coat

coat and tie [for men] a jacket or sports

coat and necktie. (A standard of dress be-

tween casual and a suit.) My brother

was not wearing a coat and tie, and they

would not admit him into the restaurant.

I always carry a coat and tie in my car

just in case I have to dress up a little for

something.

cock-and-bull story a silly, made-up story;

a story that is a lie. Don’t give me that

cock-and-bull story. I asked for an ex-

planation, and all I got was your ridicu-

lous cock-and-bull story!

cock of the walk someone who acts more

important than others in a group. The

deputy manager was cock of the walk un-

til the new manager arrived. He loved

acting cock of the walk and ordering every-

one about.

cocky as the king of spades Go to (as)

cocky as the king of spades.

coffee and Danish a cup of coffee and a

Danish sweet roll. A few of us like to

have coffee and Danish before we start

work. Coffee and Danish is not my idea

of a good breakfast!

coffee-table book a book that is more

suitable for display than for reading, typ-

ically, an illustrated book left on the cof-

fee table for visitors to examine. This

book is more of a coffee-table book than an

art book. I prefer something more schol-

arly. We purchased a coffee-table book

for Jan’s birthday.

coffee, tea, or milk a choice of beverage.

(Originally used by airline personnel

when offering something to drink to the

passengers.) She asked me if I wanted

coffee, tea, or milk, and I chose just plain

water. Would you prefer coffee, tea, or

milk to go with your meal?

cold as a witch’s caress Go to (as) cold

as a witch’s caress.

cold as a witch’s tit Go to (as) cold as a

witch’s tit.

cold as marble Go to (as) cold as marble.

cold comfort no comfort or consolation at

all. She knows there are others worse off

than she is, but that’s cold comfort. It

was cold comfort to the student that oth-

ers had failed as badly as he did.

a cold fish a person who is distant and un-

feeling. (Informal or slang. Preceded by

be, become, seem like, or act like.) Bob

is so dull—a real cold fish. She hardly

ever speaks to anyone. She’s a cold fish.

cold, hard cash cash, not checks or

promises. (Informal.) I want to be paid

in cold, hard cash, and I want to be paid

now! Pay me now! Cash on the barrel-

head—cold, hard cash.

come about 1. to happen. How did this

come about? This came about due to the

severe weather. 2. [for a sailboat] to turn.

Look how easily this boat comes about.

Now, practice making the boat come

about.

come across someone or something and run

across someone or something to find some-

one or something; to discover someone

or something. John came across a book

he had been looking for. Where did you

run across that lovely skirt?

Come again. 1. Come back.; Return some

other time. I’m so glad you enjoyed our

party. Please come again sometime. The

store clerk gave me my change and my pur-

chase and said, “Thank you. Come again.”

2. Say it again. I did not hear you. (Folksy.

Usually Come again?) TOM: Hello,

Grandfather. GRANDFATHER: Come

again? You’ll have to talk louder. The

farmer looked at me and said, “Come

again?”

Come and get it! Dinner is ready. Come

and eat it! (Folksy.) A shout was heard

from the kitchen, “Come and get it!” No

one says “Come and get it!” at a formal

dinner.

come (a)round 1. finally to agree or con-

sent (to something). I thought he’d

never agree, but in the end he came

around. She came round only after we

argued for an hour. 2. to return to con-

sciousness; to wake up. He came

around after we threw cold water in his

face. The boxer was knocked out, but

came round in a few seconds.

come away empty-handed to return

without anything. (See also go away

empty-handed.) All right, go gambling.

Don’t come away empty-handed, though.

Go to the bank and ask for the loan

again. This time don’t come away empty-

handed.

come by something 1. to travel by a specific

carrier, such as a plane, a boat, or a car.

We came by train. It’s more relaxing.

Next time, we’ll come by plane. It’s faster.

2. to find or get something. How did

you come by that haircut? Where did

you come by that new shirt?

come by something honestly 1. to get some-

thing honestly. Don’t worry. I came by

this watch honestly. I have a feeling she

didn’t come by it honestly. 2. to inherit

something—a character trait—from

one’s parents. I know I’m mean. I came

by it honestly, though. She came by her

kindness honestly.

come down [for something] to descend (to

someone) through inheritance. All my

silverware came down to me from my

great-grandmother. The antique furni-

ture came down through my mother’s

family.

come down hard on someone or something to

attack vigorously; to scold someone se-

verely. Tom’s parents really came down

hard on him for coming home late. T Yes,

they came down on him hard.

come down in the world to lose one’s so-

cial position or financial standing. Mr.

Jones has really come down in the world

since he lost his job. If I were unem-

ployed, I’m sure I’d come down in the

world, too.

come down to earth to become realistic;

to become alert to what is going on

around one. (Informal.) You have very

good ideas, John, but you must come down

to earth. We can’t possibly afford any of

your suggestions. Pay attention to what

is going on. Come down to earth and join

the discussion.

come down to something to be reduced to

something; to amount to no more than

something. (Informal. Similar to boil

down to something.) It comes down to

whether you want to go to the movies or

stay at home and watch television. It

came down to either getting a job or go-

ing back to college.

come down with something to become ill

with some disease. I’m afraid I’m com-

ing down with a cold. I’ll probably come

down with pneumonia.

come from nowhere to come as a surprise

with no warning. The dogs came from

nowhere and attacked my cat.

whole set of problems came from nowhere.

There was no way we could have foreseen

them.

come full circle to return to the original

position or state of affairs. The family

sold the house generations ago, but things

have come full circle and one of their de-

scendants lives there now.  The em-

ployer’s power was reduced by the unions

at one point, but matters have come full

circle again.

come hell or high water no matter what

happens. (Informal. Use caution with

hell.) I’ll be there tomorrow, come hell

or high water. Come hell or high water,

I intend to have my own home.

come home (to roost) [for a problem] to

return to cause trouble [for someone].

(See also The chickens have come home

to roost.) As I feared, all my problems

came home to roost. Yes, problems all

come home eventually.

come home to someone to become appar-

ent to someone; to be realized by some-

one. The truth of the matter suddenly

came home to me. It all came home to

me while I was taking a bath. Suddenly I

understood everything.

come in a body and arrive in a body to

arrive as a group. All the guests came

in a body.  Things become very busy

when everyone arrives in a body.

come in for something and fall in for some-

thing to receive something; to acquire

something. Billy came in for a good

bawling-out when he arrived home.

Mary came in for a tremendous amount of

money when her aunt died. Sally fell in

for a lot of trouble when she bought a used

car.

come in out of the rain to become alert

and sensible; to come down to earth.

(Also literal. See also not know enough to

come in out of the rain.) Pay attention,

Sally! Come in out of the rain! Bill will

fail if he doesn’t come in out of the rain

and study.

come into its own Go to come into one’s

own.

come into one’s own and come into its

own 1. [for one] to achieve one’s proper

recognition. Sally finally came into her

own. After years of trying, she finally

came into her own. 2. [for something] to

achieve its proper recognition. The

idea of an electric car finally came into its

Film as an art medium finally

came into its own.

come into something to inherit something.

(Also literal. See also come in for some-

thing, which is very close in meaning.)

Jane came into a small fortune when her

aunt died. Mary came into a house and

a new car when her rich uncle died.

come of age to reach an age when one is

old enough to own property, get married,

and sign legal contracts. When Jane

comes of age, she will buy her own car.

Sally, who came of age last month, entered

into an agreement to purchase a house.

come off to happen; to take place. (Also

literal referring to something that be-

comes disconnected. Informal.) What

time does this party come off ? How did

your speech come off ? It came off very

well.

Come off it! Tell the truth!; Be serious!

(Slang.) Come off it, Bill! I don’t believe

you! Come on, Jane. Come off it! That

can’t be true.

come off second-best to win second

place or worse; to lose out to someone

else. John came off second-best in the

race. Why do I always come off second-

best in an argument with you?

come on to hurry up; to follow (someone).

Come on! I’m in a hurry. If you don’t

come on, we’ll miss the train.

come on like gangbusters to approach

people in a wild and exciting manner; to

seem very active and pushy when ap-

proaching people. Why is she so un-

polished? She comes on like gangbusters

and frightens people away. The people

in this town come on like gangbusters and

they seem very rude at first.

come on somehow to appear as having cer-

tain characteristics to other people. (In-

formal. Especially with strong, which

means “intensely.” See also the previous

entry.) Jane comes on like a very un-

pleasant person.  She really comes on

strong. John doesn’t care how he comes

on.

come on the scene and arrive on the

scene to appear in a certain area or

place. (Used in particular in police re-

ports or dramatizations of police re-

ports.) What time did the picnickers

come on the scene? The witness arrived

on the scene at about 7:13 in the evening.

come out 1. to become; to turn out. (Also

literal.) We’ll just have to wait and see

how things come out. I’m baking a cake.

I hope it comes out okay. 2. to be pre-

sented to the public; to be released to the

public. My new book came out last

month. Mary Ann Smith came out last

fall at a lovely party. 3. Go to come out

(of the closet).

come out ahead to end up with a profit;

to improve one’s situation. (Compare this

with break even.) I hope you come out

ahead with your investments. It took a

lot of money to buy the house, but I think

I’ll come out ahead.

come out for someone or something to an-

nounce one’s support for someone or

something. I’m coming out for Senator

Brown’s reelection. All the employees

came out for a longer workweek.

come out in the wash to work out all

right. (Informal. This means that prob-

lems or difficulties will go away as dirt

goes away in the process of washing.)

Don’t worry about that problem. It’ll all

come out in the wash. This trouble will

go away. It’ll come out in the wash.

come out of left field [for a problem or

dilemma] to come from an unexpected

place. This new problem came out of left

field. We were really surprised. Your re-

marks came out of left field. I can’t un-

derstand your complaint.

come out of the blue to appear suddenly

as if falling from the sky. (The blue refers

to the blue sky.) This idea came out of

the blue, and I think it is a good one.

Sally showed up at the party even though

no one told her where it was. She just came

out of the blue.

come out (of the closet) 1. to reveal one’s

secret interests. Tom Brown came out

of the closet and admitted that he likes to

knit. It’s time that all of you lovers of

chamber music came out of the closet and

attended our concerts. 2. to reveal that

one is a homosexual. (See also come out.)

Tom surprised his parents when he came

out of the closet. It was difficult for him

to come out of the closet.

come out with something to say something;

to announce something. Sometimes

Jane comes out with the most interesting

comments. Jane came out with a long

string of curse words.

come over 1. to join this party or side; to

change sides or affiliation. Tom was

formerly an enemy spy, but last year he

came over. I thought that Bill was a Re-

publican. When did he come over? 2. to

come for a visit. See if Ann wants to

come over. I can’t come over. I’m busy.

come someone’s way to come to someone.

I wish a large sum of money would come

my way. I hope that no bad luck comes

my way.

come to to become conscious; to wake up.

We threw a little cold water in his face,

and he came to immediately. Come to,

John! You act as if you were in a daze.

come to a bad end to have a disaster, per-

haps one that is deserved or expected; to

die an unfortunate death. My old car

came to a bad end. Its engine burned up.

The evil merchant came to a bad end.

come to a dead end to come to an ab-

solute stopping point. The building

project came to a dead end. The street

came to a dead end. We were driving

along and came to a dead end.

come to a head to come to a crucial point;

to come to a point when a problem must

be solved. Remember my problem with

my neighbors? Well, last night the whole

thing came to a head. The battle be-

tween the two factions of the city council

came to a head yesterday.

come to an end to stop; to finish.

party came to an end at midnight.

life came to an end late yesterday.

come to an untimely end to come to an

early death. Poor Mr. Jones came to an

untimely end in a car accident. Cancer

caused Mrs. Smith to come to an untimely

end.

come to a pretty pass to develop into a

bad, unfortunate, or difficult situation.

Things have come to a pretty pass when

people have to beg in the streets. When

parents are afraid of their children, things

have come to a pretty pass.