miss

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.