Quick-handed

adj, adv

adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Quick and dextrous.

    "Ironically, the successful conviction on the part of Columbia's graduate students to preserve for posterity what I believe is perhaps the most thorough-going and most painlessly digested summary of economic-thought developments has never had Professor Mitchell's backing, and before his death Mitchell disclaimed any responsibility for errors that might have slipped into the quick-handed note taker's record since Mitchell had not even read what must have become the treasured possession of many a mature intellect among the large number of his students from both this country and abroad."

  2. 2
    Done quickly and efficiently.

    "I should like first to thank Cristina Gutierrez, of my office staff, for her tireless and quick-handed work transcribing the hundreds of tape-cassettes on which the various drafts of the present work have been dictated."

Adverb
  1. 1
    Quickly and efficiently.

    "They drain the stalk out with their arms, quick-handed, and cleanse it with a stream of mead and filters."

Example

More examples

"Ironically, the successful conviction on the part of Columbia's graduate students to preserve for posterity what I believe is perhaps the most thorough-going and most painlessly digested summary of economic-thought developments has never had Professor Mitchell's backing, and before his death Mitchell disclaimed any responsibility for errors that might have slipped into the quick-handed note taker's record since Mitchell had not even read what must have become the treasured possession of many a mature intellect among the large number of his students from both this country and abroad."

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.