case

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.