learn

learn something by heart to learn something

so well that it can be written or recited

without thinking; to memorize some-

thing. The director told me to learn my

speech by heart. I had to go over it many

times before I learned it by heart.

learn something by rote to learn something

by memorizing without giving any

thought to what is being learned. I

learned history by rote; then I couldn’t pass

the test that required me to think. If you

learn things by rote, you’ll never under-

stand them.

learn something from the bottom up to

learn something thoroughly, from the

very beginning; to learn all aspects of

something, even the least important ones.

I learned my business from the bottom

up. I started out sweeping the floors and

learned everything from the bottom up.

learn the ropes to learn how to do some-

thing; to learn how to work something.

(Informal. See also know the ropes; show

someone the ropes.) I’ll be able to do my

job very well as soon as I learn the ropes.

John is very slow to learn the ropes.

learn to live with something to learn to

adapt to something unpleasant or

painful. (See also have to live with some-

thing.) Finally the doctor told Marion

that she was going to have to learn to live

with her arthritis. The f loor plan of the

house we bought is not as handy as we had

thought, but we will learn to live with it.

least of all least; of smallest importance.

(Informal.) There were many things

wrong with the new house. Least of all, the

water faucets leaked. What a bad day.

Many things went wrong, but least of all,

I tore my shirt.

leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth [for

someone or something] to leave a bad

feeling or memory with someone. (Also

literal. Informal.) The whole business

about the missing money left a bad taste in

his mouth. It was a very nice party, but

something about it left a bad taste in my

mouth. I’m sorry that Bill was there. He

always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

leave a lot to be desired to be lacking

something important; to be inadequate.

(A polite way of saying that something

is bad.) This report leaves a lot to be de-

sired.  I’m sorry to have to fire you,

Mary, but your work leaves a lot to be

desired.

leave a sinking ship Go to desert a sink-

ing ship.

leave no stone unturned to search in all

possible places. (Refers to finding some-

thing under a rock.) Don’t worry. We’ll

find your stolen car. We’ll leave no stone

unturned. In searching for a nice place

to live, we left no stone unturned.

leave oneself wide open to something Go to

leave oneself wide open for something.

leave one’s mark on someone [for someone

like a teacher] to affect the behavior and

performance of another person. The

wise professor left her mark on her stu-

dents. My father left his mark on me,

and I will always remember all his good

advice.

leave one to one’s fate to abandon someone

to whatever may happen—possibly death

or some other unpleasant event. We

couldn’t rescue the miners, and we were

forced to leave them to their fate. Please

don’t try to help. Just go away and leave me

to my fate.

leave someone flat 1. to fail to entertain or

stimulate someone. (Informal.) Your

joke left me f lat. We listened carefully to

his lecture, but it left us f lat. 2. to leave

someone without any money—flat broke.

Paying all my bills left me f lat. The

robber took all my money and left me f lat.

3. to leave someone completely alone.

I was at the dance with Harry, but when

he met Alice, he left me f lat. They just

walked off and left us f lat.

leave someone for dead to abandon some-

one as being dead. (The abandoned per-

son may actually be alive.) He looked

so bad that they almost left him for dead.

As the soldiers turned—leaving the en-

emy captain for dead—the captain fired at

them.

leave someone high and dry 1. to leave

someone unsupported and unable to ma-

neuver; to leave someone helpless. (Also

literal. See also high and dry.) All my

workers quit and left me high and dry.

All the children ran away and left Billy

high and dry to take the blame for the bro-

ken window. 2. to leave someone flat

broke. Mrs. Franklin took all the money

out of the bank and left Mr. Franklin high

and dry. Paying the bills always leaves

me high and dry.

leave someone holding the bag to leave

someone to take all the blame; to leave

someone appearing guilty. (Also literal.

Informal.) They all ran off and left me

holding the bag. It wasn’t even my fault.

It was the mayor’s fault, but he wasn’t left

holding the bag.

leave someone in peace to stop bothering

someone; to go away and leave someone

alone. (Does not necessarily mean to go

away from a person.) Please go—leave

me in peace. Can’t you see that you’re

upsetting her? Leave her in peace.

leave someone in the lurch to leave some-

one waiting for or anticipating your ac-

tions. Where were you, John? You really

left me in the lurch. I didn’t mean to

leave you in the lurch. I thought we had

canceled our meeting.

leave someone or something hanging in

midair and keep someone or something

hanging in midair to suspend dealing

with someone or something; to leave

someone or something waiting to be fin-

ished or continued. (Also literal.) She

left her sentence hanging in midair. She

left us hanging in midair when she paused.

Tell me the rest of the story. Don’t leave

me hanging in midair. Don’t leave the

story hanging in midair.

leave something on to leave something run-

ning or operating. (Also literal in refer-

ence to wearing clothes.) Please don’t

leave the light on. Ann went to school

and left her radio on.

leave something open to leave a date or time

unscheduled. I left something open on

Friday, just in case we want to leave work

early. Please leave an appointment open

for Mrs. Wallace next week. She will be

calling in to our office for an appointment.

leave well enough alone Go to let well

enough alone.

leave word (with someone) to leave a mes-

sage with someone (who will pass the

message on to someone else). If you de-

cide to go to the convention, please leave

word with my secretary. Leave word be-

fore you go.  I left word with your

brother. Didn’t he give you the message?

left and right Go to right and left.

lend a hand (to someone) Go to lend (some-

one) a hand.

lend an ear (to someone) to listen to some-

one. Lend an ear to John. Hear what he

has to say. I’d be delighted to lend an

ear. I find great wisdom in everything John

has to say.

lend color to something to provide an in-

teresting accompaniment for something.

Your clever comments lent a great deal

of color to the slide show of your vacation.

The excellent master of ceremonies will

lend color to an otherwise dry and unin-

teresting dance recital.

the lesser (of the two) the smaller one (of

two); the one having the least amount.

The last two pieces of pie were not quite

the same size, and I chose the lesser of the

two. Faced with a basket containing too

much and one with too little, Tom chose

the lesser.

the lesser of two evils the less bad thing,

of a pair of bad things. I didn’t like ei-

ther politician, so I voted for the lesser of

two evils. Given the options of going out

with someone I don’t like and staying home

and watching a boring television program,

I chose the lesser of the two evils and

watched television.

let alone someone or something not to men-

tion or think of someone or something;

not even to take someone or something

into account. Do I have a dollar? I don’t

even have a dime, let alone a dollar. I

didn’t invite John, let alone the rest of his

family.

Let bygones be bygones. One should for-

get the problems of the past. (Proverb.)

Okay, Sally, let bygones be bygones. Let’s

forgive and forget. Jane was unwilling to

let bygones be bygones. She still won’t

speak to me.

let go of someone or something to release

someone or something. Please let go of

me! Don’t let go of the steering wheel.

let go (with something) and cut loose

(with something); let loose (with some-

thing) to shout something out or expel

something; to shout or express something

wildly. (Slang.) The audience cut loose

with a loud cheer. The whole team let

go with a loud shout. John let loose with

a horrendous belch. I wish you would-

n’t let loose like that!

let grass grow under one’s feet to do

nothing; to stand still. Mary doesn’t let

the grass grow under her feet. She’s always

busy. Bob is too lazy. He’s letting the

grass grow under his feet.

let her rip and let it roll to go ahead and

start something; let something begin.

(Informal or slang. Her is usually ’er.)

When Bill was ready for John to start the

engine, he said, “Okay, John, let ’er rip.”

When Sally heard Bob say “Let ’er rip,” she

let the anchor go to the bottom of the lake.

Let’s go, Bill. Let it roll!

let it all hang out to tell or reveal every-

thing and hold back nothing (because

one is relaxed or carefree). (Also literal.

Slang.) Sally has no secrets. She lets it

all hang out all the time. Relax, John.

Let it all hang out.

Let it go. Forget it.; Stop worrying about it.

Don’t get so angry about it. Let it go.

Let it go. Stop fretting.

let it roll Go to let her rip.

let loose (with something) Go to let go (with

something).

let off steam and blow off steam [for

someone] to release excess energy or

anger. (Also literal in the case of steam

engines. Informal.) Whenever John gets

a little angry, he blows off steam. Don’t

worry about John. He’s just letting off

steam.

let oneself go to become less constrained;

to get excited and have a good time. I

love to dance and just let myself go. Let

yourself go, John. Learn to enjoy life.

let one’s emotions show to be emotional,

especially where it is not appropriate.

I’m sorry for the outburst. I didn’t mean to

let my emotions show. Please stop cry-

ing. You mustn’t let your emotions show.

let one’s hair down to become more inti-

mate and begin to speak frankly. (Also

literal. Informal.) Come on, Jane, let

your hair down and tell me all about it.

T I have a problem. Do you mind if I let

down my hair?

let out some kind of sound [for a living crea-

ture] to make some kind of a noise or

sound. Be quiet. Don’t let out a sound!

Suddenly, Jane let out a shriek.

Let sleeping dogs lie. One should not

search for trouble and one should leave

well enough alone. (Proverb.)

mention that problem with Tom again. It’s

almost forgotten. Let sleeping dogs lie.

You’ll never be able to reform Bill. Leave

him alone. Let sleeping dogs lie.

let someone down to disappoint someone;

to fail someone. (Also literal.) I’m sorry

I let you down. Something came up, and I

couldn’t meet you. I don’t want to let

you down, but I can’t support you in the

election.

let someone go to dismiss someone from

employment; to fire someone. John

was not working out as well as we had

hoped, and we had to let him go. They

let a number of the older workers go and

were faced with an age discrimination suit.

let someone have it (with both barrels) to

strike someone or attack someone ver-

bally. (Refers to firing a shotgun. Infor-

mal. With both barrels intensifies the

phrase. Refers to the firing a double-

barreled shotgun.) I really let Tom have

it with both barrels. I told him he had bet-

ter not do that again if he knows what’s

good for him. Bob let John have it—with

both barrels.

let someone in on something to tell someone

the secret. (Informal. The something can

be a plan, arrangements, scheme, trick, or

anything else that might be kept a secret.)

Should we let John in on the secret?

Please let me in on the plan.

let someone know (about something) to tell

someone something; to inform someone

of something. Please let me know about

it soon. Will you be coming to the pic-

nic? Please let me know.

let someone off easy Go to let someone or

something off.

let someone off (the hook) to release some-

one from a responsibility. Please let me

off the hook for Saturday. I have other

plans. Okay, I’ll let you off.

let something (get) out Go to leak something

(out).

let something pass to let something go un-

noticed or unchallenged. Bob let Bill’s

insult pass because he didn’t want to ar-

gue. Don’t worry, I’ll let this little inci-

dent pass.

let something ride to allow something to

continue or remain as it is. (Informal.)

It isn’t the best plan, but we’ll let it ride.

I disagree with you, but I’ll let it ride.

let something slide to neglect something.

(Also literal. Informal.) John let his

lessons slide. Jane doesn’t let her work

slide.

let something slide by Go to let something slip

by.

let something slip by and let something slide

by 1. to forget or miss an important time

or date. (Also literal.) I’m sorry I just

let your birthday slip by. I let it slide by

accidentally. 2. to waste a period of time.

You wasted the whole day by letting it

slip by. We were having fun, and we let

the time slide by.

let something slip (out) to tell a secret by

accident. (Also literal.) I didn’t let it slip

out on purpose. It was an accident. John

let the plans slip when he was talking to

Bill.

Let the buyer beware. The person who

buys something should investigate the

goods or property thoroughly for dam-

age or suitability. (Proverb.) Be care-

ful when buying things from street ven-

dors. Let the buyer beware.  It’s the

purchaser’s job to make sure the goods are

ok. Let the buyer beware.

let things slide to ignore the things that

one is supposed to do; to fall behind in

the doing of one’s work. (Also literal.)

I am afraid that I have let things slide

while I was recovering from my operation.

If I let things slide for even one day, I get

hopelessly behind in my work.

let up (on someone or something) to take the

pressure off someone or something; to

take it easy (on someone or something).

Please let up on me. I can’t work any faster,

and you’re making me nervous. Let up

on the project. You’re working too hard.

Yes, I guess I had better let up.

let us do something we will do something [to-

gether]. (A gentle command. More for-

mal than let’s.) Let us go in peace. Let

us bow our heads in prayer.

let well enough alone and leave well

enough alone to leave things as they are

(and not try to improve them). There

isn’t much more you can accomplish here.

Why don’t you just let well enough alone?

This is as good as I can do. I’ll stop and

leave well enough alone.

Let ’s do lunch. Let’s have lunch together

sometime. (Informal.) Some time next

week, let’s do lunch. Can’t talk to you

now. Let’s do lunch sometime.