Idioms

hit the mark

hit the mark

1. Literally, to hit a target. The pitcher is having trouble hitting the mark tonight. I hit the mark last time and then totally fired over the target, sheesh. A: "Wow, how did all of those biathletes hit the mark? They make it look so easy." B: "Well, I imagine they practice shooting targets with a rifle far more than we do!"
2. To have the desired effect. Based on that rousing round of applause, your speech really hit the mark. If you don't hit the mark when you talk to the kids, they'll just tune you out. If you hit the mark, the board won't be able to turn down your proposal.
3. To be correct or accurate. You really hit the mark with that answer—good job. Elizabeth hit the mark when she suggested that we try expanding our core demographic. We've been way too narrow in our marketing recently. A: "Whoa, you hit the mark when you predicted that character wasn't really dead." B: "Eh, is anyone ever really dead on a soap opera?"
See also: hit, mark
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

hit the mark

1. If something hits the mark, it is good and achieves what it was intended to achieve. It's the only track on the album which fails to hit the mark. Some of the jokes are gross and some aren't. Some hit the mark brilliantly and others miss by a mile.
2. If a word or description hits the mark, it is accurate. Is there a single word that captures the spirit of this town? `Hospitable' probably hits the mark. Note: The `mark' in this expression is the target used in shooting or archery (= a sport in which arrows are shot from a bow).
See also: hit, mark
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

hit the mark

be successful in an attempt or accurate in a guess.
The mark referred to here is a target in shooting.
See also: hit, mark
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌhit/ˌmiss the ˈmark

succeed/fail in achieving or guessing something: He blushed furiously and Robyn knew she had hit the mark.
See also: hit, mark, miss
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also:
References in classic literature
Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.
True, one portrait may hit the mark much nearer than another, but none can hit it with any very considerable degree of exactness.
Something--he was unable to r ealize what it was--told him, in the moment when they looked at each other, that his suspicion had hit the mark.
"Show us some of your skill, and if you can hit the mark here's twenty silver pennies for you.
Franklin like a shot that had hit the mark. Though he didn't acknowledge it, I saw that I had made him uneasy, plainly enough, in his face.
You are welcome to form your judgment of me, and I may use my conjectures touching you, though neither of our shafts may hit the mark they are shot at.
It might have been so--guesses less likely have been made at the truth, and have hit the mark. It is, at any rate, certain that he left England, never to return again.
But D'Artagnan was impassible and Porthos motionless; the thrusts aimed so skillfully were parried by an able adversary; not one hit the mark. Nevertheless, both began to feel the fatigue of such a contest and the announcement of supper was well received by everybody.
Rochester, to witness their repeated failure--herself unconscious that they did fail; vainly fancying that each shaft launched hit the mark, and infatuatedly pluming herself on success, when her pride and self-complacency repelled further and further what she wished to allure--to witness THIS, was to be at once under ceaseless excitation and ruthless restraint.
We aim above the mark to hit the mark. Every act hath some falsehood of exaggeration in it.
for there's nothing but psychology to support his evidence--that's almost unseemly with his ugly mug, while you hit the mark exactly, for the rascal is an inveterate drunkard and notoriously so.
While some of her TV projects haven't quite hit the mark, she remains a chirpy and pleasant presence on our screens, and it's easy to see why the Beeb snapped her up and turned her into a star after her success on The Great British Bake Off.
"Every penny has to hit the mark, delivering for the UK taxpayer and the people around the world that desperately need it.
He hit the mark of 80.75, with six attempts of 73.52, 76.73, 72.20, 80.75,77.56,72.20 respectively.
He hit the mark of 80.75 , with six attempts of 73.52, 76.73, 72.20, 80.75,77.56,72.20 respectively.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.