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an eager beaver someone who is very en-

thusiastic; someone who works very

hard. New volunteers are always eager

beavers.  The young assistant gets to

work very early. She’s a real eager beaver.

early bird someone who gets up or arrives

early or starts something very promptly,

especially someone who gains an advan-

tage of some kind by so doing. (See also

The early bird gets the worm.) The

members of the Smith family are all early

birds. They caught the first bus to town.

I was an early bird and got the best selec-

tion of f lowers.

The early bird gets the worm. The early

person will get the reward or benefit.

Don’t be late again! Don’t you know that

the early bird gets the worm? I’ll be there

before the sun is up. After all, the early bird

gets the worm.

Early to bed, early to rise(, makes a man

healthy, wealthy, and wise). Going to

bed early and getting up early is good for

you. (Proverb. Sometimes said to explain

why a person is going to bed early. The

last part of the saying is sometimes left

out.) Tom left the party at ten o’clock,

saying, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes

a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” I al-

ways get up at dawn. After all, early to bed,

early to rise.

[ears are red] Go to one’s ears are red.

[ears are ringing] Go to one’s ears are

ringing.

ease off (on someone or something) and ease

up (on someone or something) to reduce the

urgency with which one deals with some-

one or something; to put less pressure on

someone or something. Ease off on

John. He has been yelled at enough today.

Yes, please ease off. I can’t stand any

more. Tell them to ease up on the horses.

They are getting tired. Tell them to ease

up now! They are making the horses work

too hard.

ease up (on someone or something) Go to ease

off (on someone or something).

easy as ABC Go to (as) easy as ABC.

easy as (apple) pie Go to (as) easy as (ap-

ple) pie.

easy as duck soup Go to (as) easy as duck

soup.

easy as falling off a log Go to (as) easy

as falling off a log.

easy as rolling off a log Go to (as) easy

as falling off a log.

Easy does it. Act with care. (Informal.)

Be careful with that glass vase. Easy does

it!  Now, now, Tom. Don’t get angry.

Easy does it.

eat (a meal) out and dine out to eat a

meal at a restaurant. I like to eat a meal

out every now and then. Yes, it’s good

to eat out and try different kinds of food.

It costs a lot of money to dine out often.

eat and run to eat a meal or a snack and

then leave. Well, I hate to eat and run

but I have to take care of some errands.

I don’t invite John to dinner anymore be-

cause he always has some excuse to eat and

run.

eat like a bird to eat only small amounts

of food; to peck at one’s food. Jane is

very slim because she eats like a bird.

Bill is trying to lose weight by eating like

a bird.

eat one’s cake and have it too Go to have

one’s cake and eat it too.

eat one’s hat <a phrase telling the kind of

thing that one would do if a very unlikely

event really happens.> (Informal. Always

used with an if-clause.) If we get there

on time, I’ll eat my hat. I’ll eat my hat

if you get a raise. He said he’d eat his

hat if she got elected.

eat out of someone’s hands to do what

someone else wants; to obey someone ea-

gerly. (Often with have.) Just wait! I’ll

have everyone eating out of my hands.

They’ll do whatever I ask. The president

has Congress eating out of his hands. A

lot of people are eating out of his hands.

eat someone out Go to chew someone out.

eat something up to enjoy, absorb, or appre-

ciate. (Also literal. Informal.) The au-

dience loved the comedian. They ate his act

up and demanded more. T The children

ate up Grandfather’s stories. They listened

to him for hours.

ebb and flow to decrease and then in-

crease, as with tides; a decrease followed

by an increase, as with tides. The for-

tunes of the major political parties tend

to ebb and f low over time. The ebb and

f low of democracy through history is a fas-

cinating subject.

edge someone out to remove a person from

a job, office, or position, usually by beat-

ing the person in competition. The vice

president edged the president out during

the last election. T Tom edged out Bob as

the new cook at the restaurant.

egg someone on to encourage, urge, or dare

someone to continue doing something,

usually something unwise. John would-

n’t have done the dangerous experiment if

his brother hadn’t egged him on. The

two boys kept throwing stones because the

other children were egging them on.

elbow someone out (of something) to force or

pressure someone out of something, such

as an office, post, or status. (Also literal

when attempting to use one’s elbows to

move the person beside oneself away.)

The old head of the company was elbowed

out of office by a young vice president.

They tried to elbow me out, but I held on

to what was mine.

an end in itself for its own sake; toward its

own ends; toward no purpose but its

own. For Bob, art is an end in itself. He

doesn’t hope to make any money from it.

Learning is an end in itself. Knowledge

does not have to have a practical

application.

the end of the line Go to the end of the

road.

the end of the road and the end of the

line the end; the end of the whole pro-

cess; death. (Line originally referred to

railroad tracks.) Our house is at the end

of the road. We rode the train to the end

of the line. When we reach the end of

the road on this project, we’ll get paid.

You’ve come to the end of the line. I’ll not

lend you another penny. When I reach

the end of the road, I wish to be buried in

a quiet place, near some trees.

end something up to bring something to an

end. (Informal. Also without up.)

want you to end your game up and come

in for dinner. T We can’t end up the game

until someone scores.

end up doing something and wind up doing

something to have to do something that one

had not planned to do. (Compare this

with end up by doing something.)

ended up going back to my house after all.

Todd wound up inviting everyone to his

house, even though he planned to spend

the evening at home alone.

end up somewhere and wind up somewhere

to finish at a certain place. If you don’t

get straightened out, you’ll end up in jail.

I fell and hurt myself, and I wound up

in the hospital.

end up with the short end of the stick

Go to get the short end of the stick.

engage in small talk to talk only about

minor matters rather than important or

personal matters. All the people at the

party were engaging in small talk. They

chatted about the weather and otherwise

engaged in small talk.

Enjoy your meal. <a polite phrase said by

a waiter or waitress when delivering food

to the table.> There you go. Enjoy your

meal. Do you have the medium steak?

Enjoy your meal.

Enough is enough. That is enough, and

there should be no more. Stop asking

for money! Enough is enough! I’ve heard

all the complaining from you that I can

take. Stop! Enough is enough!

enough to go (a)round a supply adequate

to serve everyone. (Informal.) Don’t

take too much. There’s not enough to go

around. I cooked some extra potatoes,

so there should be enough to go around.

enter one’s mind to come to one’s mind;

[for an idea or memory] to come into

one’s consciousness. Leave you behind?

The thought never even entered my mind.

A very interesting idea just entered my

mind. What if I ran for Congress?

enter the fray Go to join the fray.

equal to someone or something able to handle

or deal with someone or something.

(Also literal.) I’m afraid that I’m not

equal to Mrs. Smith’s problem right now.

Please ask her to come back later. That’s

a very difficult task, but I’m sure Bill is

equal to it.

even in the best of times even when

things are good; even when things are go-

ing well. It is hard to get high-quality

leather even in the best of times. John

had difficulty getting a loan even in the

best of times because of his poor credit

record.

even steven even (with someone or some-

thing). (Informal or slang. Preceded by

be or seem.) Bill hit Tom; then Tom hit

Bill. Now they are even steven. Mary

paid Ann the $100 she owed her. Ann said,

“Good, we are even steven.”

ever and anon now and then; occasionally.

(Literary and archaic.) Ever and anon

the princess would pay a visit to the sor-

cerer in the small walled garden directly

behind the castle. We eat swan ever and

anon, but not when we can get wild boar.

Every cloud has a silver lining. There is

something good in every bad thing.

(Proverb.) Jane was upset when she saw

that all her flowers had died from the frost.

But when she saw that the weeds had died

too, she said, “Every cloud has a silver lin-

ing.” Sally had a sore throat and had to

stay home from school. When she learned

she missed a math test, she said, “Every

cloud has a silver lining.”

Every dog has his day Go to Every dog

has its day.

Every dog has its day. and Every dog

has his day. Everyone will get a chance.

(Proverb.) Don’t worry, you’ll get cho-

sen for the team. Every dog has its day.

You may become famous someday. Every

dog has his day.

every inch a something and every inch the

something completely; in every way.

Mary is every inch the schoolteacher.

Her father is every inch a gentleman.

every inch the something Go to every inch

a something.

every living soul every person. (Informal.)

I expect every living soul to be there and

be there on time.  This is the kind of

problem that affects every living soul.

every minute counts and every moment

counts time is very important. Doctor,

please try to get here quickly. Every minute

counts. When you take a test, you must

work rapidly because every minute counts.

When you’re trying to meet a deadline,

every moment counts.

every moment counts Go to every minute

counts.

every nook and cranny every small, out-

of-the-way place where something can be

hidden. We looked for the tickets in

every nook and cranny. They were lost.

There was no doubt. The decorator had

placed f lowers in every nook and cranny.

(every) now and again Go to (every) now

and then.

(every) now and then and (every) now

and again; (every) once in a while oc-

casionally; infrequently. We eat lamb

every now and then. We eat pork now

and then. I read a novel every now and

again. We don’t go to the movies except

maybe every now and then. I drink cof-

fee every once in a while. I drink tea

once in a while.

(every) once in a while Go to (every) now

and then.

every other person or thing every second per-

son or thing; alternating. The magician

turned every other card over.  Every

other table had an ashtray on it.

every time one turns around frequently;

at every turn; with annoying frequency.

(Informal.) Somebody asks me for

money every time I turn around. Some-

thing goes wrong with Bill’s car every time

he turns around.

every which way in all directions.

(Folksy.) The children were all running

every which way. The wind scattered the

leaves every which way.