lickety-split

[lik-i-tee-split] /ˈlɪk ɪ tiˈsplɪt/
adverb, Informal.
1.
at great speed; rapidly:
to travel lickety-split.
Origin
1835-45, Americanism; perhaps dial. licket rag (for wiping in haste, with one lick) + -y1 + split, as in split second
British Dictionary definitions for lickety-split

lickety-split

/ˈlɪkɪtɪˈsplɪt/
adverb
1.
(US & Canadian, informal) very quickly; speedily
Word Origin
C19: from lick + split
Word Origin and History for lickety-split
adj.

1852, American English (earlier lickety-cut, lickety-click, and simply licketie, 1817), from lick (n.1) in dialectal sense "very fast sprint in a race" (1809) on the notion of a "lick" as a fast thing (cf. blink).

Slang definitions & phrases for lickety-split

lickety-split

adverb

Very fast: Felt he just had to get a lawyer lickity-split

[1859+; fr lick, ''speed, a spurt of speed,'' found by 1809; earlier forms lickety-cut, lickety-click, lickety liner, and lickety switch are found in the 1830s and 1840s]