goes to show you [something] serves to
prove a point to you. It just goes to show
you that too much sugar is bad for you.
Of course you shouldn’t have married her.
It goes to show you that your parents are
always right.
goes without saying [something] is so ob-
vious that it need not be said. It goes
without saying that you are to wear formal
clothing to dinner each evening. Of
course. That goes without saying.
the going rate the current rate. The
going interest rate for your account is 10
percent. Our babysitter charges us the
going rate.
a gold mine of information someone or
something that is full of information.
Grandfather is a gold mine of information
about World War I. The new encyclo-
pedia is a positive gold mine of useful
information.
gone but not forgotten gone or dead but
still remembered. The good days we
used to have together are gone, but not for-
gotten. Uncle Harry is gone but not for-
gotten. The stain where he spilled the wine
is still visible in the parlor carpet.
gone goose someone or something that
has departed or run away. Surely, the
burglar is a gone goose by now. The
child was a gone goose, and we did not
know where to look for him.
gone to meet one’s Maker died. (Eu-
phemistic.) Poor old Bob has gone to
meet his Maker. After a long illness,
Reggie went to meet his Maker.
gone with the wind gone; mysteriously
gone. (A phrase made famous by the
Margaret Mitchell novel and film Gone
with the Wind. The phrase is used to
make gone have a stronger force.)
Everything we worked for was gone with
the wind. Jean was nowhere to be found.
She was gone with the wind.
a goner dead or finished; as good as dead
or nearly dead. (Informal. Preceded by
be, become, seem like, or act like.) The
boy brought the sick fish back to the pet
store to get his money back. “This one is a
goner,” he said. John thought he was a
goner when his parachute didn’t open.
good and something very something. (The
something can be ready, mad, tired, worn-
out, etc.) Now I’m good and mad, and
I’m going to fight back. I’ll be there
when I’m good and ready. He’ll go to
bed when he’s good and tired.
good as done Go to (as) good as done.
good as gold Go to (as) good as gold.
good enough for someone or something ade-
quate for someone or something. This
seat is good enough for me. I don’t want
to move. I’m happy. It’s good enough for
me. That table is good enough for my
office.
good-for-nothing 1. worthless. Here
comes that good-for-nothing boy now.
Where is that good-for-nothing pen of
mine? 2. a worthless person. Tell that
good-for-nothing to go home at once.
Bob can’t get a job. He’s such a good-for-
nothing.
good riddance (to bad rubbish) [it is]
good to be rid (of worthless persons or
things). She slammed the door behind
me and said, “Good riddance to bad rub-
bish!” “Good riddance to you, madam,”
thought I.
good to go all ready to go; all checked and
pronounced ready to go. I’ve checked
everything and we are good to go. Every-
thing’s good to go and we will start
immediately.
goof off to waste time. (Informal or slang.)
John is always goofing off. Quit goof-
ing off and get to work!
the gospel truth [of truth] undeniable.
The witness swore he was telling the gospel
truth. I told my parents the gospel truth
about how the vase broke.
grab a bite (to eat) to get something to
eat; to get food that can be eaten quickly.
(Not usually done by grabbing.) I need
a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. Bob
often tries to grab a bite between meetings.
grace someone or something with one’s pres-
ence to honor someone or something
with one’s presence. “How nice of you
to grace us with your presence,” Mr. Wil-
son told Mary sarcastically as she entered
the classroom late. The banquet was
graced with the presence of the governor.
graced with something made elegant by
means of some ornament or decoration.
The altar was graced with lovely white
f lowers. The end of the beautiful day
was graced with a beautiful sunset.
graceful as a swan Go to (as) graceful as
a swan.
a grain of truth even the smallest amount
of truth. The attorney was unable to
find a grain of truth in the defendant’s tes-
timony. If there were a grain of truth
to your statement, I would trust you.
grasp at straws to depend on something
that is useless; to make a futile attempt
at something. John couldn’t answer the
teacher’s question. He was just grasping at
straws. There I was, grasping at straws,
with no one to help me.
grate on someone(‘s nerves) to annoy
someone; to bother someone. My ob-
noxious brother is grating on my nerves.
Your whining really grates on me.
gray area an area of a subject or question
that is difficult to put into a particular
category because it is not clearly defined
and may have connections or associations
with more than one category. The re-
sponsibility for social studies in the college
is a gray area. Several departments are in-
volved. Publicity is a gray area in that
firm. It is shared between the marketing
and design divisions.
gray matter intelligence; brains; power of
thought. (Brain tissue is grayish in color.)
Use your gray matter and think what
will happen if the committee resigns.
Surely they’ll come up with an acceptable
solution if they use a bit of gray matter.
grease someone’s palm and oil someone’s
palm to bribe someone. (Slang.) If you
want to get something done around here,
you have to grease someone’s palm. I’d
never oil a police officer’s palm. That’s
illegal.
a great deal much; a lot. You can learn
a great deal about nature by watching tele-
vision. This is a serious problem and it
worries me a great deal.
the greatest thing since sliced bread the
best thing there ever was. (Usually sar-
To hear her talk, you would
think she had found the greatest thing since
sliced bread. Todd thinks he is the great-
est thing since sliced bread.
Greek to me Go to (all) Greek to me.
green around the gills Go to pale around
the gills.
green with envy envious; jealous. When
Sally saw me with Tom, she turned green
with envy. She likes him a lot. I feel
green with envy whenever I see you in your
new car.
grin and bear it to endure something un-
pleasant in good humor. There is noth-
ing you can do but grin and bear it. I
hate having to work for rude people. I guess
I have to grin and bear it.
grind to a halt to slow to a stop; to run
down. By the end of the day, the factory
had ground to a halt. The car ground
to a halt, and we got out to stretch our legs.
grip someone’s attention to attract and hold
someone’s attention. The scary movie
gripped my attention. The professor’s
interesting lecture gripped the attention of
all the students.
grist for someone’s mill something that can
be put to good use or that can bring ad-
vantage or profit. Some of the jobs that
we are offered are more interesting than
others, but each one is grist for my mill.
The company is having to sell some
tacky-looking dresses, but they are grist for
their mill and keep the company in
business.
grit one’s teeth to grind one’s teeth together
in anger or determination. I was so
mad, all I could do was stand there and
grit my teeth. All through the race, Sally
was gritting her teeth. She was really
determined.
groan under the burden of something to
suffer under the burden or domination of
someone or something. John groaned
under the burden of his new responsibili-
ties. The servant groaned under the bur-
den of a cruel master.
gross someone out to revolt someone; to
make someone sick. (Slang.) Oh, look
at his face. Doesn’t it gross you out? T That
teacher is such a creep. He grosses out the
whole class.
ground someone to take away someone’s
privileges. (Informal. Usually said of a
teenager.) My father said that if I did-
n’t get at least C’s, he’d ground me.
Guess what! He grounded me!
grounded in fact based on facts. This
movie is grounded in fact. The stories in
this book are all grounded in actual fact.
grounds for something a basis or cause for
legal action, such as a lawsuit. Your
negligence is grounds for a lawsuit. Is in-
fidelity grounds for divorce in this state?
grow out of something to abandon some-
thing as one matures. (Also literal.) I
used to have a lot of allergies, but I grew
out of them. She grew out of the habit
of biting her nails.
grow to do something to gradually begin to
do certain things, using verbs such as feel,
know, like, need, respect, sense, suspect,
think, want, wonder, etc. I grew to hate
Bob over a period of years. As I grew to
know Bob, I began to like him.
gruff as a bear Go to (as) gruff as a bear.
grunt work work that is hard and thank-
less. During the summer, I earned
money doing grunt work. I did all of the
grunt work on the project, but my boss got
all of the credit.
guard against someone or something to take
care to avoid someone or something.
Try to guard against getting a cold.
should guard against pickpockets.
guest of honor a guest who gets special
attention from everyone; the person for
whom a party, celebration, or ceremony
is held. Bob is the guest of honor, and
many people will make speeches about
him. The guest of honor sits at the front
of the room on the dais.
gulp for air to eagerly or desperately try
to get air or a breath. Tom gulped for
air after trying to hold his breath for three
minutes. Mary came up out of the wa-
ter, gulping for air.
gum something up and gum up the works
to make something inoperable; to ruin
someone’s plans. (Informal.) Please,
Bill, be careful and don’t gum up the
works. Tom sure gummed it up. T Tom
sure gummed up the whole plan.
gum up the works Go to gum something up.
gut feeling and gut reaction; gut re-
sponse a personal, intuitive feeling or re-
sponse. I have a gut feeling that some-
thing bad is going to happen. My gut
reaction is that we should hire Susan for
the job.
gut reaction Go to gut feeling.
gut response Go to gut feeling.
gyp someone out of something to deceive
someone in order to get something of
value. The salesclerk gypped me out of
a dollar. The taxi driver tried to gyp me
out of a fortune by driving all over town.
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