Wiktionary
to the quick
adv. 1 To the level of living tissue. 2 Very deeply; at one's most sensitive level of feeling.
Usage examples of "to the quick".
In some instances, to the quick, observant eye, those linear marks, as in a veritable engraving, but afford the ground for far other delineations.
The answer stung both the marshal and the bishop to the quick, the one as contriver of the scurvy trick played upon the bishop's brother in regard of his niece, the other as thereby outraged in the person of his brother's niece.
My horny, cracked, rheumatic old hand, with its big joints, and its short nails all worn down to the quick with hard work - like the hand of the beautiful princess!