Word.ws English Dictionary

on the uptake

on the uptake prepositional phrase: in understanding or in the ability to absorb new information; especially in the phrases "quick on the uptake" and "slow on the uptake".

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In understanding or in the ability to absorb new information; especially in the phrases "quick on the uptake" and "slow on the uptake".

Questions about on the uptake

What does on the uptake mean?
On the uptake means in understanding or in the ability to absorb new information; especially in the phrases "quick on the uptake" and "slow on the uptake".
What part of speech is on the uptake?
On the uptake is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the uptake in the dictionary

  1. on the turn
  2. on the turps
  3. on the up
  4. on the up and up
  5. on the up-and-up
  6. on the uptake
  7. on the verge
  8. on the verge of
  9. on the viretot
  10. on the wagon
  11. on the wallaby

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the uptake (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-on the uptake.ogg.

Cite this entry: “on the uptake.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_uptake. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.