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at a sitting

at a sitting idiom

At one time, during one period. For example, The cruise ship could feed about 500 passengers at a sitting, or We read the entire poem at a sitting. Since the word sitting implies just that posture, the term means “during a period when one is seated and engaged in a single continuous activity.”

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.