S

sack out to go to bed; to go to sleep. (Slang.

Compare this with hit the sack at hit the

hay.) Look at the clock. It’s time to sack

out. John sacks out at about nine o’clock.

sacred cow something that is regarded by

some people with such respect and ven-

eration that they do not like it being crit-

icized by anyone in any way. (From the

fact that the cow is regarded as sacred in

India and is not eaten or mistreated.)

A university education is a sacred cow in

the Smith family. Fred is regarded as a fail-

ure because he quit school at 16. Don’t

talk about eating meat to Pam. Vegetari-

anism is one of her sacred cows.

sadder but wiser unhappy but educated

[about someone or something—after an

unpleasant event]. After the accident,

I was sadder but wiser, and would never

make the same mistake again. We left

the meeting sadder but wiser, knowing that

we could not ever come to an agreement

with Becky’s aunt.

saddle someone with something to give some-

one something undesirable, annoying, or

difficult to deal with. (Informal.) Mary

says she doesn’t want to be saddled with a

baby, but her husband would just love one.

Jim saddled Eddie with the most bor-

ing jobs so that he would leave.

safe and sound safe and whole or healthy.

It was a rough trip, but we got there safe

and sound. I’m glad to see you here safe

and sound.

safety in numbers safety achieved by be-

ing concealed in large numbers of people

or other creatures. We stayed close to-

gether, thinking that there was safety in

numbers. The elderly people went out

together for a walk, knowing that there was

safety in numbers.

sage advice very good and wise advice.

(Refers to a sage or wise man.) My par-

ents gave me some sage advice when I

turned 18. I asked my uncle for some of

his sage advice.

sail (right) through something to finish

something quickly and easily. (Informal.)

The test was not difficult. I sailed right

through it. Bob sailed through his home-

work in a short amount of time.

sail under false colors to pretend to be

something that one is not. (Originally

nautical, referring to a pirate ship dis-

guised as an innocent merchant ship.)

John has been sailing under false colors.

He’s really a spy. I thought you were

wearing that uniform because you worked

here. You are sailing under false colors.

the salt of the earth the most worthy of

people; a very good or worthy person. (A

biblical reference, Matthew 5:13.) Mrs.

Jones is the salt of the earth. She is the first

to help anyone in trouble.   Frank’s

mother is the salt of the earth. She has five

children of her own and yet fosters three

others.

salt something away to store or save some-

thing. (Originally referred to preserving

food and storing it.) Mary salted some

extra candy away for use during the holi-

days. T I salted away about $1,000 when

I worked as a clerk in the grocery store.

the same as someone or something identical to

someone or something. Can you build

me a birdhouse the same as yours? Have

you noticed that Mary looks the same as

her mother?

same here Me too!; I agree! (Informal.)

BOB: I’ll have chocolate ice cream! BILL:

Same here. MARY: I’ll vote for the best

candidate. TOM: Same here!

the same old story something that occurs

or has occurred in the same way often.

Jim’s got no money. It’s the same old story.

He’s spent it all on clothing. The com-

pany is getting rid of workers. It’s the same

old story—a shortage of orders.

the same to you the same comment ap-

plies to you. (Informal. This can be a po-

lite or a rude comment.) BILL: Have

a pleasant evening. BOB: Thank you. The

same to you. MARY: You’re the most

horrible person I’ve ever met! JOHN: The

same to you!

the sands of time the accumulated tiny

amounts of time; time represented by the

sand in an hourglass. The sands of time

will make you grow old like everyone else.

My only enemy is the sands of time.

Save it. Stop talking.; Shut up!; Tell it to me

later. (Informal.) I’ve heard enough.

Save it! Save it! You talk too much!

save one’s breath to refrain from talking,

explaining, or arguing. There is no

sense in trying to convince her. Save your

breath. Tell her to save her breath. He

won’t listen to her.

save (one’s) face to preserve one’s good

standing or high position (after a failure).

The ambassador was more interested in

saving his face than winning the argument.

Most diplomats are concerned with sav-

ing face.

save someone’s neck Go to save someone’s

skin.

save someone’s skin and save someone’s

neck to save someone from injury, em-

barrassment, or punishment. (Informal.)

I saved my skin by getting the job done

on time. Thanks for saving my neck! I

would have fallen down the stairs if you

hadn’t held my arm.

save something for a rainy day to reserve

something—usually money—for some

future need. (Also literal. Save something

can be replaced with put something aside,

hold something back, keep something, etc.)

I’ve saved a little money for a rainy day.

Keep some extra candy for a rainy day.

save the day to produce a good result

when a bad result was expected. The

team was expected to lose, but Sally made

many points and saved the day. Your ex-

cellent speech saved the day.

save up (for something) to save money in or-

der to buy something. I’m saving up for

a bicycle. I’ll have to save up for a long

time. It costs a lot of money.

saved by the bell rescued from a difficult

or dangerous situation just in time by

something that brings the situation to a

sudden end. (From the sounding of a bell

marking the end of a round in a boxing

match.) James didn’t know the answer

to the question but he was saved by the bell

when the teacher was called away from the

room. I couldn’t think of anything to say

to the woman at the bus stop, but I was

saved by the bell when my bus arrived.

saving grace the one thing that saves or re-

deems someone or something that would

otherwise be a total disaster. Her sav-

ing grace is that she has a lot of money.

The saving grace for the whole evening was

the good music played by the band.

say a mouthful to say a lot; to say some-

thing very important or meaningful.

(Folksy.) When you said things were

busy around here, you said a mouthful. It

is terribly busy. You sure said a mouth-

ful, Bob. Things are really busy.

say grace to say a prayer of gratitude be-

fore or after a meal. Grandfather al-

ways says grace at Thanksgiving. A lo-

cal preacher said grace at the banquet.

say something in a roundabout way to im-

ply something without saying it; to say

something indirectly; to speak using cir-

cumlocution. Why don’t you say what

you mean? Why do you always say some-

thing in a roundabout way? What did

she mean? Why did she say it in a round-

about way?

say something (right) to someone’s face to say

something (unpleasant) directly to some-

one. She knew I thought she was rude

because I said it right to her face.

thought she felt that way about me, but I

never thought she’d say it to my face.

say something under one’s breath to say

something so softly that almost no one

can hear it. John was saying something

under his breath, and I don’t think it was

very pleasant. I’m glad he said it under

his breath. If he had said it out loud, it

would have caused an argument.

say that something is so to assume something;

to suppose that something were so. Say

that x is equal to a whole number greater

than 10. Say that two trains leave two

different cities at the same time.

say the word to give a signal to begin; to

say yes or okay. I’m ready to start any

time you say the word. We’ll all shout

“Happy Birthday!” when I say the word.

say uncle to surrender; to give in. (Infor-

mal.) Ann held Bobby down on the

ground until he said uncle. Why isn’t it

enough to win the argument? Why do you

demand that I say uncle?

scale something down to make something

smaller by a certain amount or propor-

tion. I scaled down the guest list because

I couldn’t invite so many people. Jane’s

salary was scaled down by 10 percent last

year.

scarcely have time to breathe Go to

hardly have time to breathe.

scarcer than hens’ teeth Go to (as) scarce

as hens’ teeth.

scare one out of one’s wits Go to frighten

one out of one’s wits.

scare someone or something up to search for

and find someone or something. (Slang.)

Go out in the kitchen and scare some

food up. T I’ll see if I can scare up some-

body to fix the broken chair.

scare someone stiff to scare someone se-

verely; to frighten someone to death. (See

the explanation at scared stiff.) That

loud noise scared me stiff. The robber

jumped out and scared us stiff.

scare someone to death Go to frighten some-

one to death.

scare the living daylights out of someone

Go to frighten the wits out of someone.

scare the wits out of someone Go to

frighten the wits out of someone.

scared silly frightened very much. I was

scared silly by the loud explosion. We

were scared silly to go into the park after

dark.

scared stiff badly frightened. (Frightened

to the point of being petrified and unable

to move.) We were scared stiff by the

robber. I was scared stiff when the dog

growled at me.

scared to death Go to frightened to death.

school of thought a particular philosophy

or way of thinking about something.

One school of thought holds that cats cause

allergic reactions. I come from the school

of thought that believes people should al-

ways be polite.

scout around for someone or something to

search here and there for someone or

something. Tom is scouting around for

a date for Friday night.  Please scout

around for some ideas on what to cook for

dinner.

scrape something together to assemble

something quickly, usually from a small

supply of components. I’ll try to scrape

something together for dinner. T We really

should try to have a party to celebrate the

boss’s birthday. Let’s try to scrape together

a little something.

scrape the bottom of the barrel to se-

lect from among the worst; to choose

from what is left over. You’ve bought a

bad-looking car. You really scraped the bot-

tom of the barrel to get that one. The

worker you sent over was the worst I’ve

ever seen. Send me another—and don’t

scrape the bottom of the barrel.

scratch around (for something) to look here

and there for something. (Informal.)

Let me scratch around for a better bargain.

Maybe I can come up with something you

like. I’ll scratch around for a week or two

and see what I come up with.

scratch someone’s back to do a favor for

someone in return for a favor done for

you. (Also literal. Informal.)

scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.

We believe that the mayor has been

scratching the treasurer’s back.

scratch the surface to just begin to find

out about something. The investigation

of the governor’s staff revealed some sus-

picious dealing. It is thought that the in-

vestigators have just scratched the surface.

We don’t know how bad the problem is.

We’ve only scratched the surface.

scream bloody murder to complain bit-

terly; to complain unduly. (Slang. See

also cry bloody murder.) When we put

him in an office without a window, he

screamed bloody murder. There is some-

thing wrong next door. Everyone is scream-

ing bloody murder.

screw around (with someone or something)

Go to mess around (with someone or some-

thing).

screw someone or something up to cause trou-

ble for someone or something. (Slang.)

Your advice about making a lot of money

really screwed me up. Now I’m broke. T

Your efforts screwed up the entire project.

screw up one’s courage to build up one’s

courage. I guess I have to screw up my

courage and go to the dentist. I spent

all morning screwing up my courage to

take my driver’s test.

the seamy side of life the most unpleas-

ant or roughest aspect of life. (Informal.

Refers to the inside of a garment where

the seams show. Seamy occurs only in

this expression.) Doctors in that area

really see the seamy side of life. Mary

saw the seamy side of life when she worked

as a volunteer in the shelter.

search high and low (for someone or some-

thing) Go to hunt high and low (for some-

one or something).

search something with a fine-tooth comb

Go to go over something with a fine-tooth

comb.

second nature to someone easy and natural

for someone. Swimming is second na-

ture to Jane. Driving is no problem for

Bob. It’s second nature to him.

second-rate not of the best quality; infe-

rior. Bill’s a second-rate tennis player

compared with Bob. The government is

building second-rate housing.

second to none better than everything.

This is an excellent car—second to none.

Her suggestion was second to none, and

the manager accepted it eagerly.

security against something something that

keeps something safe; something that

protects; a protection. Insurance pro-

vides security against financial loss owing

to theft, loss, or damage. A good edu-

cation is a security against unemployment.

see about something to ask about some-

thing; to check on something. I’ll have

to see about your request to leave early.

I must see about the cake I have in the

oven.

see a man about a dog to leave for some

unmentioned purpose. (Informal. Often

refers to going to the rest room.) I don’t

know where Tom went. He said he had to

see a man about a dog. When John said

he was going to see a man about a dog, I

thought he would be gone for only a minute

see double to see two of everything in-

stead of one. When I was driving, I saw

two people on the road instead of one. I’m

seeing double. There’s something wrong

with my eyes. Mike thought he was see-

ing double when he saw Mary with her

twin sister. He didn’t know she had a twin.

see eye to eye (with someone) (about

something) and see eye to eye (with

someone) (on something) to view something

in the same way (as someone else).

John and Ann see eye to eye about the new

law. Neither of them likes it. John sees

eye to eye with Ann about it. That’s in-

teresting because they rarely see eye to eye.

see eye to eye (with someone) (on some-

thing) Go to see eye to eye (with someone)

(about something).

see into something Go to look into something.

see no objection (to something) and not

see any objection (to something) not to

think of any objection to something.

I see no objection to your idea. Do you

see any objection? I do not see any ob-

jection to anything you have done.

see one’s way clear (to do something) to find

it possible to do something. I’d be

happy if you could see your way clear to at-

tend our meeting. I wanted to be there,

but I couldn’t see my way clear.

see red to be angry. (Informal.) When-

ever I think of the needless destruction of

trees, I see red. Bill really saw red when

the tax bill arrived.

see someone or something as something to con-

sider someone or something; to deem

someone or something as something.

The manager saw the skilled employee as

a godsend. John saw the new salesman

as a threat to his territory.

see someone home to accompany someone

home. Bill agreed to see his aunt home

after the movie. You don’t need to see

me home. It’s perfectly safe, and I can get

there on my own.

see someone to somewhere to escort some-

one to a place; to make sure that some-

one gets somewhere safely; to accompany

someone to a place. I saw Mary to her

door, and then got back in my car and left.

Bill saw his cousin to the train station,

and then they parted.

see someone to the door Go to show some-

one (to) the door.

see the color of someone’s money to ver-

ify that someone has money or has

enough money. (Slang.) So, you want

to make a bet? Not until I see the color of

your money. I want to see the color of

your money before we go any further with

this business deal.

see the (hand)writing on the wall to

know that something is certain to hap-

pen. If you don’t improve your perfor-

mance, they’ll fire you. Can’t you see the

writing on the wall? I know I’ll get fired.

I can see the handwriting on the wall.

see the last of someone or something to see

someone or something for the last time.

I’m glad to see the last of that old car.

It has a lot of problems. The people at

my office were happy to see the last of John.

He caused a lot of trouble before he left.

see the light to understand something

clearly at last. (Also literal. See also the

following two entries.) After a lot of

studying and asking many questions, I fi-

nally saw the light. I know that geome-

try is difficult. Keep working at it. You’ll

see the light pretty soon.

see the light (at the end of the tunnel)

to foresee an end to something, such as

a problem or a task, after a long period of

time. I had been horribly ill for two

months before I began to see the light at the

end of the tunnel. I began to see the light

one day in early spring. At that moment,

I knew I’d get well. When I got to the

last chapter, I could see the light at the end

of the tunnel.

see the light (of day) to come to the end

of a very busy time. Finally, when the

holiday season was over, we could see the

light of day. We had been so busy! When

business lets up for a while, we’ll be able

to see the light.

see the sights to see the important things

in a place; to see what tourists usually see.

We plan to visit Paris and see the sights.

Everyone left the hotel early in the

morning to see the sights.

see through someone or something to under-

stand or detect the true nature of some-

one or something. (Compare this with

see something through.) You can’t fool me

anymore. I can see through you and all

your tricks.  This plan is designed to

make money for you, not to help people. I

can see through it! I’m not a fool!

see (to it) that something is done to make

sure of something; to make certain of

something; to be certain to do some-

thing. The manager saw to it that every-

one began working on time. The mayor

should see that the potholes are repaired.

see to someone or something to take care of

someone or something. Tom will see

to the horses. Come to the house and

freshen up.  I hear the doorbell. Will

someone please see to the door? This pa-

per needs filling out. Will you please see

to it?

see which way the wind is blowing to

determine what is the most expedient

thing to do. We studied the whole situ-

ation to see which way the wind was blow-

ing and decided to avoid any conf lict at

that time. Sam failed to see which way

the wind was blowing and got himself

caught up in an argument.

seeing is believing one must believe

something that one sees. I never would

have thought that a cow could swim, but

seeing is believing. I can hardly believe

we are in Paris, but there’s the Eiffel Tower,

and seeing is believing.

seeing things to imagine one sees some-

one or something that is not there. Lisa

says that she saw a ghost, but she was just

seeing things.  I thought I was seeing

things when Bill walked into the room.

Someone had told me he was dead.

seize the bull by the horns Go to take the

bull by the horns.

seize (up)on something to (figuratively) take

hold of something and make an issue of

it. (Also literal.) Whenever I mention

money, you seize on it and turn it into an

argument! The lawyer seized upon one

point and asked many questions about it.