fast

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!”