shipping

shipping and handling the costs of han-

dling a product and transporting it. (See

also postage and handling.) Shipping

and handling charges were included in the

price. The cost of the goods is low and

shipping and handling added only a few

cents.

ships that pass in the night people who

meet each other briefly by chance and

who are unlikely to meet again. Mary

wanted to see Jim again, but to him, they

were ships that passed in the night.

When you travel a lot on business, you

meet many ships that pass in the night.

shirk one’s duty to neglect one’s job or task.

The guard was fired for shirking his

duty.  You cannot expect to continue

shirking your duty without someone

noticing.

The shoe is on the other foot. One is ex-

periencing the same things that one

caused another person to experience.

(Proverb. Note the variation in the ex-

amples. See also have the shoe on the

other foot.) The teacher is taking a

course in summer school and is finding out

what it’s like when the shoe is on the other

foot. When the policeman was arrested,

he learned what it was like to have the shoe

on the other foot.

shook up upset; shocked. (Slang. See also

shake someone or something up.) Relax,

man! Don’t get shook up! I always get

shook up when I see something like that.

shoot for something to try to do something;

to attempt to do something; to aim

toward a goal. The industrious student

shot for success. The worker shot for a $2

per hour raise.

shoot from the hip 1. to fire a gun that is

held at one’s side, against one’s hip. (This

increases one’s speed in firing a gun.)

When I lived at home on the farm, my fa-

ther taught me to shoot from the hip. I

quickly shot the snake before it bit my

horse. I’m glad I learned to shoot from the

hip. 2. to speak directly and frankly. (In-

formal.) John has a tendency to shoot

from the hip, but he generally speaks the

truth. Don’t pay any attention to John.

He means no harm. It’s just his nature to

shoot from the hip.

shoot one’s mouth off to boast or talk too

much; to tell someone’s secrets. (Slang.)

Don’t pay any attention to Bob. He’s al-

ways shooting his mouth off. T Oh, Sally!

Stop shooting off your mouth! You don’t

know what you’re talking about.

shoot something out 1. to stick, throw, or

thrust something outward. The dia-

mond shot bright shafts of light out when

the sun fell on it. T The little girl shot out

her tongue at the teacher. 2. to settle a

matter by the use of guns. (Slang. Typi-

cal of gangster or western movies.) Bill

and the cowboy—with whom he had been

arguing—went out in the street and shot it

out. T Don’t they know they can settle a

problem by talking? They don’t need to

shoot out the problem when they can talk

it over.

shoot the breeze to spend time chatting.

(Slang. See also the following entry.)

I went over to Bob’s place and shot the

breeze for about an hour. Don’t spend so

much time shooting the breeze. Get to

work!

shoot the bull to spend time chatting

about one’s accomplishments, especially

with others who are doing the same.

(Slang. See also the previous entry.)

Those guys out in the backyard are just sit-

ting around shooting the bull. It was

raining, so everybody spent the day indoors

drinking beer and shooting the bull.

shoot the works to do everything; to use

up everything; to bet everything. (Slang.)

Shall I bet half our money, or shall I

shoot the works? We shot the works at

the carnival—spent every cent we brought

with us.

shop around (for something) to shop at dif-

ferent stores to find what you want at the

best price. I’ve been shopping around

for a new car, but they are all priced too

high. You can find a bargain, but you’ll

have to shop around.

short and sweet brief (and pleasant be-

cause of briefness). That was a good

sermon—short and sweet. I don’t care

what you say, as long as you make it short

and sweet.

short for something <[of a word] being a

shortened form of a word or phrase.>

Photo is short for photograph. Dave is

short for David.

short of something not having enough of

something. I wanted to bake a cake, but

I was short of eggs. Usually at the end

of the month, I’m short of money.

a shot in the arm a boost; something that

gives someone energy. (Informal.)

Thank you for cheering me up. It was a

real shot in the arm. Your friendly greet-

ing card was just what I needed—a real

shot in the arm.

a shot in the dark a random or wild guess

or try. (Slang.) I don’t know how I

guessed the right answer. It was just a shot

in the dark. I was lucky to hire such a

good worker as Sally. When I hired her, it

was just a shot in the dark.

shot through with something containing

something; interwoven, intermixed, or

filled with something. The rose was a

lovely pink shot through with streaks of

white. John’s comments are often shot

through with sarcasm. I want a well-

marbled steak—one shot through with fat.

shot to hell Go to (all) shot to hell.

a shotgun wedding a forced wedding. (In-

formal. From imagery of the bride’s fa-

ther having threatened the bridegroom

with a shotgun to force him to marry.)

Mary was six months pregnant when she

married Bill. It was a real shotgun wed-

Bob would never have married

Jane if she hadn’t been pregnant. Jane’s fa-

ther saw to it that it was a shotgun

wedding.

should have stood in bed should have

stayed in bed. What a horrible day! I

should have stood in bed. The minute I

got up and heard the news this morning,

I knew I should have stood in bed.

shoulder to shoulder side by side; with a

shared purpose. The two armies fought

shoulder to shoulder against the joint

enemy.  The strikers said they would

stand shoulder to shoulder against the

management.

shove one’s way somewhere to make a path

through a crowd by pushing. The im-

patient man shoved his way through the

crowd. The reporter shoved her way to

the front of the crowd.

shove someone or something down someone’s

throat and ram someone or something

down someone’s throat; force someone or

something down someone’s throat to force

someone or something on someone.

(Slang and a little rude.) I don’t want

any more insurance, and I don’t want any-

one to shove any insurance down my

throat. Mary isn’t invited to my party,

and I don’t wish for anyone to ram her

down my throat! Someone is always try-

ing to force some stupid propaganda down

my throat.

show-and-tell a trivial presentation of

something of little interest. (Refers to the

name of a classroom period in the lower

grades where children bring something

interesting into the classroom and show

it to the rest of the class.) I wouldn’t

call that meeting useful. It was sort of a

grown-up show-and-tell.   After the

show-and-tell session where the author

talked about his book, we all went into the

hall and had refreshments.

show good faith to demonstrate good in-

tentions or good will. I’m certain that

you showed good faith when you signed the

contract. Do you doubt that she is show-

ing good faith?

show off to do things in a way that is

meant to attract attention. Please stop

showing off! You embarrass me. John is

always showing off to his girlfriend.

a show of hands a display of raised hands

[in a group of people] that can be

counted for the purpose of votes or sur-

veys. We were asked to vote for the can-

didates for captain by a show of hands.

Jack wanted us to vote on paper, not by a

show of hands, so that we could have a se-

cret ballot.

show one’s hand to reveal one’s intentions

to someone. (From card games.) I

don’t know whether Jim is intending to

marry Jane or not. He’s not one to show his

hand. If you want to get a raise, don’t

show the boss your hand too soon.

show one’s (true) colors to show what one

is really like or what one is really think-

ing. Whose side are you on, John? Come

on. Show your colors. It’s hard to tell

what Mary is thinking. She never shows

her true colors.

show one to one’s seat Go to show someone

to a seat.

show signs of something to show hints or

indications of something. I let the horse

run at full speed until it began to show

signs of tiring. Sally is showing signs of

going to sleep.

show someone or something off to display

someone or something so that the best

features are apparent. T Mrs. Williams

was showing off her baby to the neighbors.

Bill drove around all afternoon showing

his new car off.

show someone the ropes to tell or show

someone how something is to be done.

Since this was my first day on the job, the

manager spent a lot of time showing me

the ropes. Take some time and show the

new boy the ropes.

show someone to a seat and show one to

one’s seat to lead or direct someone to a

place to sit. May I show you to your

seat, sir? The ushers showed us to our

seats politely and efficiently.

show someone (to) the door and see some-

one to the door to lead or take someone

to the door or exit. After we finished

our talk, she showed me to the door. Bill

and I finished our chat as he saw me to the

door.

show someone up to make someone’s faults

or shortcomings apparent. T John’s ex-

cellent effort really showed up Bill, who

didn’t try very hard at all. John is always

trying to show someone up to make him-

self look better.

show someone up as something to reveal that

someone is really something (else).

The investigation showed her up as a

fraud. The test showed the banker up

as unqualified.

show something to good advantage to dis-

play the best features of something; to

display something so that its best features

are apparent. Put the vase in the cen-

ter of the table and show it to good ad-

vantage. Having and using a large vo-

cabulary shows your intelligence to good

advantage.

shuffle off this mortal coil to die. (Of-

ten jocular or formal euphemism. Not of-

ten used in consoling someone.)

Cousin Fred shuff led off this mortal coil

after drinking a jug full of rat poison.

When I shuff le off this mortal coil, I want

to go out in style—bells, f lowers, and a

long, boring funeral.

shut someone up to silence someone. Oh,

shut yourself up! T Will you please shut up

that crying baby!

shut something down Go to close something

down.

shut the door on someone or something and

close the door on someone or something 1.

to close the door in order to keep some-

one or something out. Bob opened the

door, and when he saw it was Mary, he

closed the door on her. “Don’t shut the

door on me!” screamed Mary. 2. [with

something] to terminate, exclude, or ob-

struct something. Your bad attitude

shuts the door on any future cooperation

from me. The bad service at that store

closes the door on any more business from

my company.

shuttle someone or something from person to

person and shuttle someone or something

from place to place to move or pass

someone or something from person to

person; to move or pass someone or

something from place to place. My

phone call was shuttled from person to per-

son. Mary shuttled her children from

home to school to practice.

shuttle someone or something from place to

place Go to shuttle someone or something

from person to person.

shy away (from someone or something) to

avoid someone or something. The dog

shies away from John since he kicked it.

I can understand why the dog would shy

away. I shy away from eating onions. I

think I’m allergic to them.

sick and tired of someone or something dis-

gusted and annoyed with someone or

something. I’m sick and tired of Ann

and her whistling. We are all sick and

tired of this old car.

sick as a dog Go to (as) sick as a dog.

sick in bed remaining in bed while (one is)

ill. Tom is sick in bed with the f lu.

He’s been sick in bed for nearly a week.

side against someone to be against some-

one; to take sides against someone. I

thought you were my friend! I never

thought you would side against me! The

two brothers were always siding against

their sister.

side with someone to join with someone; to

take someone else’s part; to be on some-

one’s side. Why is it that you always side

with him when he and I argue? I never

side with anybody. I form my own

opinions.

sight for sore eyes a welcome sight.

(Folksy.) Oh, am I glad to see you here!

You’re a sight for sore eyes. I’m sure hun-

gry. This meal is a sight for sore eyes.

a sign of things to come Go to a harbin-

ger of things to come.

sign one’s own death warrant to do some-

thing (knowingly) that will most likely

result in severe trouble. (As if one were

ordering one’s own execution.) I

wouldn’t ever gamble a large sum of

money. That would be signing my own

death warrant. The killer signed his own

death warrant when he walked into the po-

lice station and gave himself up.

sign on (with someone) to sign an agree-

ment to work with or for someone, es-

pecially on a ship. The sailor signed on

with Captain Smith. Hardly any other

sailor was willing to sign on.

signal (to) someone to do something [for

someone] to give someone a command or

instruction using a signal. The traffic

cop signaled me to stop. Bill signaled the

other driver to pull over to the side of the

road.

signed, sealed, and delivered formally

and officially signed; [for a formal doc-

ument to be] executed. Here is the deed

to the property—signed, sealed, and de-

livered. I can’t begin work on this pro-

ject until I have the contract signed, sealed,

and delivered.

silent as the dead Go to (as) silent as the

dead.

silent as the grave Go to (as) silent as the

grave.

silly as a goose Go to (as) silly as a goose.

silly season the time of year, usually late

in the summer, when there is a lack of

important news and newspapers contain

articles about unimportant or trivial

things instead. It must be the silly sea-

son. There’s a story here about peculiarly

shaped potatoes. There’s a piece on the

front page about people with big feet. Talk

about the silly season!

simmer down to get quiet or calm. (In-

formal.) Hey, you guys! Simmer down!

Stop all the noise and go to sleep! I’m

very busy now. Please come back in a few

hours when things have simmered down

a bit.

since time immemorial since a very long

time ago. My hometown has had a big

parade on the Fourth of July since time im-

memorial. Since time immemorial, the

trees have blossomed each spring.

sing another tune Go to sing a different

tune.

sing someone’s praises to praise someone

highly and enthusiastically. The boss is

singing the praises of his new secretary.

The theater critics are singing the praises

of the young actor.

single file Go to (in) single file.

sink in [for knowledge] to be understood.

(Also literal. Informal.) I heard what

you said, but it took a while for it to sink

in. I pay careful attention to everything

I hear in class, but it usually doesn’t sink

in.

sink into despair [for someone] to grieve

or become depressed. After losing all

my money, I sank into despair. There is

no need to sink into despair. Everything is

going to be all right.

sink one’s teeth into something 1. to take a

bite of some kind of food, usually a spe-

cial kind of food. I can’t wait to sink

my teeth into a nice juicy steak. Look

at that chocolate cake! Don’t you want to

sink your teeth into that? 2. to get a

chance to do, learn, or control some-

thing. That appears to be a very chal-

lenging assignment. I can’t wait to sink my

teeth into it. Being the manager of this

department is a big task. I’m very eager to

sink my teeth into it.

sink or swim to fail or succeed. After I’ve

studied and learned all I can, I have to take

the test and sink or swim. It’s too late

to help John now. It’s sink or swim for him.

sit around (somewhere) to sit somewhere

and relax or do nothing; to sit idly some-

where. Tom likes to sit around the house

in shorts and a T-shirt on hot days. Too

many people are just sitting around doing

nothing at my office.

sit at someone’s feet to admire someone

greatly; to be influenced by someone’s

teaching; to be taught by someone.

Jack sat at the feet of Picasso when he was

studying in Europe. Tom would love to

sit at the feet of the musician Yehudi

Menuhin.

sit back and let something happen to relax

and not interfere with something; to let

something happen without playing a part

in it. I can’t just sit back and let you

waste all our money! Don’t worry. Just

sit back and let things take care of

themselves.

sit bolt upright to sit up straight. Tony

sat bolt upright and listened to what the

teacher was saying to him. After sitting

bolt upright for almost an hour in that

crowded airplane, I swore I would never

travel again.

sit (idly) by to remain inactive when other

people are doing something; to ignore a

situation that calls for help. Bob sat idly

by even though everyone else was hard at

work. I can’t sit by while all those peo-

ple need food.

sit in for someone to take someone’s else’s

place in a specific activity. (The activity

usually involves being seated.) I can’t

be at the meeting Thursday. Will you sit

in for me? Sorry, I can’t sit in for you.

John is also going to be absent, and I am

sitting in for him.

sit in (on something) to witness or observe

something without participating. (Usu-

ally involves being seated.) I can’t sign

up for the history class, but I have permis-

sion to sit in on it. I asked the professor

if I could sit in.

sit on its hands [for an audience] to refuse

to applaud. We saw a very poor perfor-

mance of the play. The audience sat on its

hands for the entire play. The audience

just sat on its hands.

sit on one’s hands to do nothing; to fail to

help. When we needed help from Mary,

she just sat on her hands. We need the

cooperation of everyone. You can’t sit on

your hands!

sit on someone or something to hold someone

or something back; to delay someone or

something. (Also literal. Informal.)

The project cannot be finished because the

city council is sitting on the final approval.

Ann deserves to be promoted, but the

manager is sitting on her because of a

disagreement.

sit on the fence not to take sides in a dis-

pute; not to make a clear choice between

two possibilities. (Also literal.) When

Jane and Tom argue, it is well to sit on the

fence and then you won’t make either of

them angry. No one knows which of the

candidates Joan will vote for. She’s sitting

on the fence.

sit something out not to participate in some-

thing; to wait until something is over be-

fore participating. Oh, please play with

us. Don’t sit it out. T I’m tired of playing

cards, so I think I’ll sit out this game.

sit through something to witness or endure

all of something. The performance was

so bad that I could hardly sit through it.

You can’t expect small children to sit

through a long movie.

sit tight to wait; to wait patiently. (Infor-

mal. This does not necessarily refer to sit-

ting.) Just relax and sit tight. I’ll be right

with you. We were waiting in line for the

gates to open when someone came out and

told us to sit tight because it wouldn’t be

much longer before we could go in.

sit up and take notice to become alert and

pay attention. A loud noise from the

front of the room caused everyone to sit up

and take notice. The company would-

n’t pay any attention to my complaints.

When I had my lawyer write them a let-

ter, they sat up and took notice.

sit up with someone to stay with someone

through the night, especially with a sick

or troubled person or with someone who

is waiting for something. I had to sit up

with my younger sister when she was ill.

I sat up with Bill while he waited for an

overseas telephone call.

sit with someone 1. to stay with someone; to

sit up with someone. Sally was upset, so

I sat with her for a while. My uncle sat

with me my first day in the hospital. 2. to

stay with and care for one or more chil-

dren; to baby-sit for someone. I hired

Mrs. Wilson to sit with the children. We

couldn’t go out for dinner because we

couldn’t find anyone to sit with the kids.

a sitting duck someone or something vul-

nerable to attack, physical or verbal. (Pre-

ceded by be, become, seem like, or act like.

See also a sitting target.) You are a sit-

ting duck out there. Get in here where the

enemy cannot fire at you. The senator

was a sitting duck because of his position

on school reform.

sitting on a powder keg in a risky or ex-

plosive situation; in a situation where

something serious or dangerous may

happen at any time. (Informal. A pow-

der keg is a keg of gunpowder.) Things

are very tense at work. The whole office is

sitting on a powder keg. The fire at the

oil field seems to be under control for now,

but all the workers there are sitting on a

powder keg.

sitting pretty living in comfort or luxury;

in a good situation. (Informal.) My

uncle died and left enough money for me

to be sitting pretty for the rest of my life.

Now that I have a good-paying job, I’m

sitting pretty.

a sitting target someone or something that

is in a position that is easily attacked. (See

also a sitting duck.) The old man was

a sitting target for the burglars. He lived

alone and did not have a telephone. Peo-

ple recently hired will be sitting targets if

the company needs to cut back.