N

nail in someone’s or something’s coffin Go to

(another) nail in someone’s or something’s

coffin.

nail someone or something down 1. [with

someone] to get a firm and final decision

from someone (on something). (Also lit-

eral. Informal.) I want you to find Bob

and get an answer from him. Nail him

down one way or the other. T Please nail

down John on the question of signing the

contract. 2. [with something] to get a firm

and final decision (from someone) on

something. (Informal.) T Find Bob and

nail down an answer. Let’s get in touch

with John and nail down this contract.

naked as a jaybird Go to (as) naked as a

jaybird.

the naked eye the human eye, unassisted

by optics, such as a telescope, micro-

scope, or spectacles. I can’t see the

bird’s markings with the naked eye. The

scientist could see nothing in the liquid

with the naked eye, but with the aid of a

microscope, she identified the bacteria.

That’s how it appears to the naked eye.

[name is mud] Go to one’s name is mud.

the name of the game goal or purpose.

(Slang.) The name of the game is sell.

You must sell, sell, sell if you want to make

a living. Around here, the name of the

game is look out for yourself.

name someone after someone else and

name someone for someone else to give

someone (usually a baby) the name of

another person. We named our baby af-

ter my aunt. My parents named me for

my grandfather.

name someone for someone else Go to name

someone after someone else.

near at hand close or handy (to someone).

(See also at hand; close at hand.) Do

you have a pencil near at hand? My dic-

tionary isn’t near at hand.

neat as a pin Go to (as) neat as a pin.

neck and neck exactly even, especially in

a race or a contest. (Informal.) John

and Tom finished the race neck and neck.

Mary and Ann were neck and neck in

the spelling contest. Their scores were tied.

need something like a hole in the head not

to need something at all. (Informal.)

I need a housecat like I need a hole in the

head! She needs a car like she needs a

hole in the head.

need something yesterday to require some-

thing in a very big hurry. (Informal.)

Yes, I’m in a hurry! I need it yesterday!

When do I need it? Now! Now! No, I need

it yesterday!

neither fish nor fowl not any recognizable

thing; not any recognizable category.

The car that they drove up in was neither

fish nor fowl. It must have been made out

of spare parts. This proposal is neither

fish nor fowl. I can’t tell what you’re

proposing.

neither here nor there of no consequence

or meaning; irrelevant and immaterial.

Whether you go to the movie or stay at

home is neither here nor there. Your

comment—though interesting—is neither

here nor there.

neither hide nor hair no sign or indica-

tion (of someone or something). We

could find neither hide nor hair of him. I

don’t know where he is. There has been

no one here—neither hide nor hair—for

the last three days.

never fear do not worry; have confidence.

I’ll be there on time—never fear.

help you, never fear.

never had it so good Go to (have) never

had it so good.

never in one’s life not in one’s experience.

Never in my life have I been so insulted!

He said that never in his life had he seen

such an ugly painting.

never mind forget it; pay no more atten-

tion (to something). I wanted to talk to

you, but never mind. It wasn’t important.

Never mind. I’m sorry to bother you.

never would have guessed 1. never

would have thought something to be the

case. (Not used in other tenses.)

was the one who did it? I never would have

guessed. I never would have guessed that

he wanted the job. He kept it a very good

secret. 2. knew it all the time because it

was so obvious. (Sarcastic. Not used in

other tenses.) I never would have

guessed that he wanted the job. He only

begged and begged for it. Now she wants

to go back home? I never would have

guessed! She has been homesick for days.

new ball game Go to (whole) new ball

game.

new blood Go to (some) new blood.

new hire a person who has recently been

hired; a newly employed person. Anne

is our new hire who will begin work Tues-

day. The accounting department is full

of new hires.

a new lease on life a renewed and revi-

talized outlook on life. Getting the job

offer was a new lease on life. When I

got out of the hospital, I felt as if I had a

new lease on life.

new to (all) this Go to (a little) new to (all)

this.

next-door neighbor the person living in

the house or apartment closest to one’s

own. My next-door neighbor came over

to borrow a shovel. I will be visiting our

next-door neighbor if you need me.

or relatives. The police notified the dead

man’s next of kin. My next of kin lives

800 miles away.

next to nothing hardly anything; almost

nothing. This car’s worth next to noth-

ing. It’s full of rust. I bought this antique

chair for next to nothing.

next to someone or something near to someone

or something; adjacent to someone or

something. I live next to a bank.

Please sit next to me.

nice and some quality enough of some qual-

ity; adequately; sufficiently. It is nice

and cool this evening. I think your steak

is nice and done now and probably

overcooked.

nickel and dime someone to charge some-

one many small amounts of money; to

assess many small fees against someone.

We will not stay at that resort again.

They nickel and dime you to death in that

place. There is a charge for everything.

Tuition at the university hasn’t gone up in

two years but other small fees have. They

really nickel and dime you there.

night and day Go to day and night.

a night on the town a night of celebrat-

ing (at one or more places in a town).

Did you enjoy your night on the town?

After we got the contract signed, we cele-

brated with a night on the town.

night owl someone who usually stays up

very late. (Preceded by be, become, seem

like, or act like.) Anne’s a real night owl.

She never goes to bed before 2 a.m. and

sleeps till noon. Jack’s a night owl and

is at his best after midnight.

a nine days’ wonder something that is of

interest to people only for a short time.

Don’t worry about the story about you

in the newspaper. It’ll be a nine days’ won-

der, and then people will forget. The

elopement of Jack and Anne was a nine

days’ wonder. Now people never mention

a nine-to-five job a job with regular and

normal hours. I wouldn’t want a nine-

to-five job. I like the freedom I have as my

own boss. I used to work nights, but now

I have a nine-to-five job.

nip and tuck almost even; almost tied. (In-

formal.) The horses ran nip and tuck for

the first half of the race. Then my horse

pulled ahead. In the football game last

Saturday, both teams were nip and tuck

throughout the game.

nip something in the bud to put an end to

something at an early stage. (Also literal.)

John is getting into bad habits, and it’s

best to nip them in the bud. There was

trouble in the classroom, but the teacher

nipped it in the bud.

No big deal! Not a big problem! (Infor-

mal.) It didn’t hurt. No big deal! It

isn’t a problem. No big deal!

no buts about it Go to no ifs, ands, or buts

about it.

No can do. It can’t be done.; I can’t do it.

(Slang.) Sorry, John. No can do. I can’t

sell you this one. I’ve promised it to Mrs.

Smith. BILL: Please fix this clock today.

BOB: No can do. It’ll take a week to get the

parts.

No comment. I have nothing to say on this

matter. Q: When did you stop beating

your dog? A: No comment. Q: Georgie,

did you chop down the cherry tree? A: No

comment.

no doubt surely; without a doubt; un-

doubtedly. He will be here again to-

morrow, no doubt. No doubt you will re-

quire a ride home?

no end of something lots of something. (In-

formal.) It was a wonderful banquet.

They had no end of good food. Tom is

a real problem. He’s no end of trouble.

no flies on someone someone is not slow;

someone is not wasting time. (Refers to

a person moving too fast to allow flies to

light.) Of course I work fast. I go as fast

as I can. There are no f lies on me. There

are no f lies on Robert. He does his work

very fast and very well.

no great shakes nothing important or

worth noticing. (Slang.) It’s okay, but

it’s no great shakes. I like John, but he’s

no great shakes when it comes to sports.

no hard feelings no anger or resentment.

(Informal. No can be replaced with any.)

I hope you don’t have any hard feelings.

No, I have no hard feelings.

No harm done. It is all right. No one or

nothing has been harmed. (Informal.)

It’s okay. No harm done. A: I am sorry

I stepped on your toe. B: No harm done.

no holds barred with no restraints. (Slang.

From wrestling.) I intend to argue it out

with Mary, no holds barred. When Ann

negotiates a contract, she goes in with no

holds barred and comes out with a good

contract.

no ifs, ands, or buts about it and no

buts about it absolutely no discussion,

dissension, or doubt about something.

I want you there exactly at eight, no ifs,

ands, or buts about it. This is the best

television set available for the money, no

buts about it.

no joke a serious matter. (Informal.) It’s

no joke when you miss the last train. It’s

certainly no joke when you have to walk

home.

no kidding [spoken] honestly; [someone

is] not joking or lying. (Slang.) No kid-

ding, you really got an A in geometry?

I really did, no kidding.

no laughing matter a serious matter. Be

serious. This is no laughing matter. This

disease is no laughing matter. It’s quite

deadly.

no love lost (between someone and some-

one else) no friendship wasted between

someone and someone else (because they

are enemies). Ever since their big argu-

ment, there has been no love lost between

Tom and Bill. You can tell by the way

that Jane is acting toward Ann that there

is no love lost.

no matter what happens in any event;

without regard to what happens (in the

future). We’ll be there on time, no mat-

ter what. No matter what happens, we’ll

still be friends.

No news is good news. If one has not had

any information about someone or some-

thing for some time, it means that all is

well, since one would have heard if any-

thing bad or unfortunate had occurred

(Proverb.) I haven’t heard from my son

since he left for college, but I suppose no

news is good news. I think Joan would

have heard by now if she hadn’t got the job.

No news is good news.

no point in something no purpose in doing

something. There is no point in lock-

ing the barn door now that the horse has

been stolen. There’s no point is crying

over spilled milk.

no problem Go to no sweat.

no skin off someone’s nose Go to no skin

off someone’s teeth.

no skin off someone’s teeth and no skin

off someone’s nose no difficulty for some-

one; no concern of someone.

skin off my nose if she wants to act that

way. She said it was no skin off her teeth

if we wanted to sell the house.

no sooner said than done <an expression

indicating that something has been done

quickly and obediently.> When Sally

asked for someone to open the window, it

was no sooner said than done. As Jane

opened the window, she said, “No sooner

said than done.”

no spring chicken not young (anymore).

(Informal.) I don’t get around very well

anymore. I’m no spring chicken, you know.

Even though John is no spring chicken,

he still plays tennis twice a week.

no sweat and no problem no difficulty;

do not worry. (Slang.) Of course I can

have your car repaired by noon. No sweat.

You’d like a red one? No problem.

no trespassing do not enter. (Usually seen

on a sign. Not usually spoken.) The

sign on the tree said, “No Trespassing.” So

we didn’t go in. The angry farmer

chased us out of the field shouting, “Get

out! Don’t you see the no trespassing sign?”

no two ways about it no choice about it;

no other interpretation of it. (Folksy.

Note the form there’s rather than there

are.) You have to go to the doctor

whether you like it or not. There’s no two

ways about it. This letter means you’re

in trouble with the tax people. There’s no

two ways about it.

no-win situation a situation where there

is no correct or satisfactory solution.

The general was too weak to fight and too

proud to surrender. It was a no-win situ-

ation. The huge dog my father gave us

as a gift eats too much. If we get rid of the

dog, my father will be insulted. If we keep

it, we will go broke buying food for it. This

is a classic no-win situation.

no wonder [something is] not surprising.

(Informal.) No wonder the baby is cry-

ing. She’s wet. It’s no wonder that plant

died. You watered it too much.

nobody’s fool a sensible and wise person

who is not easily deceived. Mary’s no-

body’s fool. She knows Jack would try to

cheat her. Anne looks as though she’s not

very bright, but she’s nobody’s fool.

nod off to fall asleep, usually while sitting

up. (Informal.) Jack nodded off during

the minister’s sermon. Father always

nods off after Sunday lunch.

none of someone’s beeswax none of some-

one’s business (Slang.) The answer to

that question is none of your beeswax.

It’s none of your beeswax what I do with

my spare time.

none of someone’s business not of some-

one’s concern. (A gentle rebuke.) Q:

When are you going to leave for home? A:

None of your business. How I manage

to keep thin is none of your business.

none other than someone the very person.

The new building was opened by none

other than the mayor. Jack’s wife turned

out to be none other than my cousin.

none the wiser not knowing any more.

I was none the wiser about the project af-

ter the lecture. It was a complete waste of

time. Anne tried to explain the situation

tactfully to Jack, but in the end, he was

none the wiser.

none the worse for wear no worse be-

cause of use or effort. I lent my car to

John. When I got it back, it was none the

worse for wear. I had a hard day today,

but I’m none the worse for wear.

none too something not very something; not

at all something. The towels in the

bathroom were none too clean.

none too warm in their house.

nose about Go to nose around.

nose around and nose about to investi-

gate; to check (into something). (Infor-

mal.) I don’t have an answer to your

question, but I’ll nose around and see what

I can find out. I’ll nose about, too. Who

knows what we’ll find out?

nose in(to something) to move into some-

thing, front end first. Slowly the car

nosed into its parking place. You must

nose in very carefully.

[nose is in the air] Go to one’s nose is in

the air.

nose someone out to push someone away;

to exclude someone. Where I work

someone is always trying to nose me out.

I’d hate to lose my job. T John nosed out

Bill from the team.

miss out (on something) and lose out (on

something) to fail to participate in some-

thing; to fail to take part in something.

I’m sorry I missed out on the ice cream.

I lost out on it, too. We both missed out.

miss (something) by a mile to fail to hit

something by a great distance; to land

wide of the mark. Ann shot the arrow

and missed the target by a mile. “Good

grief, you missed by a mile,” shouted Sally.

miss the boat to miss out (on something);

to be ignorant (of something). (Also lit-

eral. Slang.) Pay attention, John, or

you’ll miss the boat. Tom really missed

the boat when it came to making friends.

miss the point to fail to understand the

important part of something. (Also lit-

eral.) I’m afraid you missed the point.

Let me explain it again. You keep ex-

plaining, and I keep missing the point.

[mission in life] Go to someone’s mission in

life.

mistake someone for someone else and mix

someone up with someone else to confuse

someone with someone else; to think that

one person is another person. I’m

sorry. I mistook you for John. Tom is al-

ways mistaking Bill for me. We don’t look

a thing alike, though. Try not to mix Bill

up with Bob.

mix and match 1. to assemble a limited

number of items, usually clothing, in a

number of different ways. Alice was

very good at mixing and matching her

skirts, blouses, and sweaters so that she al-

ways could be attractively dressed on a

limited budget. Gary always bought

black, blue, and gray trousers and shirts

so he could mix and match without too

many bad combinations. 2. to select a

number of items from an assortment, of-

ten in order to get a quantity discount.

(As opposed to getting a quantity dis-

count for buying a lot of only one item.)

The candles were 25 percent off, and you

could mix and match colors, sizes, and

I found a good sale on shirts.

They were four for fifty dollars, and the

store would let you mix and match.

mix it up to argue or fight. (Also literal.

Slang.) First they were just talking, then

suddenly one of them got mad and they

really began to mix it up. Look at you,

Bill! Your face is bleeding. Have you been

mixing it up with John again?

mix someone or something up 1. to confuse

two things or two people with each other.

Please don’t mix these ideas up. They

are quite distinct. T I always mix up Bill

and Bob. Why do you mix them up? 2.

[with someone] to cause someone to be

confused or puzzled. I’m confused as

it is. Don’t mix me up anymore. T They

mixed up my uncle by giving him too

many things to remember. 3. [with some-

thing] to blend the ingredients of some-

thing; to assemble and mix the parts of

something. (Usually refers to fluid mat-

ter such as paint, gasoline, or milk.)

The glue will be ready to use as soon as I

mix it up. T Now, mix up the eggs, water,

and salt; then add the mixture to the flour

and sugar.

mix someone up with someone else Go to

mistake someone for someone else.

a mixed bag a varied collection of people

or things. (Refers to a bag of game

brought home after a day’s hunting.)

The new students in my class are a mixed

bag—some bright, some positively stupid.

The furniture I bought is a mixed bag.

Some of it is valuable and the rest is

worthless.

the moment everyone has been waiting

for Go to the big moment.

the moment of truth the point at which

someone has to face the reality or facts of

a situation. The moment of truth is

here. Turn over your test papers and begin.

Now for the moment of truth when we

find out whether we have got permission

or not.

Money burns a hole in someone’s pocket.

Someone spends as much money as pos-

sible. (Proverb. See also have money to

burn.) Sally can’t seem to save anything.

Money burns a hole in her pocket.

money burns a hole in your pocket, you

never have any for emergencies.

Money is no object. and Expense is no

object. It does not matter how much

something costs. Please show me your

finest automobile. Money is no object.

I want the finest earrings you have. Don’t

worry about how much they cost because

expense is no object.

Money is the root of all evil. Money is the

basic cause of all wrongdoing. (Proverb.

The full version is The love of money is the

root of all evil.) Why do you work so

hard to make money? It will just cause you

trouble. Money is the root of all evil.

Any thief in prison can tell you that money

is the root of all evil.

money talks money gives one power and

influence to help get things done or get

one’s own way. (Informal.) Don’t

worry. I have a way of getting things done.

Money talks. I can’t compete against

rich old Mrs. Jones. She’ll get her way be-

cause money talks.

monkey around (with someone or something)

Go to mess around (with someone or some-

thing).

monkey business playful or out of the or-

dinary activities; mischievous or illegal

activities. There’s been some monkey

business in connection with the bank’s ac-

counts. Bob left the company quite sud-

denly. I think there was some monkey busi-

ness between him and the boss’s wife.

monkey suit a tuxedo. (Jocular. Possibly

alluding to the fancy suit worn by an or-

gan grinder’s monkey.) Do I have to

wear a monkey suit to dinner? All the

men except me wore monkey suits at din-

ner on the cruise.

months running Go to days running.

mop the floor up with someone to over-

whelm and physically subdue someone;

to beat someone. (Slang. See also wipe up

the floor with someone.) Stop talking like

that, or I’ll mop the f loor up with you! T

Did you hear that? He threatened to mop

up the f loor with me!

mope around to go about in a depressed

state. (Informal.) Since her dog ran

away, Sally mopes around all day. Don’t

mope around. Cheer up!

more and more an increasing amount; ad-

ditional amounts. As I learn more and

more, I see how little I know. Dad seems

to be smoking more and more lately.

more dead than alive exhausted; in very

bad condition; near death. (Almost al-

ways an exaggeration.) We arrived at

the top of the mountain more dead than

alive. The marathon runners stumbled

one by one over the finish line, more dead

than alive.

more fun than a barrel of monkeys Go

to (as) funny as a barrel of monkeys.

more often than not usually. These

f lowers will live through the winter more

often than not. This kind of dog will

grow up to be a good watchdog more of-

ten than not.

more someone or something than one can

shake a stick at a lot; too many to

count. (Folksy.) There were more snakes

than you could shake a stick at. There

are lots of f lowers in the field—more than

one can shake a stick at.

more than one can bear and more than

one can take; more than one can stand

more of something, such as trouble or

something bad, than a person can en-

dure. This news is more than I can bear!

I’ve heard enough of this horrid music.

It’s more than I can stand.

more than one can stand Go to more than

one can bear.

more than one can take Go to more than

one can bear.

the more the merrier the more people

there are, the happier they will be. Of

course you can have a ride with us! The

more the merrier. The manager hired a

new employee even though there’s not

enough work for all of us now. Oh, well,

the more the merrier.

the morning after (the night before) the

morning after a night spent drinking,

when one has a hangover. Oh, I’ve got

a headache. Talk about the morning after

the night before! It looked like a case of

the morning after the night before, and

Frank asked for some aspirin.

move heaven and earth to do something to

make a major effort to do something.

“I’ll move heaven and earth to be with you,

Mary,” said Bill. I had to move heaven

and earth to get there on time. Your fa-

ther and I had to move heaven and earth

to pay for your braces and your college bills,

and what thanks do we get?

move in (on someone or something) 1. [with

someone] to attempt to displace someone

or take over someone’s property, inter-

ests, or relationships. (Slang, especially

criminal slang. Compare this with mus-

cle in (on someone or something).) Look

here, pal, Sally’s my girl. Are you trying to

move in on me? It looks like the south-

side gang is trying to move in. We’ll have

to teach them a lesson. 2. [with someone]

to move into someone’s household. My

mother-in-law moved in on us for two

months. I wouldn’t move in on you

without an invitation. 3. to move closer

to someone or something, especially with

a camera. Now, slowly move in on the

cereal box. This will be a great advertise-

ment. Hold the camera very steady and

move in on the baby.

move into something to get started in a new

enterprise, job, etc. (Also literal.)

moved into a new job last week. It’s very

exciting work. John moved into a new

line of work, too.

move up (in the world) to advance (one-

self ) and become successful. The

harder I work, the more I move up in the

world. Keep your eye on John. He’s really

moving up.

movers and shakers people who get

things done; people who are productive

and cause other people to be productive;

people who create and produce. The

trouble with the ABC Company is that all

the movers and shakers are leaving to take

jobs elsewhere. It seems as if all the

movers and shakers of the world are em-

ployed by a very small number of large

firms.

much ado about nothing a lot of excite-

ment about nothing. (This is the title of

a play by Shakespeare. Do not confuse

ado with adieu.) All the commotion

about the new tax law turned out to be

much ado about nothing. Your promises

always turn out to be much ado about

nothing.

much in evidence very visible or evident.

John was much in evidence during the

conference. Your inf luence is much in

evidence. I appreciate your efforts.

much sought after wanted or desired very

much; highly desirable. This kind of

crystal is much sought after. It’s very rare.

Sally is a great singer. She’s much sought

after.

muddy the water to make something less

clear; to make matters confusing; to cre-

ate difficulty where there was none be-

fore. (Also literal.) Things were going

along quite smoothly until you came along

and muddied the water. The events of

the past month have muddied the water as

far as our proposed joint venture is

concerned.

muff one’s lines Go to fluff one’s lines.

mull something over to think about some-

thing; to ponder or worry about some-

thing. That’s an interesting idea, but I’ll

have to mull it over. T I’ll mull over your

suggestions and report to you next week.

mum’s the word don’t spread the secret.

Don’t tell anyone what I told you. Re-

member, mum’s the word. Okay, mum’s

the word. Your secret is safe with me.

murder on something very destructive or

harmful to something. Running a mar-

athon is murder on your knees. This dry

weather is murder on my crops.

muscle in (on someone or something) to try

forcefully to displace someone or take

over someone’s property, interests, or re-

lationships. (Slang, especially criminal

slang. Compare this with move in (on

someone or something).) Are you trying to

muscle in on my scheme? If you try to

muscle in, you’ll be facing big trouble.

a must something that you must do. (In-

formal. Preceded by be, become, or seem

like.) When you’re in San Francisco, see

the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s a must. It’s

a must that you brush your teeth after

every meal.

muster (up) one’s courage to build up

one’s courage; to call or bring forth one’s

courage. I mustered my courage and

dove from the high diving board. He

had to muster up all his courage in order

to attend the dance.

my gut tells me (that) something is so my in-

stincts tell me that something is so. (This

refers to one’s gut reaction or gut response,

that is, the way someone feels about

something.) My gut tells me that her

idea is a sound one. This looks good on

paper, but my gut tells me that it is all

wrong.

my one and only one’s spouse. (Informal.

See also the one and only.) Look at the

time. I’ve got to get home to my one and

only. You’re my one and only. There is

no one else for me.