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on the dot

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*on the dot

Fig. at exactly the right time. (*Typically: be somewhere ~; arrive (somewhere) ~; get somewhere ~; see someone ~; show up ~.) I'll be there at noon on the dot. I expect to see you here at eight o'clock on the dot.

See also: dot, on

on the dot

(spoken)

exactly You've got to be here at 9 on the dot or we won't make the train.

Usage notes: used mainly of time and in the form of the example

See also: dot, on

on the dot

if something happens at a particular time on the dot, it happens at exactly that time Shops in this part of the city shut at 5.30 pm on the dot. (sometimes + of ) The first customers arrived on the dot of 9 am.

See also: dot, on

on the dot

Exactly on time, as in We had to be there at eight on the dot. The dot in this idiom is the mark appearing on the face of a watch or clock indicating the time in question. It may come from the earlier to a dot, meaning "exactly" since the early 1700s but no longer heard today. [c. 1900] Also see on the button.

See also: dot, on