"on the double"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Astoundingly, not in OED (though the considerably earlier "at the double" is at _double_. 3.i.):
 
1918 James Belton & E. G. Odell _Hunting the Hun_ (N.Y.: D. Appleton) 49: Stretcher bearer, stretcher bearer, on the double.
 
Belton and Odell were officers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
 
JL




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