AT THE READY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of At the ready

"At the ready" Quotes from Famous Books

... Still holding his weapon at the ready, he had circled round the stack till his view commanded all its recesses. Then he looked up and down the drain, peered under the culvert, and cast his eye across the fallow in every direction. Apparently satisfied, he threw the gun on his shoulder, and started off toward the lower ...

— Such is Life • Joseph Furphy

... were watching me, that soundless feet dogged my trail. I am neither nervous nor highstrung; but the burden of responsibility upon me weighed heavily, so that I was more cautious than is my wont. I turned often to right and left and rear lest I be surprised, and I carried my rifle at the ready in my hand. Once I could have sworn that among the many creatures dimly perceived amidst the shadows of the wood I saw a human figure dart from one cover to another, but ...

— The People that Time Forgot • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... a hearty but musical laugh at the ready dignity of the reply, but the boy's mouth dropped once more in consternation, as words came ...

— The Boy from Hollow Hut - A Story of the Kentucky Mountains • Isla May Mullins

... a wee bit afore they challenge the Scottish team!" murmured Macintosh, as he dropped on one knee behind the stone over which he held his Martini-Henry at the ready, his eye being fixed on the ...

— For Fortune and Glory - A Story of the Soudan War • Lewis Hough

... spite of his asseverations. She made further enquiries, and at length was informed by a servant, of the real state of the case. Under the immediate shock which the painful certainty gave her, her first impulse was to repair to him at the ready-furnished house he had provided for his new mistress. What was the particular nature of their conference I am unable to relate. It is sufficient to say that the wretchedness of the night which succeeded ...

— Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman • William Godwin