 4.8
underway
336 4.1
slow
∞ 1.0
standstill
35 3.5

Surface Forms

off and running positive
off-and-running positive

Morphology

off + and + running

The components 'off' (indicating departure/start) and 'running' (functioning) together give a plausible sense of having started and now operating, so a learner who knows both words could often infer the general idea. However, the fixed collocation 'off and running' is a conventionalized idiom for 'started successfully and progressing well' rather than a strictly compositional phrase, so the relation is only partially predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Off and running comes from foot races: when the start signal sounds, the runners are off, away from the line, and running, moving fast. So, the phrase now means 'having started successfully and progressing well'.