fast and furious very rapidly and with un-
restrained energy. Her work in the
kitchen was fast and furious, and it looked
lovely when she finished. Everything was
going so fast and furious at the store dur-
ing the Christmas rush that we never had
time to eat lunch.
faster and faster at an increasing rate of
speed; fast and then even faster. The
car went faster and faster and I was afraid
we would crash. The cost of education
goes up faster and faster every year.
fat and happy well-fed and content.
Since all the employees were fat and happy,
there was little incentive to improve pro-
ductivity. You look fat and happy. Has
life been treating you well?
fat as a pig Go to (as) fat as a pig.
fat chance very little likelihood. (Infor-
mal.) Fat chance he has of getting a pro-
motion. You think she’ll lend you the
money? Fat chance!
favor someone or something with something to
provide someone or something with
something beneficial or special. Mary
favored us with a song. Nature favored
Bill with curly hair.
feast one’s eyes (on someone or something) to
look at someone or something with plea-
sure, envy, or admiration. Just feast
your eyes on that beautiful, juicy steak!
Yes, feast your eyes. You won’t see one like
that again for a long time.
a feather in one’s cap an honor; a reward
for something. Getting a new client was
really a feather in my cap. John earned
a feather in his cap by getting an A in
physics.
feather one’s (own) nest 1. to decorate and
furnish one’s home in style and comfort.
(Birds line their nests with feathers to
make them warm and comfortable.)
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have feathered their
nest quite comfortably. It costs a great
deal of money to feather one’s nest these
days. 2. to use power and prestige to pro-
vide for oneself selfishly. (Said especially
of politicians who use their offices to
make money for themselves.)
mayor seemed to be helping people, but she
was really feathering her own nest. The
building contractor used a lot of public
money to feather his nest.
fed up (to somewhere) (with someone or some-
thing) bored with or disgusted with some-
one or something. (Informal. The some-
where can be here, the teeth, the gills, or
other places.) I’m fed up with Tom and
his silly tricks. I’m fed up to here with
high taxes. They are fed up to the teeth
with screaming children. I’m really fed
up!
feed one’s face to eat; to eat a regular meal.
(Slang.) Come on, everyone. It’s time
to feed your faces. Bill, if you keep feed-
ing your face all the time, you’ll get fat.
feed someone a line Go to give someone a
line.
feed the kitty to contribute money to a
special, voluntary collection. (See also
pass the hat.) Please feed the kitty.
Make a contribution to help sick children.
Come on, Bill. Feed the kitty. You can
afford a dollar for a good cause.
feel a glow of something a feeling of con-
tentment, happiness, satisfaction, peace,
etc. Anne felt a glow of happiness as she
held her new baby. Sitting by the lake,
the lovers felt a warm glow of contentment.
feel at home to feel as if one belongs; to
feel as if one were in one’s home; to feel
accepted. (See also at home with someone
or something.) I liked my dormitory room.
I really felt at home there. We will do
whatever we can to make you feel at home.
feel dragged out to feel exhausted. (In-
formal.) What a day! I really feel
dragged out. If he runs too much, he
ends up feeling dragged out.
feel fit to feel well and healthy. If you
want to feel fit, you must eat the proper
food and get enough rest. I hope I still
feel fit when I get old.
feel free (to do something) to feel like one is
permitted to do something or take some-
thing. Please feel free to stay for dinner.
If you see something you want in the re-
frigerator, please feel free.
feel it beneath one (to do something) to feel
that one would be lowering oneself to do
something. Ann feels it beneath her to
carry her own luggage. I would do it,
but I feel it beneath me.
feel like a million (dollars) to feel well
and healthy, both physically and men-
tally. A quick swim in the morning
makes me feel like a million dollars.
What a beautiful day! It makes you feel
like a million.
feel like a new person to feel refreshed
and renewed, especially after getting well
or getting dressed up. I bought a new
suit, and now I feel like a new person.
Bob felt like a new person when he got out
of the hospital.
feel like doing something 1. to want to do
something; to be in the mood to do
something. Do you feel like stopping
work to eat something? I feel like going
on a vacation. 2. to feel well enough to do
something. I believe I’m getting well. I
feel like getting out of bed. I don’t feel
like going to the party. I have a headache.
feel like (having) something to want to have
something or do something. I feel like
having a nice cool drink. I feel like a nice
swim.
feel one’s gorge rise to sense that one is
getting very angry. I felt my gorge rise
and I knew I was going to lose my temper.
Bob could feel his gorge rise as he read
his tax bill.
feel on top of the world to feel very good,
as if one were ruling the world. I feel
on top of the world this morning. I do
not actually feel on top of the world, but I
have felt worse.
feel out of place to feel that one does not
belong in a place. I feel out of place at
formal dances. Bob and Ann felt out of
place at the picnic, so they went home.
feel put-upon to feel taken advantage of or
exploited. Bill refused to help because
he felt put-upon. Sally’s mother felt put-
upon, but she took each of the children
home after the birthday party.
feel someone out to try to find out how
someone feels (about something). (In-
formal. This does not involve touching
anyone.) Sally tried to feel Tom out on
whether he’d make a contribution. T The
students felt out their parents to find out
what they thought about the proposed
party.
feel something in one’s bones and know
something in one’s bones to sense some-
thing; to have an intuition about some-
thing. The train will be late. I feel it in
my bones. I failed the test. I know it in
my bones.
feel the pinch to experience hardship be-
cause of having too little money. The
Smiths used to go abroad every year, but
now that he’s retired, they’re really feeling
the pinch. You’re bound to feel the pinch
a bit when you’re a student.
feel up to something to feel well enough or
prepared enough to do something. (Of-
ten in the negative.) I don’t feel up to
jogging today. Aunt Mary didn’t feel up
to making the visit. Do you feel up to go-
ing out today?
feeling no pain drunk. Bob’s on his
eighth beer and feeling no pain. At mid-
night when we were all feeling no pain, the
landlord comes up and tells us to be quiet.
fence someone in to restrict someone in
some way. (Also literal. See also hem
someone or something in.) I don’t want to
fence you in, but you have to get home ear-
lier at night. Don’t try to fence me in. I
need a lot of freedom.
fend for oneself Go to shift for oneself.
ferret something out of someone or something
to remove or retrieve something from
someone or something, usually with cun-
ning and persistence. (In the case of
someone, the thing being ferreted out
would be information.) I tried very
hard, but I couldn’t ferret the information
out of the clerk. I had to ferret out the
answer from a book in the library.
a few cards short of a deck Go to a few
cards shy of a full deck.
a few cards shy of a full deck and a few
cards short of a deck; two bricks shy
of a load [of someone] not very smart
or clever. Bob’s nice, but he’s a few cards
shy of a full deck. You twit! You’re two
bricks shy of a load!
fiddle about (with someone or something) Go
to fiddle around (with someone or some-
thing).
fiddle around (with someone or something)
and fiddle about (with someone or some-
thing) 1. [with someone] to tease, annoy,
or play with someone; to waste someone’s
time. (See also mess around (with some-
one or something).) All right, stop fiddling
around with me and tell me how much you
will give me for my car. Now it’s time for
all of you to quit fiddling around and get
to work. Tom, you have to stop spend-
ing your time fiddling about with your
friends. It’s time to get serious with your
studies. 2. [with something] to play with
something; to tinker with something in-
eptly. My brother is outside fiddling
around with his car engine. He should
stop fiddling around and go out and get a
job. Stop fiddling about with that stick.
You’re going to hurt someone.
fiddle while Rome burns to do nothing
or something trivial while knowing that
something disastrous is happening.
(From a legend that the emperor Nero
played the lyre while Rome was burning.)
The lobbyists don’t seem to be doing
anything to stop this tax bill. They’re fid-
dling while Rome burns. The doctor
should have sent for an ambulance right
away instead of examining the woman. In
fact, he was just fiddling while Rome
burned.
fight against time to hurry to meet a
deadline or to do something quickly.
The ambulance sped through the city to
reach the accident, fighting against time.
All the students fought against time to
complete the test.
fight someone or something hammer and
tongs and fight someone or something
tooth and nail; go at it hammer and
tongs; go at it tooth and nail to fight
against someone or something energeti-
cally and with great determination.
They fought against the robber tooth and
nail. The dogs were fighting each other
hammer and tongs. The mayor fought
the new law hammer and tongs. We’ll
fight this zoning ordinance tooth and nail.
fight someone or something tooth and nail Go
to fight someone or something hammer and
tongs.
a fighting chance a good possibility of
success, especially if every effort is made.
(See also sporting chance.) They have
at least a fighting chance of winning the
race. The patient could die, but he has
a fighting chance since the operation.
figure in something [for a person] to play a
role in something. Tom figures in our
plans for a new building. I don’t wish
to figure in your future.
figure on something to plan on something;
to make arrangements for something.
(Informal.) We figured on twenty guests
at our party. I didn’t figure on so much
trouble.
figure someone or something out to under-
stand someone or something; to find an
explanation for someone or something.
It’s hard to figure John out. I don’t know
what he means. T I can’t figure out this
recipe.
fill the bill and fit the bill to be exactly
the thing that is needed. Ah, this steak
is great. It really fills the bill. I think that
this book will fit the bill just right.
filled to the brim filled all the way full;
filled up to the top edge. I like my cof-
fee cup filled to the brim. If the glass is
filled to the brim, I can’t drink without
spilling the contents.
a final fling the last act or period of en-
joyment before a change in one’s cir-
cumstances or life-style. You might as
well have a final f ling before the baby’s
born. Mary’s going out with her girl-
friends for a final f ling. She’s getting mar-
ried next week.
find a happy medium Go to strike a happy
medium.
find fault (with someone or something) to find
things wrong with someone or some-
thing. We were unable to find fault with
the meal. Sally’s father was always find-
ing fault with her. Some people are al-
ways finding fault.
find it in one’s heart (to do something) to
have the courage or compassion to do
something. She couldn’t find it in her
heart to refuse to come home to him. I
can’t do it! I can’t find it in my heart.
find its way somewhere [for something] to
end up in a place. (This expression avoids
accusing someone of moving the thing to
the place.) The money found its way
into the mayor’s pocket. The secret plans
found their way into the enemy’s hands.
find one’s own level to find the position
or rank to which one is best suited. (As
water “seeks its own level.”) You can-
not force clerks to be ambitious. They will
all find their own level. The new student
is happier in the beginning class. It was just
a question of letting her find her own level.
find one’s tongue to be able to talk. (In-
formal.) Tom was speechless for a mo-
ment. Then he found his tongue. Ann
was unable to find her tongue. She sat
there in silence.
find one’s way (around) to be able to move
about an area satisfactorily. I can go
downtown by myself. I can find my way
around. I know the area well enough to
find my way. He can find his way
around when it comes to car engines.
find one’s way somewhere to discover the
route to a place. Mr. Smith found his
way to the museum. Can you find your
way home?
find someone guilty and find someone in-
nocent to decide guilt or innocence and
deliver a verdict in a court of law. The
judge found the defendant not guilty by
reason of insanity. The jury found the
defendant innocent.
find someone innocent Go to find someone
guilty.
find someone or something out 1. [with some-
thing] to discover facts about someone or
something; to learn a fact. I found
something out that you might be interested
in. T We found out that the Smiths are go-
ing to sell their house. 2. [with someone]
to discover something bad about some-
one. John thought he could get away
with smoking, but his mother found him
out. Jane was taking a two-hour lunch
period until the manager found her out.
find (something) out the hard way Go to
learn (something) the hard way.
Finders keepers(, losers weepers). <a
phrase said when something is found.>
(The person who finds something gets to
keep it. The person who loses it can only
be sorry.) John lost a quarter in the din-
ing room yesterday. Ann found the quar-
ter there today. Ann claimed that since she
found it, it was hers. She said, “Finders
keepers, losers weepers.” John said, “I’ll
say finders keepers when I find something
of yours!”
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