Could be worse. satisfactory, but not as
bad as it could be. Q: How are things?
A: Could be worse. Things could be
worse, and in a little while, they probably
will be.
could do with someone or something to want
or need someone or something; to bene-
fit from someone or something. (Com-
pare this with go for someone or something.)
I could do with a nice cool drink right
now. I could do with some help on this
project. This house could do with some
cleaning up. They said they could do
with John to help them finish faster. My
car could do with a bigger engine.
couldn’t be better completely satisfactory.
I feeling great and couldn’t be better.
We had a wonderful time and our vaca-
tion couldn’t have been better.
couldn’t be happier totally happy. We
are delighted. Couldn’t be happier. They
both couldn’t be happier since they got
married.
could(n’t) care less unable to care at all.
(Informal. Could care less is almost
slang.) John couldn’t care less whether
he goes to the party or not. So she won
first place. I couldn’t care less. I could
care less if I live or die.
count noses to count people. I’ll tell you
how many people are here after I count
noses. Everyone is here. Let’s count noses
so we can order hamburgers.
count one’s chickens before they hatch
to plan how to utilize good results before
they have occurred. (Frequently used in
the negative.) You’re way ahead of your-
self. Don’t count your chickens before they
hatch. You may be disappointed if you
count your chickens before they hatch.
count someone out (for something) to exclude
someone from something. (Compare this
with count someone in (on something).)
Please count me out for the party next Sat-
urday. I have other plans. You should
count the whole family out. We are going
to the beach for the weekend.
a couple of two; two or three; a few; some;
not many. Bill grabbed a couple of beers
from the refrigerator. I hung a couple
of pictures on the wall.
course of action the procedures or se-
quence of actions that someone will fol-
low to accomplish a goal. I plan to take
a course of action that will produce the best
results. The committee planned a course
of action that would reduce costs and elim-
inate employees.
cover a lot of ground and cover a lot of
territory 1. to travel over a great dis-
tance; to investigate a wide expanse of
land. The prospectors covered a lot of
ground, looking for gold. My car can
cover a lot of ground in one day. 2. to deal
with much information and many facts.
The history lecture covered a lot of
ground today. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin
always cover a lot of ground when they
argue.
cover a lot of territory Go to cover a lot
of ground.
cover for someone 1. to make excuses for
someone; to conceal someone’s errors.
If I miss class, please cover for me. If
you’re late, I’ll cover for you. 2. to handle
someone else’s work. Dr. Johnson’s
partner agreed to cover for him during his
vacation. I’m on duty this afternoon.
Will you please cover for me? I have a doc-
tor’s appointment.
cover something up to conceal something.
(Also literal.) T They covered up the truth
about the crime. We’ll cover this little
matter up and make up a story for the
press.
cover the territory Go to cover the
waterfront.
cover the waterfront and cover the ter-
ritory to deal with many things, much
space, or much information from many
points of view. (Informal.) That lecture
really covered the waterfront. I could
hardly follow it. Why can’t she stick to
the point? She has to cover the territory
every time she talks.
cozy up (to someone) to be extra friendly
with someone, perhaps in hope of special
favors in return. (Informal or slang.)
Look at that lawyer cozying up to the
judge! Lawyers who cozy up like that
usually get into big trouble.
crack a book to open a book to study.
(Slang. Almost always in the negative.)
I passed that test with an A, and I didn’t
even crack a book. If you think you can
get through college without cracking a
book, you’re wrong.
crack a smile to smile a little, perhaps re-
luctantly. (Informal.) She cracked a
smile, so I knew she was kidding. The
soldier cracked a smile at the wrong time
and had to march for an hour as
punishment.
crack someone or something up 1. [with some-
thing] to crash something; to destroy
something (in an accident). The dri-
ver cracked the car up in an accident. T
The pilot cracked up the plane. 2. [with
someone] to make someone laugh. She
told a joke that really cracked us up. T I
cracked up my history class with a silly
remark.
crack something wide open to expose and
reveal some great wrongdoing. (Also lit-
eral.) The police cracked the drug ring
wide open. The newspaper story cracked
the trouble at city hall wide open.
crack up 1. [for a plane, boat, car, etc.] to
crash. The plane cracked up in the
storm. The boat cracked up on the rocks.
2. [for someone] to break out in laugh-
ter. The audience really cracked up dur-
ing the second act. The class cracked up
when I told my joke, but the teacher did-
n’t like it. 3. to go crazy. (Slang.) The
mayor cracked up after only a year in of-
fice. I was afraid the mayor would crack
up because of too much work.
crank something out to produce something;
to make something in a casual and me-
chanical way. (Slang.) John can crank a
lot of work out in a single day. T That fac-
tory keeps cranking out cars even though
no one buys them.
crazy as a betsy bug Go to (as) crazy as
a betsy bug.
crazy as a loon Go to (as) crazy as a loon.
crazy as a peach-orchard boar Go to (as)
crazy as a peach-orchard boar.
crazy for someone or something Go to crazy
about someone or something.
the cream of the crop the best of all.
This particular car is the cream of the crop.
The kids are very bright. They are the
cream of the crop.
create an uproar and make an uproar to
cause an outburst or sensation. (Espe-
cially with such.) The dog got into
church and made an uproar. Her poo-
dle created an uproar in the restaurant.
Why did you make such an uproar?
create a scene Go to make a scene.
create a stink (about something) and
make a stink (about something); raise a
stink (about something) to make a major
issue out of something; to make much
over something; to make a lot of com-
plaints and criticisms about something.
(Slang. Compare this with make a federal
case out of something.) Tom created a
stink about Bob’s remarks. Why did he
make a stink about that? Tom is always
trying to raise a stink.
creature comforts things that make peo-
ple comfortable. The hotel room was
sparse, but all the creature comforts were
there. The entire country of Adonia
seemed to lack the expected creature
comforts.
a credit to someone or something someone or
something that is of value or benefit.
(Preceded by be, become, or seem like.)
I always want to be a credit to my school.
John is not what you would call a credit
to his family.
a crick in one’s back a twisted or cramped
place in the back that causes pain. I
can’t move! I’ve got a crick in my back!
I had a crick in my back all night and I
couldn’t sleep.
a crick in one’s neck a twisted place or a
cramp in the neck that causes pain. I
got a crick in my neck from sleeping in a
draft. When I read on the plane, I get a
crick in my neck.
crooked as a barrel of fishhooks Go to
(as) crooked as a barrel of fishhooks.
crooked as a dog’s hind leg Go to (as)
crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
crooked as a fishhook Go to (as) crooked
as a fishhook.
cross a bridge before one comes to it to
worry excessively about something before
it happens. (Note the variation in the ex-
amples.) There is no sense in crossing
that bridge before you come to it. She’s
always crossing bridges before coming to
them. She needs to learn to relax.
cross a bridge when one comes to it to
deal with a problem only when one is
faced with the problem. (Note the varia-
tion in the examples.) Please wait and
cross that bridge when you come to it.
He shouldn’t worry about it now. He can
cross that bridge when he comes to it.
cross-examine someone to ask someone
questions in great detail; to question a
suspect or a witness at great length.
The police cross-examined the suspect for
three hours. The lawyer plans to cross-
examine the witness tomorrow morning.
cross one’s fingers Go to keep one’s fingers
crossed (for someone or something).
cross one’s heart (and hope to die) to
pledge or vow that the truth is being told.
It’s true, cross my heart and hope to die.
It’s really true—cross my heart.
cross someone’s mind Go to pass through
someone’s mind.
cross someone up to give someone trouble;
to defy or betray someone. (Also without
up.) You really crossed me up when you
told Tom what I said. Please don’t cross
me up again.
cross swords (with someone) (on something)
to enter into an argument with someone.
I don’t want to cross swords with Tom
on this matter. The last time we crossed
swords, we had a terrible time.
cross the Rubicon to do something that
inevitably commits one to following a
certain course of action. (The crossing of
the River Rubicon by Julius Caesar in-
evitably involved him in a war with the
senate in 49 b.c.) Jane crossed the
Rubicon by signing the contract. Find
another job before you cross the Rubicon
and resign from this one.
crushed by something demoralized; with
hurt feelings. (Also literal.) The whole
family was completely crushed by the news.
I was just crushed by your attitude. I
thought we were friends.
the crux of the matter the central issue
of the matter. (Crux is an old word mean-
ing “cross.”) All right, this is the crux of
the matter. It’s about time that we
looked at the crux of the matter.
cry before one is hurt to cry or complain
before one is injured. Bill always cries
before he’s hurt. There is no point in cry-
ing before one is hurt.
cry bloody murder to scream as if some-
thing very serious has happened. (See
also scream bloody murder.) Now that
Bill is really hurt, he’s crying bloody mur-
der. There is no point in crying bloody
murder about the bill if you aren’t going to
pay it.
cry over spilled milk to be unhappy about
something that cannot be undone. (Also
literal.) I’m sorry that you broke your
bicycle, Tom. But there is nothing that can
be done now. Don’t cry over spilled milk.
Ann is always crying over spilled milk.
cry wolf to cry or complain about some-
thing when nothing is really wrong.
Pay no attention. She’s just crying wolf
again. Don’t cry wolf too often. No one
will come.
crying need for someone or something a def-
inite or desperate need for someone or
something. There is a crying need for
someone to come in and straighten things
out. All the people in that area have a
crying need for better housing.
a crying shame a very unfortunate situa-
tion; a real shame. It’s a crying shame
that people cannot afford adequate hous-
ing. That everyone could not attend the
concert was a crying shame.
cue someone in 1. to give someone a cue; to
indicate to someone that the time has
come. Now, cue the orchestra director
in. T All right, cue in the announcer. 2.
to tell someone what is going on. (Infor-
mal. Almost the same as clue someone in
(on something).) I want to know what’s
going on. Cue me in. T Cue in the general
about the troop movement.
curdle someone’s blood to frighten or dis-
gust someone severely. The story was
scary enough to curdle your blood. The
terrible scream was enough to curdle my
blood.
Curiosity killed the cat. It is dangerous
to be curious. (Proverb.) Don’t ask so
many questions, Billy. Curiosity killed the
cat. Curiosity killed the cat. Mind your
own business.
curl up and die to retreat and die. When
I heard you say that, I could have curled
up and died. No, it wasn’t an illness. She
just curled up and died.
curry favor (with someone) to try to win fa-
vor from someone. The lawyer tried to
curry favor with the judge. It’s silly to
curry favor. Just be yourself.
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