Word.ws English Dictionary

think on one's feet

think on one's feet verb: when one is in the middle of a process, activity, or conversation, to adjust rapidly, effectively, and intelligently to new developments or changing circumstances.

Verb

think on one's feet (third-person singular simple present thinks on one's feet, present participle thinking on one's feet, simple past and past participle thought on one's feet)

  1. (idiomatic) When one is in the middle of a process, activity, or conversation, to adjust rapidly, effectively, and intelligently to new developments or changing circumstances.
    • "There will be wine," said Medora. "Drink it. There may be toasts. Be ready to respond."
      Abner could think on his feet—speech would not fail.1901, Henry B. Fuller, chapter 24, in Under the Skylights
    • The political canvass had given freedom to his wings; he had learned to think on his feet, to meet interruption, to parry in debate.c. 1919, Elbert Hubbard, “Richard Cobden”, in Little Journeys, Volume 9: Great Reformers

Synonyms of think on one's feet

Forms of think on one's feet

third-person singular presentthinks on one's feet
present participlethinking on one's feet
past participlethought on one's feet
pastthought on one's feet

Questions about think on one's feet

What does think on one's feet mean?
Think on one's feet means when one is in the middle of a process, activity, or conversation, to adjust rapidly, effectively, and intelligently to new developments or changing circumstances.
What part of speech is think on one's feet?
Think on one's feet is a verb.
What is the past tense of think on one's feet?
The past tense of think on one's feet is thought on one's feet.

Words near think on one's feet in the dictionary

  1. think nothing of it
  2. think of
  3. think of England
  4. think of the children
  5. think on
  6. think on one's feet
  7. think one hung the moon
  8. think one is God's own cousin
  9. think one is it
  10. think one's shit doesn't stink
  11. think out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: think on one's feet (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-think on one's feet.ogg.

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