case in point an example of what one is
talking about. Now, as a case in point,
let’s look at nineteenth-century England.
Fireworks can be dangerous. For a case
in point, look what happened to Bob Smith
last week.
case of mistaken identity the incorrect
identification of someone. It is simply
a case of mistaken identity. I am not the
criminal you want to arrest. This is a case
of mistaken identity.
cash-and-carry a method of buying and
selling goods at the retail level where the
buyer pays cash for the goods and carries
chair cash-and-carry before I realized that
there was no way to get it home.
cash in one’s chips to die. (Also literal.
Slang. From an expression used in gam-
bling, chiefly poker.) Bob cashed in his
chips yesterday. I’m too young to cash in
my chips.
cash in (on something) to earn a lot of
money at something; to make a profit at
something. (See also cash something in.)
This is a good year for farming, and you
can cash in on it if you’re smart. It’s too
late to cash in on that particular clothing
fad.
cash or credit [a purchase made] either by
paying cash or by putting the charges on
a credit account. When Fred had all his
purchases assembled on the counter, the
clerk asked, “Cash or credit?” That store
does not give you a choice of cash or credit.
They want cash only.
cash something in to exchange something
with cash value for the amount of money
it is worth. I should have cashed my
bonds in years ago. T It’s time to cash in
your U.S. savings bonds. T I need to cash
in an insurance policy.
cast about for someone or something Go to
cast around for someone or something.
cast around for someone or something and
cast about for someone or something to
seek someone or something; to seek a
thought or an idea. (Refers to a type of
person rather than a specific person.)
John is casting around for a new cook. The
old one quit. Bob is casting about for a
new car. Mary cast about for a way to
win the contest.
cast in the same mold very similar. The
two sisters are cast in the same mold—
equally mean. All the members of the
family are cast in the same mold and they
all end up in prison.
cast one’s lot in with someone to join in with
someone and accept whatever happens.
Mary cast her lot with the group going
to Spain. They had a wonderful time. T I
decided to cast in my lot with the home
team this year.
cast (one’s) pearls before swine to waste
something good on someone who does-
n’t care about it. (From a biblical quota-
tion.) To sing for them is to cast pearls
before swine. To serve them French cui-
sine is like casting one’s pearls before swine.
cast one’s vote to vote; to place one’s bal-
lot in the ballot box. The citizens cast
their votes for president. The wait in line
to cast one’s vote was almost an hour.
cast the first stone to make the first crit-
icism; to be the first to attack. (From a
biblical quotation.) Well, I don’t want
to be the one to cast the first stone, but she
sang horribly. John always casts the first
stone. Does he think he’s perfect?
Cat got your tongue? Why do you not
speak?; Speak up and answer my ques-
tion! (Folksy.) Answer me! What’s the
matter, cat got your tongue? Why don’t
you speak up? Cat got your tongue?
catch fire to begin to burn; to ignite. If
the wood were not so wet, it would catch
fire more easily. The curtains blew
against the f lame of the candle and caught
fire.
catch forty winks and catch some Zs;
take forty winks to take a nap; to get
some sleep. (Informal. See also forty
winks.) I’ll just catch forty winks before
getting ready for the party. Tom always
tries to catch some Zs before going out for
a late evening. I think I’ll go to bed and
take forty winks. See you in the morning.
Why don’t you go take forty winks and
call me in about an hour?
catch hell Go to get the devil.
catch it to get into trouble and receive pun-
ishment. (Informal. See also get the
devil.) I know I’m going to catch it when
I get home. Bob hit Billy in the face. He
really caught it from the teacher.
catch one off one’s guard Go to catch some-
one off guard.
catch one’s breath to resume one’s normal
breathing after exertion; to return to nor-
mal after being busy or very active. I
don’t have time to catch my breath. I ran
so fast that it took ten minutes to catch my
breath.
catch one’s death (of cold) and take one’s
death of cold to contract a cold; to catch
a serious cold. (See also catch cold.) If
I go out in this weather, I’ll catch my death
of cold. Dress up warm or you’ll take
your death of cold. Put on your rain-
coat or you’ll catch your death.
catch on (to someone or something) to figure
someone or something out; to solve a
puzzle; to see through an act of decep-
Mary caught on to Bob and his
tricks. Ann caught on to the woman’s
dishonest plan. The woman thought
that Ann wouldn’t catch on.
catch sight of someone or something to see
someone or something briefly; to get a
glimpse of someone or something. I
caught sight of the rocket just before it f lew
out of sight. Ann caught sight of the rob-
ber as he ran out of the bank.
catch someone in the act (of doing something)
to catch a person doing something illegal
or private. (See also in the act (of doing
something).) They know who set the fire.
They caught someone in the act.
caught Tom in the act of stealing a car.
catch someone napping to find someone
unprepared. (Informal. Literally, to dis-
cover someone “asleep.”) The enemy
soldiers caught our army napping. The
thieves caught the security guard napping.
catch someone red-handed to catch a per-
son in the act of doing something wrong.
(See also caught red-handed.) Tom was
stealing the car when the police drove by
and caught him red-handed. Mary tried
to cash a forged check at the bank, and the
teller caught her red-handed.
catch some Zs Go to catch forty winks.
catch the devil Go to get the devil.
catch up (to someone or something) and
catch up (with someone or something) to
move faster in order to reach someone
or something ahead, moving in the same
direction. The red car caught up with
the blue one. Bill caught up with Ann,
and they walked to the bank together.
He had to run to catch up to her.
catch up (with someone or something) Go to
catch up (to someone or something).
cause a commotion Go to cause a stir.
cause (some) eyebrows to raise to shock
people; to surprise and dismay people.
(See also raise some eyebrows.) John
caused eyebrows to raise when he married
a poor girl from Toledo. If you want to
cause some eyebrows to raise, just start
singing as you walk down the street.
cave in (to someone or something) [for some-
one] to yield and give in to someone else
or to something. (Also literal in reference
to the collapse of caves, tunnels, ceilings,
Mr. Franklin always caves in to
Mrs. Franklin. It’s easier to cave in than
to go on fighting. Tom caved in to the
pressure of work.
cease and desist to stop doing something
and stay stopped. (A legal phrase.) The
judge ordered the merchant to cease and
desist the deceptive practices. When they
were ordered to cease and desist, they fi-
nally stopped.
chalk something up to something to recognize
something as the cause of something else.
We chalked her bad behavior up to her
recent illness. T I had to chalk up the loss
to experience. T I chalked up my defeat
to my impatience.
chance something to risk doing something;
to try doing something. I don’t usually
ride horses, but this time I will chance it.
Bob didn’t have reservations, but he
went to the airport anyway, chancing a
cancellation.
change hands [for something] to be sold
or passed from owner to owner. How
many times has this house changed hands
in the last ten years? We built this house
in 1920, and it has never changed hands.
a change of pace an addition of some va-
riety in one’s life. Going to the beach on
the weekend will be a change of pace.
The doctor says I need a change of pace.
a change of scenery a move to a differ-
ent place, where the scenery is different
or where things in general are different.
I thought I would go to the country for
a change of scenery. A change of scenery
would help me relax and organize my life.
change someone’s mind to cause a person to
think differently (about someone or
something). Tom thought Mary was
unkind, but an evening out with her
changed his mind. I can change my
mind if I want to. I don’t have to stick with
an idea.
change someone’s tune to change the man-
ner of a person, usually from bad to
good, or from rude to pleasant. The
teller was most unpleasant until she
learned that I’m a bank director. Then she
changed her tune. “I will help change
your tune by fining you $150,” said the
judge to the rude defendant.
change the subject to begin talking about
something different. They changed the
subject suddenly when the person whom
they had been discussing entered the room.
We’ll change the subject if we are em-
barrassing you.
chapter and verse detailed, in reference to
sources of information. (A reference to
the method of referring to biblical text.)
He gave chapter and verse for his rea-
sons for disputing that Shakespeare had
written the play. The suspect gave chap-
ter and verse of his associate’s activities.
charge someone or something up 1. [with
someone] to get someone excited and en-
thusiastic. T The speaker charged up the
crowd to go out and raise money. Mrs.
Smith tried to charge her husband up
about getting a job. 2. [with something]
to restore a charge to an electrical stor-
age battery. (Also without up.) T They
charged up the battery overnight. My
car charges the battery whenever the en-
gine runs.
charged up 1. [of someone] excited; en-
thusiastic The crowd was really charged
up. Tom is so tired that he cannot get
charged up about anything. 2. [of some-
thing] full of electrical power. (Also
without up.) The battery is completely
charged up. If the battery isn’t charged,
the car won’t start.
charm the pants off (of ) someone to use
charming behavior to persuade someone
to do something. (Use with caution.)
She is so nice. She just charms the pants off
of you. He will try to charm the pants
off you, but you can still refuse to take the
job if you don’t want to do it.
check in (on someone or something) Go to
look in (on someone or something).
check into something Go to look into some-
thing.
check out to be verified or authenticated.
I spent all afternoon working with my
checkbook, trying to get the figures to check
out. The police wouldn’t believe that I
am who I say I am until they made a few
telephone calls to see if my story checked
out.
checks and balances a system where
power is kept in control and balance
among the various branches of govern-
ment. The newspaper editor claimed
that the system of checks and balances
built into our Constitution has been sub-
verted by party politics. We depend on
checks and balances in government to keep
despots from seizing control of the
government.
cheek by jowl side by side; close together.
The pedestrians had to walk cheek by
jowl along the narrow streets. The two
families lived cheek by jowl in one house.
cheer someone on to give words or shouts of
encouragement to someone who is trying
to do something. John was leading in
the race, and the whole crowd was cheer-
ing him on. Sally was doing so well in
her performance that I wanted to cheer her
on.
cheer someone up to make a sad person
happy. When Bill was sick, Ann tried
to cheer him up by reading to him. T In-
terest rates went up, and that cheered up
all the bankers.
cheer up to become more happy. Things
are bad for you now, but you’ll cheer up
when they get better. Cheer up, Tom!
Things can’t be that bad.
cheesed off bored; depressed; annoyed.
He was cheesed off with his job. She was
cheesed off when she missed the bus.
private out. T The boss is always chewing
out somebody. T The coach ate out the en-
tire football team because of their poor
playing.
chew the rag Go to chew the fat.
No comments:
Post a Comment