on the spot

phrase

1

: at once : immediately

was hired on the spot

2

: at the place of action

a reporter who was on the spot

3

a

: in a responsible or accountable position

The coach was put on the spot for the team's latest loss.

b

: in a difficult or trying situation

The unexpected question put me on the spot.

Examples of on the spot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That allows capabilities such as rotating the vehicle almost on the spot and maintaining directional stability when a tire suddenly loses pressure. — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026

An artist colors three frames by hand, and the system learns that show’s line shapes and color palette on the spot in about 90 seconds, then colors each remaining frame in around 15 seconds. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Nov. 2026

And Tom, a lot of the time, is making the song up on the spot. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 2026

QatarEnergy has ​already been buying LNG on the spot market from Venture Global ​to supply some of its customers. — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for on the spot

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• astronaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot