about to (do something)
Ready or intending to do something imminently or in the near future. I was just about to take out the garbage when you called to remind me! She's just about to start her new job this morning. Hey, can you answer the door? I'm just about to take the roast out of the oven.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*about to do something
in the process of doing something. (*Typically: be ~; get ~.) I'd better be about my yard work.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
about to
1. Ready to, on the verge of, as in I was about to leave when it began to rain, or He hasn't finished yet but he's about to. This usage was first recorded in Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible (Joshua 18:8).
2. not about to. Having no intention of doing something, as in The shop steward was not about to cross the picket line, or Are you staying longer?-No, I'm not about to. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.