cut

cut a big swath Go to cut a wide swath.

a cut above someone or something a measure

or degree better than someone or some-

thing else. (Especially with average, as in

the examples.) Your shirt is beautiful,

but mine is a cut above yours. John is-

n’t the best mechanic in town, but he’s a

cut above average.

cut across something to reach beyond some-

thing; to embrace a wide variety; to slice

across a figurative boundary or barrier.

(Also literal.) His teaching cut across all

human cultures and races. This rule cuts

across all social barriers.

cut a fine figure to look good; to look

elegant. (Formal. Usually said of a male.)

Tom really cuts a fine figure on the

dance f loor. Bill cuts a fine figure since

he bought some new clothes.

cut-and-dried fixed; determined before-

hand; usual and uninteresting. I find

your writing quite boring. It’s too cut-and-

dried. The lecture was, as usual, cut-

and-dried. It was the same thing we’ve

heard for years.

cut and run to get free and run away.

(Slang. As in cutting loose the rope on a

ship’s or boat’s anchor and sailing away

in a hurry.) Max decided to cut and run

when he heard the police sirens. As soon

as I finish what I am doing here, I’m go-

ing to cut and run. I’ve got to get home by

six o’clock.

cut a wide swath and cut a big swath

to seem important; to attract a lot of at-

tention. In social matters, Mrs. Smith

cuts a wide swath. Bob cuts a big swath

whenever he appears in his military

uniform.

cut back (on something) to reduce one’s use

of something; to use less of something.

The government has to cut back on its

spending. It’s very difficult for the gov-

ernment to cut back.

cut both ways to affect both sides of an is-

sue equally. Remember that your sug-

gestion that costs should be shared cuts

both ways. You will have to pay as well.

If our side cannot take along supporters to

the game, then yours cannot either. The

rule has to cut both ways.

cut class to skip going to class. (Informal.)

If Mary keeps cutting classes, she’ll fail

the course. I can’t cut that class. I’ve

missed too many already.

cut corners to reduce efforts or expendi-

tures; to do things poorly or incom-

pletely. You cannot cut corners when

you are dealing with public safety. Don’t

cut corners, Sally. Let’s do the job right.

cut from the same cloth and made from

the same mold sharing a lot of similar-

ities; seeming to have been created,

reared, or fashioned in the same way.

She and her brother are cut from the same

cloth. They both tell lies all the time.

They are made from the same mold and

even sound alike on the telephone.

cut loose (with something) Go to let go

(with something).

cut no ice (with someone) to fail to change

the mind of someone; to have no influ-

ence on someone. (Informal.) What

you just said will cut no ice with the man-

ager. All that may be true, but it cuts

no ice with me. That idea cuts no ice.

It won’t help at all. It cuts no ice that

your mother is the mayor.

cut off to stop by itself or oneself. (Infor-

mal.) The machine got hot and cut off.

Bob cut off in midsentence.

cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face to

harm oneself while trying to harm an-

other person. (Note the variation in the

examples.) Billy loves the zoo, but he re-

fused to go with his mother because he was

mad at her. He cut off his nose to spite his

face. Find a better way to be angry. It

is silly to cut your nose off to spite your

face.

cut one’s eyeteeth on something to have

done something since one was very

young; to have much experience at some-

thing. (Folksy.) Do I know about cars?

I cut my eyeteeth on cars. I cut my eye-

teeth on Bach. I can whistle everything he

wrote.

cut one’s losses to reduce someone’s losses

of money, goods, or other things of value.

I sold the stock as it went down, thus

cutting my losses. He cut his losses by

putting better locks on the doors. There

were fewer robberies. The mayor’s rep-

utation suffered because of the scandal. He

finally resigned to cut his losses.

cut one’s (own) throat [for someone] to ex-

perience certain failure; to do damage to

oneself. (Also literal. Informal.)

were to run for office, I’d just be cutting my

throat. Judges who take bribes are cut-

ting their own throats.

cut out to be something well-suited for a

particular role or a particular occupation.

(Compare this with cut out for something.)

Tom was not cut out to be a banker.

Sally was cut out to be a doctor.

cut (someone) a check to write a check; to

have a computer print a check. We will

cut a check for the balance due you later

this afternoon. We will cut you a check

as soon as possible.

cut someone dead to ignore someone totally.

Joan was just about to speak to James

when he cut her dead. Jean cut her for-

mer husband dead.

cut someone down (to size) and take some-

one down (to size) to make a person

humble; to put one in one’s place. (See also

beat someone down (to size).) John’s re-

marks really cut me down to size. Jane

is too conceited. I think her new boss will

take her down to size. The boss’s angry

stare will really cut her down.

cut someone in to give someone a share of

something. (Informal or slang.) Shall

we cut Bill in on this deal? I don’t think

we should cut anybody in. T Pretty soon

we’ll have to cut in the whole town.

cut someone off without a penny to end

someone’s allowance; to fail to leave

someone money in one’s will. Mr. and

Mrs. Franklin cut their son off without a

penny after he quit school. T They cut off

both of their sons without a penny. T We

learned, when Uncle Sam’s will was read,

that he cut off his own f lesh and blood

without a penny.

cut someone or something up to criticize some-

one or something severely. (Also literal.

Slang.) Jane is such a gossip. She was

really cutting Mrs. Jones up. T The pro-

fessor really cut up my essay.

cut someone to the quick to hurt someone’s

feelings very badly. Your criticism cut

me to the quick. Tom’s sharp words to

Mary cut her to the quick.

cut to the chase to get to the important

matters. Let’s stop all this chatter and

cut to the chase. I like the way you cut

to the chase and don’t waste my time.

Could

Could be worse. satisfactory, but not as

bad as it could be. Q: How are things?

A: Could be worse.  Things could be

worse, and in a little while, they probably

will be.

could do with someone or something to want

or need someone or something; to bene-

fit from someone or something. (Com-

pare this with go for someone or something.)

I could do with a nice cool drink right

now. I could do with some help on this

project. This house could do with some

cleaning up. They said they could do

with John to help them finish faster. My

car could do with a bigger engine.

couldn’t be better completely satisfactory.

I feeling great and couldn’t be better.

We had a wonderful time and our vaca-

tion couldn’t have been better.

couldn’t be happier totally happy. We

are delighted. Couldn’t be happier. They

both couldn’t be happier since they got

married.

could(n’t) care less unable to care at all.

(Informal. Could care less is almost

slang.) John couldn’t care less whether

he goes to the party or not. So she won

first place. I couldn’t care less. I could

care less if I live or die.

count noses to count people. I’ll tell you

how many people are here after I count

noses. Everyone is here. Let’s count noses

so we can order hamburgers.

count one’s chickens before they hatch

to plan how to utilize good results before

they have occurred. (Frequently used in

the negative.) You’re way ahead of your-

self. Don’t count your chickens before they

hatch. You may be disappointed if you

count your chickens before they hatch.

count someone out (for something) to exclude

someone from something. (Compare this

with count someone in (on something).)

Please count me out for the party next Sat-

urday. I have other plans. You should

count the whole family out. We are going

to the beach for the weekend.

a couple of two; two or three; a few; some;

not many. Bill grabbed a couple of beers

from the refrigerator. I hung a couple

of pictures on the wall.

course of action the procedures or se-

quence of actions that someone will fol-

low to accomplish a goal. I plan to take

a course of action that will produce the best

results. The committee planned a course

of action that would reduce costs and elim-

inate employees.

cover a lot of ground and cover a lot of

territory 1. to travel over a great dis-

tance; to investigate a wide expanse of

land. The prospectors covered a lot of

ground, looking for gold. My car can

cover a lot of ground in one day. 2. to deal

with much information and many facts.

The history lecture covered a lot of

ground today. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin

always cover a lot of ground when they

argue.

cover a lot of territory Go to cover a lot

of ground.

cover for someone 1. to make excuses for

someone; to conceal someone’s errors.

If I miss class, please cover for me. If

you’re late, I’ll cover for you. 2. to handle

someone else’s work. Dr. Johnson’s

partner agreed to cover for him during his

vacation. I’m on duty this afternoon.

Will you please cover for me? I have a doc-

tor’s appointment.

cover something up to conceal something.

(Also literal.) T They covered up the truth

about the crime. We’ll cover this little

matter up and make up a story for the

press.

cover the territory Go to cover the

waterfront.

cover the waterfront and cover the ter-

ritory to deal with many things, much

space, or much information from many

points of view. (Informal.) That lecture

really covered the waterfront. I could

hardly follow it. Why can’t she stick to

the point? She has to cover the territory

every time she talks.

cozy up (to someone) to be extra friendly

with someone, perhaps in hope of special

favors in return. (Informal or slang.)

Look at that lawyer cozying up to the

judge! Lawyers who cozy up like that

usually get into big trouble.

crack a book to open a book to study.

(Slang. Almost always in the negative.)

I passed that test with an A, and I didn’t

even crack a book. If you think you can

get through college without cracking a

book, you’re wrong.

crack a smile to smile a little, perhaps re-

luctantly. (Informal.) She cracked a

smile, so I knew she was kidding. The

soldier cracked a smile at the wrong time

and had to march for an hour as

punishment.

crack someone or something up 1. [with some-

thing] to crash something; to destroy

something (in an accident). The dri-

ver cracked the car up in an accident. T

The pilot cracked up the plane. 2. [with

someone] to make someone laugh. She

told a joke that really cracked us up. T I

cracked up my history class with a silly

remark.

crack something wide open to expose and

reveal some great wrongdoing. (Also lit-

eral.) The police cracked the drug ring

wide open. The newspaper story cracked

the trouble at city hall wide open.

crack up 1. [for a plane, boat, car, etc.] to

crash. The plane cracked up in the

storm. The boat cracked up on the rocks.

2. [for someone] to break out in laugh-

ter. The audience really cracked up dur-

ing the second act. The class cracked up

when I told my joke, but the teacher did-

n’t like it. 3. to go crazy. (Slang.) The

mayor cracked up after only a year in of-

fice. I was afraid the mayor would crack

up because of too much work.

crank something out to produce something;

to make something in a casual and me-

chanical way. (Slang.) John can crank a

lot of work out in a single day. T That fac-

tory keeps cranking out cars even though

no one buys them.

crazy as a betsy bug Go to (as) crazy as

a betsy bug.

crazy as a loon Go to (as) crazy as a loon.

crazy as a peach-orchard boar Go to (as)

crazy as a peach-orchard boar.

crazy for someone or something Go to crazy

about someone or something.

the cream of the crop the best of all.

This particular car is the cream of the crop.

The kids are very bright. They are the

cream of the crop.

create an uproar and make an uproar to

cause an outburst or sensation. (Espe-

cially with such.)  The dog got into

church and made an uproar. Her poo-

dle created an uproar in the restaurant.

Why did you make such an uproar?

create a scene Go to make a scene.

create a stink (about something) and

make a stink (about something); raise a

stink (about something) to make a major

issue out of something; to make much

over something; to make a lot of com-

plaints and criticisms about something.

(Slang. Compare this with make a federal

case out of something.) Tom created a

stink about Bob’s remarks. Why did he

make a stink about that? Tom is always

trying to raise a stink.

creature comforts things that make peo-

ple comfortable. The hotel room was

sparse, but all the creature comforts were

there.  The entire country of Adonia

seemed to lack the expected creature

comforts.

a credit to someone or something someone or

something that is of value or benefit.

(Preceded by be, become, or seem like.)

I always want to be a credit to my school.

John is not what you would call a credit

to his family.

a crick in one’s back a twisted or cramped

place in the back that causes pain. I

can’t move! I’ve got a crick in my back!

I had a crick in my back all night and I

couldn’t sleep.

a crick in one’s neck a twisted place or a

cramp in the neck that causes pain. I

got a crick in my neck from sleeping in a

draft. When I read on the plane, I get a

crick in my neck.

crooked as a barrel of fishhooks Go to

(as) crooked as a barrel of fishhooks.

crooked as a dog’s hind leg Go to (as)

crooked as a dog’s hind leg.

crooked as a fishhook Go to (as) crooked

as a fishhook.

cross a bridge before one comes to it to

worry excessively about something before

it happens. (Note the variation in the ex-

amples.) There is no sense in crossing

that bridge before you come to it. She’s

always crossing bridges before coming to

them. She needs to learn to relax.

cross a bridge when one comes to it to

deal with a problem only when one is

faced with the problem. (Note the varia-

tion in the examples.) Please wait and

cross that bridge when you come to it.

He shouldn’t worry about it now. He can

cross that bridge when he comes to it.

cross-examine someone to ask someone

questions in great detail; to question a

suspect or a witness at great length.

The police cross-examined the suspect for

three hours. The lawyer plans to cross-

examine the witness tomorrow morning.

cross one’s fingers Go to keep one’s fingers

crossed (for someone or something).

cross one’s heart (and hope to die) to

pledge or vow that the truth is being told.

It’s true, cross my heart and hope to die.

It’s really true—cross my heart.

cross someone’s mind Go to pass through

someone’s mind.

cross someone up to give someone trouble;

to defy or betray someone. (Also without

up.) You really crossed me up when you

told Tom what I said. Please don’t cross

me up again.

cross swords (with someone) (on something)

to enter into an argument with someone.

I don’t want to cross swords with Tom

on this matter. The last time we crossed

swords, we had a terrible time.

cross the Rubicon to do something that

inevitably commits one to following a

certain course of action. (The crossing of

the River Rubicon by Julius Caesar in-

evitably involved him in a war with the

senate in 49 b.c.) Jane crossed the

Rubicon by signing the contract. Find

another job before you cross the Rubicon

and resign from this one.

crushed by something demoralized; with

hurt feelings. (Also literal.) The whole

family was completely crushed by the news.

I was just crushed by your attitude. I

thought we were friends.

the crux of the matter the central issue

of the matter. (Crux is an old word mean-

ing “cross.”) All right, this is the crux of

the matter.  It’s about time that we

looked at the crux of the matter.

cry before one is hurt to cry or complain

before one is injured. Bill always cries

before he’s hurt. There is no point in cry-

ing before one is hurt.

cry bloody murder to scream as if some-

thing very serious has happened. (See

also scream bloody murder.) Now that

Bill is really hurt, he’s crying bloody mur-

der. There is no point in crying bloody

murder about the bill if you aren’t going to

pay it.

cry over spilled milk to be unhappy about

something that cannot be undone. (Also

literal.) I’m sorry that you broke your

bicycle, Tom. But there is nothing that can

be done now. Don’t cry over spilled milk.

Ann is always crying over spilled milk.

cry wolf to cry or complain about some-

thing when nothing is really wrong.

Pay no attention. She’s just crying wolf

again. Don’t cry wolf too often. No one

will come.

crying need for someone or something a def-

inite or desperate need for someone or

something. There is a crying need for

someone to come in and straighten things

out. All the people in that area have a

crying need for better housing.

a crying shame a very unfortunate situa-

tion; a real shame. It’s a crying shame

that people cannot afford adequate hous-

ing. That everyone could not attend the

concert was a crying shame.

cue someone in 1. to give someone a cue; to

indicate to someone that the time has

come. Now, cue the orchestra director

in. T All right, cue in the announcer. 2.

to tell someone what is going on. (Infor-

mal. Almost the same as clue someone in

(on something).) I want to know what’s

going on. Cue me in. T Cue in the general

about the troop movement.

curdle someone’s blood to frighten or dis-

gust someone severely. The story was

scary enough to curdle your blood. The

terrible scream was enough to curdle my

blood.

Curiosity killed the cat. It is dangerous

to be curious. (Proverb.) Don’t ask so

many questions, Billy. Curiosity killed the

cat. Curiosity killed the cat. Mind your

own business.

curl up and die to retreat and die. When

I heard you say that, I could have curled

up and died. No, it wasn’t an illness. She

just curled up and died.

curry favor (with someone) to try to win fa-

vor from someone. The lawyer tried to

curry favor with the judge. It’s silly to

curry favor. Just be yourself.

come

come to a stop [for someone or some-

thing] to stop moving or happening.

The bus finally came to a stop so I could

get off. The loud noise finally came to

a stop.

come to blows (over something) [for peo-

ple] to become increasingly angry and

begin to fight about something, usually

by striking blows, or verbally. They got

excited about the accident, but they never

actually came to blows over it. Yes, they

aren’t the kind of people who come to

blows.

come to grief to fail; to have trouble or

grief. The artist wept when her canvas

came to grief. The wedding party came

to grief when the bride passed out.

come to grips with something to face some-

thing; to comprehend something. He

found it difficult to come to grips with his

grandmother’s death.  Many students

have a hard time coming to grips with

algebra.

come to life to become alive or lively.

(Usually used in a figurative sense.)

The party came to life about midnight.

As the anesthetic wore off, the patient came

to life.

come to light to become known. Some

interesting facts about your past have just

come to light. If too many bad things

come to light, you may lose your job.

come to mind [for a thought or idea] to

enter into one’s consciousness. (Compare

this with cross someone’s mind.) Do I

know a good barber? No one comes to

mind right now. Another idea comes to

mind. Why not cut your own hair?

come to naught Go to come to nothing.

come to nothing and come to naught to

amount to nothing; to be worthless. So

all my hard work comes to nothing. Yes,

the whole project comes to naught.

come to pass to happen. (Formal.)

When did all of this come to pass?

will this event come to pass?

come to rest to stop moving. When the

car comes to rest, you can get in. The leaf

fell and came to rest at my feet.

come to terms with someone or something 1.

to come to an agreement with someone.

I finally came to terms with my lawyer

about his fee. Bob, you have to come to

terms with your father’s wishes. 2. to learn

to accept someone or something. (See

also come to grips with something.) She

had to come to terms with the loss of her

sight. It’s time you came to terms with

your boss and her unreasonable demands.

come to the fore to become prominent; to

become important. The question of

salary has now come to the fore. Since

his great showing in court, my lawyer has

really come to the fore in city politics.

come to the point and get to the point

to get to the important part (of some-

thing). He has been talking a long time.

I wish he would come to the point. Quit

wasting time! Get to the point! We are

talking about money, Bob! Come on, get to

the point.

come to the same thing Go to amount to

the same thing.

come to think of it I just remembered

[something]. Come to think of it, I

know someone who can help. I have a

screwdriver in the trunk of my car, come

to think of it.

come true [for a dream or a wish] actu-

ally to happen. When I got married, all

my dreams came true. Coming to the big

city was like having my wish come true.

come unglued to lose emotional control;

to have a mental breakdown; to break out

into tears or laughter. (Slang.) When

Sally heard the joke, she almost came

unglued. When the bank took away my

car, I came unglued and cried and cried.

come up to happen unexpectedly. (Also lit-

eral.) I’m sorry, I cannot come to your

party. Something has come up.  The

storm came up so quickly that I almost got

blown away.

come up in the world to improve one’s

status or situation in life. Since Mary

got her new job, she has really come up in

the world. A good education helped my

brother come up in the world.

come up smelling like roses to end up

looking good or respectable after being

involved in some difficult or notorious

affair. It was a nasty political campaign,

but both candidates came up smelling like

roses. I was not surprised that my con-

gressional representative came up smelling

like roses after his colleagues investigated

him.

come up with someone or something to find

or supply someone or something.

came up with a date at the last minute.

My mom is always able to come up with a

snack for me in the afternoon. I don’t

have the tool you need, but I’ll see if I can

come up with something.

come what may no matter what might

happen. I’ll be home for the holidays,

come what may. Come what may, the

mail will get delivered.

come within an ace of doing something Go

to come within an inch of doing something.

come within an inch of doing something and

come within an ace of doing something al-

most to do something; to come very close

to doing something. I came within an

inch of going into the army.  I came

within an inch of falling off the roof. She

came within an ace of buying the house.

come with the territory to be expected

under circumstances like this. (Refers to

the details and difficulties attendant to

something like the assignment of a spe-

cific sales territory to a salesperson.

When one accepts the assignment, one

accepts the problems.) There is a lot of

paperwork in this job. Oh, well, I guess it

comes with the territory. There are prob-

lems, but that comes with the territory.

comfortable as an old shoe Go to (as)

comfortable as an old shoe.

commit something to memory to memorize

something. We all committed the Get-

tysburg Address to memory. T I commit-

ted to memory the whole list of names and

numbers.

common as an old shoe Go to (as) com-

mon as an old shoe.

common as dirt Go to (as) common as

dirt.

con someone out of something to trick some-

one out of money or something of value.

(Slang.) Anne conned her little sister out

of her allowance. Dave conned me out

of my autographed baseball.

conceited as a barber ’s cat Go to (as)

conceited as a barber’s cat.

confide in someone to tell secrets or per-

sonal matters to someone. Sally always

confided in her sister Ann. She didn’t

feel that she could confide in her mother.

conk out 1. [for someone] to collapse as

from exhaustion. (Slang.) I was so tired

I just went home and conked out. I was

afraid I would conk out while I was driv-

ing. 2. [for something] to break down; to

quit running. (Slang.) My car conked

out finally. I hope my computer doesn’t

conk out.

conspicuous by one’s absence to have

one’s absence (from an event) noticed.

We missed you last night. You were con-

spicuous by your absence. How could the

bride’s father miss the wedding? He was

certainly conspicuous by his absence.

contradiction in terms a statement con-

taining a seeming contradiction. A

wealthy pauper is a contradiction in terms.

A straight-talking politician may seem

a contradiction in terms.

contrary to something in spite of something;

regardless of something. Contrary to

what you might think, I am neat and tidy.

Contrary to public opinion, my uncle is

well and healthy.

control the purse strings to be in charge

of the money in a business or a house-

hold. I control the purse strings at our

house. Mr. Williams is the treasurer. He

controls the purse strings.

cook someone’s goose to damage or ruin

someone. I cooked my own goose by not

showing up on time. Sally cooked Bob’s

goose for treating her the way he did.

cook something to perfection to cook

something perfectly. John cooked my

steak to perfection. The entire dinner

was cooked to perfection!

cook something up to plot something; to im-

provise something. (Also literal.) Mary

cooked an interesting party up at the last

minute. T Let me see if I can cook up a

way to get you some money.

cook the accounts to cheat in bookkeep-

ing; to make the accounts appear to bal-

ance when they do not. Jane was sent

to jail for cooking the accounts of her

mother’s store. It’s hard to tell whether

she really cooked the accounts or just did-

n’t know how to add.

cool as a cucumber Go to (as) cool as a

cucumber.

cool down Go to cool off.

Cool it! Calm down!; Take it easy! (Slang.)

Don’t get mad, Bob. Cool it! Cool it,

you guys! No fighting around here.

cool off and cool down 1. to lose or re-

duce heat. I wish my soup would cool

off. I’m hungry. It’ll cool down this eve-

ning, after dusk. 2. to let one’s anger die

away. I’m sorry I got angry. I’ll cool off

in a minute. Cool off, Tom. There is no

sense getting so excited. 3. to let one’s pas-

sion or love die away. TED: Is Bob still

in love with Jane? BILL: No, he’s cooled off

a lot. TED: I thought that they were

both cooling down.

cool one’s heels to wait (for someone). (In-

formal.) I spent all afternoon cooling

my heels in the waiting room while the

doctor talked on the telephone. All right.

If you can’t behave properly, just sit down

here and cool your heels until I call you.

cool someone down and cool someone off

1. to reduce someone’s anger. (Also lit-

eral.) I just stared at him while he was

yelling. I knew that would cool him down.

The coach talked to them for a long

time. That cooled them off. 2. to reduce

someone’s passion or love. When she

slapped him, that really cooled him down.

Dating Mary was too intense, so Bill

cooled himself off by dating Sally for a

while.

cool someone off Go to cool someone down.

cop a plea to plead guilty to a crime in

hopes of receiving a lighter punishment.

(Slang, especially criminal slang.) The

robber copped a plea and got only two

years in jail. When you cop a plea, it

saves the court system a lot of money.

a copycat a person who copies or mimics

what someone else does. (Usually juve-

nile. Can be preceded by be, become, seem

like, or act like.) Sally wore a pink dress

just like Mary’s. Mary called Sally a copy-

cat. Bill is such a copycat. He bought a

coat just like mine.

cost an arm and a leg to cost too much.

It cost an arm and a leg, so I didn’t buy

it. Why should a little plastic part cost

an arm and a leg?

cost a pretty penny to cost a lot of money.

I’ll bet that diamond cost a pretty

penny. You can be sure that house cost

a pretty penny. It has seven bathrooms.

cough something up to produce something

unwillingly (that someone has re-

quested). (Also literal. Informal.) All

right, Bill. Cough the stolen diamonds up

or else. Okay, okay. I’ll cough them up.

T Bill had to cough up forty dollars to pay

for the broken window.

coat

coat and tie [for men] a jacket or sports

coat and necktie. (A standard of dress be-

tween casual and a suit.) My brother

was not wearing a coat and tie, and they

would not admit him into the restaurant.

I always carry a coat and tie in my car

just in case I have to dress up a little for

something.

cock-and-bull story a silly, made-up story;

a story that is a lie. Don’t give me that

cock-and-bull story. I asked for an ex-

planation, and all I got was your ridicu-

lous cock-and-bull story!

cock of the walk someone who acts more

important than others in a group. The

deputy manager was cock of the walk un-

til the new manager arrived. He loved

acting cock of the walk and ordering every-

one about.

cocky as the king of spades Go to (as)

cocky as the king of spades.

coffee and Danish a cup of coffee and a

Danish sweet roll. A few of us like to

have coffee and Danish before we start

work. Coffee and Danish is not my idea

of a good breakfast!

coffee-table book a book that is more

suitable for display than for reading, typ-

ically, an illustrated book left on the cof-

fee table for visitors to examine. This

book is more of a coffee-table book than an

art book. I prefer something more schol-

arly. We purchased a coffee-table book

for Jan’s birthday.

coffee, tea, or milk a choice of beverage.

(Originally used by airline personnel

when offering something to drink to the

passengers.) She asked me if I wanted

coffee, tea, or milk, and I chose just plain

water. Would you prefer coffee, tea, or

milk to go with your meal?

cold as a witch’s caress Go to (as) cold

as a witch’s caress.

cold as a witch’s tit Go to (as) cold as a

witch’s tit.

cold as marble Go to (as) cold as marble.

cold comfort no comfort or consolation at

all. She knows there are others worse off

than she is, but that’s cold comfort. It

was cold comfort to the student that oth-

ers had failed as badly as he did.

a cold fish a person who is distant and un-

feeling. (Informal or slang. Preceded by

be, become, seem like, or act like.) Bob

is so dull—a real cold fish. She hardly

ever speaks to anyone. She’s a cold fish.

cold, hard cash cash, not checks or

promises. (Informal.) I want to be paid

in cold, hard cash, and I want to be paid

now! Pay me now! Cash on the barrel-

head—cold, hard cash.

come about 1. to happen. How did this

come about? This came about due to the

severe weather. 2. [for a sailboat] to turn.

Look how easily this boat comes about.

Now, practice making the boat come

about.

come across someone or something and run

across someone or something to find some-

one or something; to discover someone

or something. John came across a book

he had been looking for. Where did you

run across that lovely skirt?

Come again. 1. Come back.; Return some

other time. I’m so glad you enjoyed our

party. Please come again sometime. The

store clerk gave me my change and my pur-

chase and said, “Thank you. Come again.”

2. Say it again. I did not hear you. (Folksy.

Usually Come again?) TOM: Hello,

Grandfather. GRANDFATHER: Come

again? You’ll have to talk louder. The

farmer looked at me and said, “Come

again?”

Come and get it! Dinner is ready. Come

and eat it! (Folksy.) A shout was heard

from the kitchen, “Come and get it!” No

one says “Come and get it!” at a formal

dinner.

come (a)round 1. finally to agree or con-

sent (to something). I thought he’d

never agree, but in the end he came

around. She came round only after we

argued for an hour. 2. to return to con-

sciousness; to wake up. He came

around after we threw cold water in his

face. The boxer was knocked out, but

came round in a few seconds.

come away empty-handed to return

without anything. (See also go away

empty-handed.) All right, go gambling.

Don’t come away empty-handed, though.

Go to the bank and ask for the loan

again. This time don’t come away empty-

handed.

come by something 1. to travel by a specific

carrier, such as a plane, a boat, or a car.

We came by train. It’s more relaxing.

Next time, we’ll come by plane. It’s faster.

2. to find or get something. How did

you come by that haircut? Where did

you come by that new shirt?

come by something honestly 1. to get some-

thing honestly. Don’t worry. I came by

this watch honestly. I have a feeling she

didn’t come by it honestly. 2. to inherit

something—a character trait—from

one’s parents. I know I’m mean. I came

by it honestly, though. She came by her

kindness honestly.

come down [for something] to descend (to

someone) through inheritance. All my

silverware came down to me from my

great-grandmother. The antique furni-

ture came down through my mother’s

family.

come down hard on someone or something to

attack vigorously; to scold someone se-

verely. Tom’s parents really came down

hard on him for coming home late. T Yes,

they came down on him hard.

come down in the world to lose one’s so-

cial position or financial standing. Mr.

Jones has really come down in the world

since he lost his job. If I were unem-

ployed, I’m sure I’d come down in the

world, too.

come down to earth to become realistic;

to become alert to what is going on

around one. (Informal.) You have very

good ideas, John, but you must come down

to earth. We can’t possibly afford any of

your suggestions. Pay attention to what

is going on. Come down to earth and join

the discussion.

come down to something to be reduced to

something; to amount to no more than

something. (Informal. Similar to boil

down to something.) It comes down to

whether you want to go to the movies or

stay at home and watch television. It

came down to either getting a job or go-

ing back to college.

come down with something to become ill

with some disease. I’m afraid I’m com-

ing down with a cold. I’ll probably come

down with pneumonia.

come from nowhere to come as a surprise

with no warning. The dogs came from

nowhere and attacked my cat.

whole set of problems came from nowhere.

There was no way we could have foreseen

them.

come full circle to return to the original

position or state of affairs. The family

sold the house generations ago, but things

have come full circle and one of their de-

scendants lives there now.  The em-

ployer’s power was reduced by the unions

at one point, but matters have come full

circle again.

come hell or high water no matter what

happens. (Informal. Use caution with

hell.) I’ll be there tomorrow, come hell

or high water. Come hell or high water,

I intend to have my own home.

come home (to roost) [for a problem] to

return to cause trouble [for someone].

(See also The chickens have come home

to roost.) As I feared, all my problems

came home to roost. Yes, problems all

come home eventually.

come home to someone to become appar-

ent to someone; to be realized by some-

one. The truth of the matter suddenly

came home to me. It all came home to

me while I was taking a bath. Suddenly I

understood everything.

come in a body and arrive in a body to

arrive as a group. All the guests came

in a body.  Things become very busy

when everyone arrives in a body.

come in for something and fall in for some-

thing to receive something; to acquire

something. Billy came in for a good

bawling-out when he arrived home.

Mary came in for a tremendous amount of

money when her aunt died. Sally fell in

for a lot of trouble when she bought a used

car.

come in out of the rain to become alert

and sensible; to come down to earth.

(Also literal. See also not know enough to

come in out of the rain.) Pay attention,

Sally! Come in out of the rain! Bill will

fail if he doesn’t come in out of the rain

and study.

come into its own Go to come into one’s

own.

come into one’s own and come into its

own 1. [for one] to achieve one’s proper

recognition. Sally finally came into her

own. After years of trying, she finally

came into her own. 2. [for something] to

achieve its proper recognition. The

idea of an electric car finally came into its

Film as an art medium finally

came into its own.

come into something to inherit something.

(Also literal. See also come in for some-

thing, which is very close in meaning.)

Jane came into a small fortune when her

aunt died. Mary came into a house and

a new car when her rich uncle died.

come of age to reach an age when one is

old enough to own property, get married,

and sign legal contracts. When Jane

comes of age, she will buy her own car.

Sally, who came of age last month, entered

into an agreement to purchase a house.

come off to happen; to take place. (Also

literal referring to something that be-

comes disconnected. Informal.) What

time does this party come off ? How did

your speech come off ? It came off very

well.

Come off it! Tell the truth!; Be serious!

(Slang.) Come off it, Bill! I don’t believe

you! Come on, Jane. Come off it! That

can’t be true.

come off second-best to win second

place or worse; to lose out to someone

else. John came off second-best in the

race. Why do I always come off second-

best in an argument with you?

come on to hurry up; to follow (someone).

Come on! I’m in a hurry. If you don’t

come on, we’ll miss the train.

come on like gangbusters to approach

people in a wild and exciting manner; to

seem very active and pushy when ap-

proaching people. Why is she so un-

polished? She comes on like gangbusters

and frightens people away. The people

in this town come on like gangbusters and

they seem very rude at first.

come on somehow to appear as having cer-

tain characteristics to other people. (In-

formal. Especially with strong, which

means “intensely.” See also the previous

entry.) Jane comes on like a very un-

pleasant person.  She really comes on

strong. John doesn’t care how he comes

on.

come on the scene and arrive on the

scene to appear in a certain area or

place. (Used in particular in police re-

ports or dramatizations of police re-

ports.) What time did the picnickers

come on the scene? The witness arrived

on the scene at about 7:13 in the evening.

come out 1. to become; to turn out. (Also

literal.) We’ll just have to wait and see

how things come out. I’m baking a cake.

I hope it comes out okay. 2. to be pre-

sented to the public; to be released to the

public. My new book came out last

month. Mary Ann Smith came out last

fall at a lovely party. 3. Go to come out

(of the closet).

come out ahead to end up with a profit;

to improve one’s situation. (Compare this

with break even.) I hope you come out

ahead with your investments. It took a

lot of money to buy the house, but I think

I’ll come out ahead.

come out for someone or something to an-

nounce one’s support for someone or

something. I’m coming out for Senator

Brown’s reelection. All the employees

came out for a longer workweek.

come out in the wash to work out all

right. (Informal. This means that prob-

lems or difficulties will go away as dirt

goes away in the process of washing.)

Don’t worry about that problem. It’ll all

come out in the wash. This trouble will

go away. It’ll come out in the wash.

come out of left field [for a problem or

dilemma] to come from an unexpected

place. This new problem came out of left

field. We were really surprised. Your re-

marks came out of left field. I can’t un-

derstand your complaint.

come out of the blue to appear suddenly

as if falling from the sky. (The blue refers

to the blue sky.) This idea came out of

the blue, and I think it is a good one.

Sally showed up at the party even though

no one told her where it was. She just came

out of the blue.

come out (of the closet) 1. to reveal one’s

secret interests. Tom Brown came out

of the closet and admitted that he likes to

knit. It’s time that all of you lovers of

chamber music came out of the closet and

attended our concerts. 2. to reveal that

one is a homosexual. (See also come out.)

Tom surprised his parents when he came

out of the closet. It was difficult for him

to come out of the closet.

come out with something to say something;

to announce something. Sometimes

Jane comes out with the most interesting

comments. Jane came out with a long

string of curse words.

come over 1. to join this party or side; to

change sides or affiliation. Tom was

formerly an enemy spy, but last year he

came over. I thought that Bill was a Re-

publican. When did he come over? 2. to

come for a visit. See if Ann wants to

come over. I can’t come over. I’m busy.

come someone’s way to come to someone.

I wish a large sum of money would come

my way. I hope that no bad luck comes

my way.

come to to become conscious; to wake up.

We threw a little cold water in his face,

and he came to immediately. Come to,

John! You act as if you were in a daze.

come to a bad end to have a disaster, per-

haps one that is deserved or expected; to

die an unfortunate death. My old car

came to a bad end. Its engine burned up.

The evil merchant came to a bad end.

come to a dead end to come to an ab-

solute stopping point. The building

project came to a dead end. The street

came to a dead end. We were driving

along and came to a dead end.

come to a head to come to a crucial point;

to come to a point when a problem must

be solved. Remember my problem with

my neighbors? Well, last night the whole

thing came to a head. The battle be-

tween the two factions of the city council

came to a head yesterday.

come to an end to stop; to finish.

party came to an end at midnight.

life came to an end late yesterday.

come to an untimely end to come to an

early death. Poor Mr. Jones came to an

untimely end in a car accident. Cancer

caused Mrs. Smith to come to an untimely

end.

come to a pretty pass to develop into a

bad, unfortunate, or difficult situation.

Things have come to a pretty pass when

people have to beg in the streets. When

parents are afraid of their children, things

have come to a pretty pass.

chicken

chicken out (of something) to withdraw

from something due to fear or cowardice.

(Informal.) Jane was going to go para-

chuting with us, but she chickened out at

the last minute. I’d never chicken out of

parachute jumping, because I’d never agree

to do it in the first place!

The chickens have come home to roost.

All the problems have returned to the

person who caused them and that person

must now solve them or take the blame.

(Literal for chickens whose home is a

chicken house. See also come home (to

roost).) You took on too much credit

card debt and now you are broke. The

chickens have finally come home to roost.

Your car broke down because you never

changed the oil. The chickens have come

home to roost.

child’s play something very easy to do.

The test was child’s play to her. Find-

ing the right street was child’s play with a

map.

chilled to the bone very cold. I was

chilled to the bone in that snowstorm.

The children were chilled to the bone in the

unheated room.

chime in (with something) to add one’s voice

to something; to add something to the

discussion, usually by interrupting.

Billy chimed in by reminding us to come to

dinner. Everyone chimed in on the fi-

nal chorus of the song.

chink in one’s armor a special weakness

that provides a means for attacking or

impressing someone otherwise invulner-

able. His love for his child is the chink

in his armor. Jane’s insecurity is a chink

in her armor.

chip in something on something Go to chip in

(on something).

a chip off the old block a person (usu-

ally a male) who behaves in the same way

as his father or resembles his father.

(Usually informal.) John looks like his

father—a real chip off the old block. Bill

Jones, Jr., is a chip off the old block. He’s

a banker just like his father.

chip something in (on something) Go to chip

in (on something).

chips and dip potato chips, or some other

kind of crisply fried substance, and a

sauce or dressing to dip them into before

eating them. There were tons of chips

and dip and all kinds of cold pop avail-

able for everyone.

chisel someone out of something to cheat

someone to get money or belongings.

The company tried to chisel the govern-

ment out of taxes it owed. Bill chiseled

his little sister out of her allowance.

choke someone up to make a person become

overemotional and speechless; to make a

person begin to cry. (Informal.) The

sight of all those smiling people choked Bob

up, and he couldn’t go on speaking. T The

funeral procession choked up the whole

family.

choke something off to stifle something; to

force something to an end. The car ran

over the hose and choked the water off. T

The president choked off the debate.

chomp at the bit Go to champ at the bit.

choose up sides to form into two oppos-

ing teams by having a leader or captain

take turns choosing players.

choose up sides and play baseball. When

I choose up sides, all the best players don’t

end up on the same team.

claim a life [for something] to take the life

of someone. The killer tornado claimed

the lives of six people at the trailer park.

The athlete’s life was claimed in a ski-

ing accident.

clam up to shut up; to refuse to talk; to

close one’s mouth (as tightly as a clam

closes its shell). (Slang.) You talk too

much, John. Clam up! When they tried

to question her, she clammed up.

clamp down (on someone or something) to be-

come strict with someone; to become

strict about something. (Also literal.)

Because Bob’s grades were getting worse,

his parents clamped down on him. The

police have clamped down on speeders in

this town. Things have already gone too

far. It’s too late to clamp down.

clap eyes on someone or something to see

someone or something, perhaps for the

first time; to set eyes on someone or

something. (Informal.) I wish she had

never clapped eyes on her fiancé.  I

haven’t clapped eyes on a red squirrel for

years.

clean as a hound’s tooth Go to (as) clean

as a hound’s tooth.

clean as a whistle Go to (as) clean as a

whistle.

clean out (of something) Go to fresh out (of

something).

clean up to make a great profit. (Also lit-

eral. Informal.) John won at the races

and really cleaned up. Ann cleaned up

by taking a job selling encyclopedias.

clean up one’s act to reform one’s conduct;

to improve one’s performance. (Informal.

Originally referred to polishing one’s

stage performance.) T Since Sally cleaned

her act up, she has become very productive.

If you don’t clean up your act, you’ll be

sent home.

clear as a bell Go to (as) clear as a bell.

clear as crystal Go to (as) clear as crystal.

clear as mud Go to (as) clear as mud.

clear as vodka Go to (as) clear as vodka.

clear of something without touching some-

thing; away from something.

stand clear of the doors while the train is

moving. Make sure the dog moves clear

of the driveway before backing the car up.

clear out to get out (of a place); to leave.

All right, you people, clear out of here

now. I knew right then that it was time

to clear out.

clear sailing progress made without any

difficulty; an easy situation. Once

you’ve passed that exam, it will be clear

sailing. Working there was not all clear

sailing. The boss had a very bad temper.

clear someone’s name to prove that some-

one is not guilty of a crime or misdeed.

I was accused of theft, but I cleared my

name.   The student was accused of

cheating, but her name was cleared.

clear something up 1. to explain something;

to solve a mystery. I think that we can

clear this matter up without calling in the

police. T First we have to clear up the

problem of the missing jewels. 2. to cure

a disease or a medical condition. (Espe-

cially facial pimples.) There is no med-

icine that will clear pimples up. T The doc-

tor will give you something to clear up your

cold.

clear the air to get rid of doubts or hard

feelings. (Also literal. Sometimes this is

said about an argument or other un-

pleasantness.) All right, let’s discuss this

frankly. It’ll be better if we clear the air.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown always seem to

have to clear the air with a big argument

before they can be sociable.

clear the decks get out of the way; get out

of this area. (From a naval expression,

“Clear the decks for action!” urging sea-

man to prepare for battle or other ac-

tion.) Clear the decks! Here comes the

teacher. Clear the decks and take your

seats.

clear the table to remove the dishes and

other eating utensils from the table after

a meal. (The opposite of set the table.)

Will you please help clear the table? Af-

ter you clear the table, we’ll play cards.

climb on the bandwagon to join others in

supporting someone or something. (See

also get on the bandwagon, jump on the

bandwagon.) Come join us! Climb on

the bandwagon and support Senator

Smith! Look at all those people climb-

ing on the bandwagon! They don’t know

what they are getting into!

climb the wall(s) to do something des-

perate when one is extremely anxious,

bored, or excited. (Informal or slang.)

I’m so upset I could climb the wall. The

meeting was so long and the speaker so

boring that most of the audience wanted

to climb the wall.

clip someone’s wings to restrain someone;

to reduce or put an end to a teenager’s

privileges. (Informal.) You had better

learn to get home on time, or I will clip

your wings.  My mother clipped my

wings. I can’t go out tonight.

cloak-and-dagger involving secrecy and

plotting. A great deal of cloak-and-dag-

ger stuff goes on in political circles. A lot

of cloak-and-dagger activity was involved

in the appointment of the director.

close as two coats of paint Go to (as)

close as two coats of paint.

close at hand within reach; handy. (See

also at hand.) I’m sorry, but your let-

ter isn’t close at hand. Please remind me

what you said in it. When you’re cook-

ing, you should keep all the ingredients

close at hand.

close enough for government work

fairly close or accurate. (Jocular.) I can

do math pretty well. Close enough for gov-

ernment work anyway. This isn’t quite

right, but it’s close enough for government

work.

close in (on someone or something) to over-

whelm or surround someone or some-

think. My problems are closing in on

me. The wolves closed in on the elk.

They howled as they closed in.

close one’s eyes to something to ignore

something; to pretend that something is

not really happening. You can’t close

your eyes to hunger in the world. I just

closed my eyes to the problem and pre-

tended that it wasn’t there.

close ranks to move closer together in a

military formation. (See also close ranks

(behind someone or something); close ranks

(with someone).) The soldiers closed

ranks and marched on the enemy. All

right! Stop that talking and close ranks.

close ranks (behind someone or something)

to support someone or something; to

back someone or something. We will

close ranks behind the candidate. She

needs our help. Let’s close ranks behind her

and give her the support she needs.

close ranks (with someone) to join with

someone. We can fight this menace only

if we close ranks. Let’s all close ranks

with Ann and adopt her suggestions.

close something down and shut something

down to make something stop operating;

to put something out of business. The

police closed the factory down. T The

manager shut down the factory for the hol-

idays. T The city council closed down the

amusement park.

close the books (on someone or something)

to put an end to a matter that concerns

someone or something. (The books here

refers to financial accounting records.)

It’s time to close the books on the Frank-

lin case. Yes, let’s close the books on Mr.

Franklin. You closed the books too soon.

Here is some new information.

close the door on someone or something Go

to shut the door on someone or something.

close to home and where one lives af-

fecting one personally and intimately.

(Informal.) Her remarks were a bit too

close to home. I was afraid she was dis-

cussing me! She’s got me figured out all

right. She knows where I live. Every crit-

icism she made of the performance hit a

little too close to home for my comfort. I

didn’t know I was so bad! When you go

through an experience like that and see the

horror of a hurricane face to face, that sort

of gets you where you live!

close to someone fond of someone; very

good friends with someone.

very close to Mary. They may get married.

Mr. Smith isn’t exactly close to Mrs.

Smith.

close up shop to quit working, for the day

or forever. (Informal.) It’s five o’clock.

Time to close up shop. I can’t make any

money in this town. The time has come to

close up shop and move to another town.

closefisted (with money) Go to tight-

fisted (with money).

cloud up 1. [for the sky] to get cloudy, as

if it were going to rain. All of a sud-

den it clouded up and began to rain. It

usually clouds up at sunset. 2. [for some-

one] to grow very sad, as if to cry. (See

also turn on the waterworks.) The baby

clouded up and let out a howl. When-

ever Mary got homesick, she’d cloud up.

She really wanted to go home.

clue someone in (on something) to inform

someone of something. (Informal.)

Please clue me in on what’s going on.

Yes, clue her in.

clutch at straws to continue to seek solu-

tions, ideas, or hopes that are insubstan-

tial. When you talk of inheriting money,

you are just clutching at straws. That is

not a real solution to the problem. You are

just clutching at straws.

The coast is clear. There is no visible dan-

ger. I’m going to stay hidden here until

the coast is clear. You can come out of

your hiding place now. The coast is clear.

coast-to-coast from the Atlantic to the Pa-

cific Oceans (in the continental U.S.A.);

all the land between the Atlantic and Pa-

cific Oceans. My voice was once heard

on a coast-to-coast radio broadcast. Our

car made the coast-to-coast trip in eighty

hours.

case

case in point an example of what one is

talking about. Now, as a case in point,

let’s look at nineteenth-century England.

Fireworks can be dangerous. For a case

in point, look what happened to Bob Smith

last week.

case of mistaken identity the incorrect

identification of someone. It is simply

a case of mistaken identity. I am not the

criminal you want to arrest. This is a case

of mistaken identity.

cash-and-carry a method of buying and

selling goods at the retail level where the

buyer pays cash for the goods and carries

chair cash-and-carry before I realized that

there was no way to get it home.

cash in one’s chips to die. (Also literal.

Slang. From an expression used in gam-

bling, chiefly poker.) Bob cashed in his

chips yesterday. I’m too young to cash in

my chips.

cash in (on something) to earn a lot of

money at something; to make a profit at

something. (See also cash something in.)

This is a good year for farming, and you

can cash in on it if you’re smart. It’s too

late to cash in on that particular clothing

fad.

cash or credit [a purchase made] either by

paying cash or by putting the charges on

a credit account. When Fred had all his

purchases assembled on the counter, the

clerk asked, “Cash or credit?” That store

does not give you a choice of cash or credit.

They want cash only.

cash something in to exchange something

with cash value for the amount of money

it is worth. I should have cashed my

bonds in years ago. T It’s time to cash in

your U.S. savings bonds. T I need to cash

in an insurance policy.

cast about for someone or something Go to

cast around for someone or something.

cast around for someone or something and

cast about for someone or something to

seek someone or something; to seek a

thought or an idea. (Refers to a type of

person rather than a specific person.)

John is casting around for a new cook. The

old one quit. Bob is casting about for a

new car. Mary cast about for a way to

win the contest.

cast in the same mold very similar. The

two sisters are cast in the same mold—

equally mean. All the members of the

family are cast in the same mold and they

all end up in prison.

cast one’s lot in with someone to join in with

someone and accept whatever happens.

Mary cast her lot with the group going

to Spain. They had a wonderful time. T I

decided to cast in my lot with the home

team this year.

cast (one’s) pearls before swine to waste

something good on someone who does-

n’t care about it. (From a biblical quota-

tion.) To sing for them is to cast pearls

before swine. To serve them French cui-

sine is like casting one’s pearls before swine.

cast one’s vote to vote; to place one’s bal-

lot in the ballot box. The citizens cast

their votes for president. The wait in line

to cast one’s vote was almost an hour.

cast the first stone to make the first crit-

icism; to be the first to attack. (From a

biblical quotation.) Well, I don’t want

to be the one to cast the first stone, but she

sang horribly. John always casts the first

stone. Does he think he’s perfect?

Cat got your tongue? Why do you not

speak?; Speak up and answer my ques-

tion! (Folksy.) Answer me! What’s the

matter, cat got your tongue? Why don’t

you speak up? Cat got your tongue?

catch fire to begin to burn; to ignite. If

the wood were not so wet, it would catch

fire more easily.  The curtains blew

against the f lame of the candle and caught

fire.

catch forty winks and catch some Zs;

take forty winks to take a nap; to get

some sleep. (Informal. See also forty

winks.) I’ll just catch forty winks before

getting ready for the party. Tom always

tries to catch some Zs before going out for

a late evening. I think I’ll go to bed and

take forty winks. See you in the morning.

Why don’t you go take forty winks and

call me in about an hour?

catch hell Go to get the devil.

catch it to get into trouble and receive pun-

ishment. (Informal. See also get the

devil.) I know I’m going to catch it when

I get home. Bob hit Billy in the face. He

really caught it from the teacher.

catch one off one’s guard Go to catch some-

one off guard.

catch one’s breath to resume one’s normal

breathing after exertion; to return to nor-

mal after being busy or very active. I

don’t have time to catch my breath. I ran

so fast that it took ten minutes to catch my

breath.

catch one’s death (of cold) and take one’s

death of cold to contract a cold; to catch

a serious cold. (See also catch cold.) If

I go out in this weather, I’ll catch my death

of cold. Dress up warm or you’ll take

your death of cold. Put on your rain-

coat or you’ll catch your death.

catch on (to someone or something) to figure

someone or something out; to solve a

puzzle; to see through an act of decep-

Mary caught on to Bob and his

tricks. Ann caught on to the woman’s

dishonest plan.  The woman thought

that Ann wouldn’t catch on.

catch sight of someone or something to see

someone or something briefly; to get a

glimpse of someone or something. I

caught sight of the rocket just before it f lew

out of sight. Ann caught sight of the rob-

ber as he ran out of the bank.

catch someone in the act (of doing something)

to catch a person doing something illegal

or private. (See also in the act (of doing

something).) They know who set the fire.

They caught someone in the act.

caught Tom in the act of stealing a car.

catch someone napping to find someone

unprepared. (Informal. Literally, to dis-

cover someone “asleep.”) The enemy

soldiers caught our army napping. The

thieves caught the security guard napping.

catch someone red-handed to catch a per-

son in the act of doing something wrong.

(See also caught red-handed.) Tom was

stealing the car when the police drove by

and caught him red-handed. Mary tried

to cash a forged check at the bank, and the

teller caught her red-handed.

catch some Zs Go to catch forty winks.

catch the devil Go to get the devil.

catch up (to someone or something) and

catch up (with someone or something) to

move faster in order to reach someone

or something ahead, moving in the same

direction. The red car caught up with

the blue one. Bill caught up with Ann,

and they walked to the bank together.

He had to run to catch up to her.

catch up (with someone or something) Go to

catch up (to someone or something).

cause a commotion Go to cause a stir.

cause (some) eyebrows to raise to shock

people; to surprise and dismay people.

(See also raise some eyebrows.) John

caused eyebrows to raise when he married

a poor girl from Toledo. If you want to

cause some eyebrows to raise, just start

singing as you walk down the street.

cave in (to someone or something) [for some-

one] to yield and give in to someone else

or to something. (Also literal in reference

to the collapse of caves, tunnels, ceilings,

Mr. Franklin always caves in to

Mrs. Franklin. It’s easier to cave in than

to go on fighting. Tom caved in to the

pressure of work.

cease and desist to stop doing something

and stay stopped. (A legal phrase.) The

judge ordered the merchant to cease and

desist the deceptive practices. When they

were ordered to cease and desist, they fi-

nally stopped.

chalk something up to something to recognize

something as the cause of something else.

We chalked her bad behavior up to her

recent illness. T I had to chalk up the loss

to experience. T I chalked up my defeat

to my impatience.

chance something to risk doing something;

to try doing something. I don’t usually

ride horses, but this time I will chance it.

Bob didn’t have reservations, but he

went to the airport anyway, chancing a

cancellation.

change hands [for something] to be sold

or passed from owner to owner. How

many times has this house changed hands

in the last ten years? We built this house

in 1920, and it has never changed hands.

a change of pace an addition of some va-

riety in one’s life. Going to the beach on

the weekend will be a change of pace.

The doctor says I need a change of pace.

a change of scenery a move to a differ-

ent place, where the scenery is different

or where things in general are different.

I thought I would go to the country for

a change of scenery. A change of scenery

would help me relax and organize my life.

change someone’s mind to cause a person to

think differently (about someone or

something). Tom thought Mary was

unkind, but an evening out with her

changed his mind.  I can change my

mind if I want to. I don’t have to stick with

an idea.

change someone’s tune to change the man-

ner of a person, usually from bad to

good, or from rude to pleasant. The

teller was most unpleasant until she

learned that I’m a bank director. Then she

changed her tune. “I will help change

your tune by fining you $150,” said the

judge to the rude defendant.

change the subject to begin talking about

something different. They changed the

subject suddenly when the person whom

they had been discussing entered the room.

We’ll change the subject if we are em-

barrassing you.

chapter and verse detailed, in reference to

sources of information. (A reference to

the method of referring to biblical text.)

He gave chapter and verse for his rea-

sons for disputing that Shakespeare had

written the play. The suspect gave chap-

ter and verse of his associate’s activities.

charge someone or something up 1. [with

someone] to get someone excited and en-

thusiastic. T The speaker charged up the

crowd to go out and raise money. Mrs.

Smith tried to charge her husband up

about getting a job. 2. [with something]

to restore a charge to an electrical stor-

age battery. (Also without up.) T They

charged up the battery overnight. My

car charges the battery whenever the en-

gine runs.

charged up 1. [of someone] excited; en-

thusiastic The crowd was really charged

up. Tom is so tired that he cannot get

charged up about anything. 2. [of some-

thing] full of electrical power. (Also

without up.) The battery is completely

charged up. If the battery isn’t charged,

the car won’t start.

charm the pants off (of ) someone to use

charming behavior to persuade someone

to do something. (Use with caution.)

She is so nice. She just charms the pants off

of you. He will try to charm the pants

off you, but you can still refuse to take the

job if you don’t want to do it.

check in (on someone or something) Go to

look in (on someone or something).

check into something Go to look into some-

thing.

check out to be verified or authenticated.

I spent all afternoon working with my

checkbook, trying to get the figures to check

out. The police wouldn’t believe that I

am who I say I am until they made a few

telephone calls to see if my story checked

out.

checks and balances a system where

power is kept in control and balance

among the various branches of govern-

ment. The newspaper editor claimed

that the system of checks and balances

built into our Constitution has been sub-

verted by party politics. We depend on

checks and balances in government to keep

despots from seizing control of the

government.

cheek by jowl side by side; close together.

The pedestrians had to walk cheek by

jowl along the narrow streets. The two

families lived cheek by jowl in one house.

cheer someone on to give words or shouts of

encouragement to someone who is trying

to do something. John was leading in

the race, and the whole crowd was cheer-

ing him on. Sally was doing so well in

her performance that I wanted to cheer her

on.

cheer someone up to make a sad person

happy. When Bill was sick, Ann tried

to cheer him up by reading to him. T In-

terest rates went up, and that cheered up

all the bankers.

cheer up to become more happy. Things

are bad for you now, but you’ll cheer up

when they get better. Cheer up, Tom!

Things can’t be that bad.

cheesed off bored; depressed; annoyed.

He was cheesed off with his job. She was

cheesed off when she missed the bus.

private out. T The boss is always chewing

out somebody. T The coach ate out the en-

tire football team because of their poor

playing.

chew the rag Go to chew the fat.

call

call a spade a spade to call something by

its right name; to speak frankly about

something, even if it is unpleasant.

Well, I believe it’s time to call a spade a

spade. We are just avoiding the issue.

Let’s call a spade a spade. The man is a

liar.

call for someone or something 1. to arrive to

collect or pick up a person or a thing.

(Used especially when you are to pick

someone up and are acting as an escort.)

I will call for you about eight this eve-

ning. The messenger will call for your

reply in the morning. 2. to need, require,

or demand something or the services of

someone. The recipe calls for two cups

of f lour. This job calls for someone with

good eyesight.

call it a day to quit work and go home; to

say that a day’s work has been completed.

I’m tired. Let’s call it a day. The boss

was mad because Tom called it a day at

noon and went home.

call it a night to end what one is doing at

night and go [home] to bed. At mid-

night, I called it a night and went to bed.

Guest after guest called it a night, and

at last we were alone.

call it quits to quit; to resign from some-

thing; to announce that one is quitting.

(Informal.) Okay! I’ve had enough! I’m

calling it quits. Time to go home, John.

Let’s call it quits.

call of nature the need to go to the lava-

tory. (Humorous.) Stop the car here! I

have to answer the call of nature. There

was no break in the agenda to take account

of the call of nature.

call out (to someone) to shout to someone.

Mike called out to Tom that there was

a telephone call for him. I heard some-

one call out, but I could see no one.

call someone down to reprimand a person;

to bawl someone out. The teacher had

to call Sally down in front of everybody.

“I wish you wouldn’t call me down in

public,” cried Sally.

call someone names to call a person un-

pleasant or insulting names. (Usually

viewed as a juvenile act.) Mommy! John

is calling me names again! We’ll never

get anywhere by calling one another

names.

call someone on the carpet to reprimand a

person. (The phrase presents images of

a person called into the boss’s carpeted

office for a reprimand.) One more error

like that and the boss will call you on the

carpet. I’m sorry it went wrong. I really

hope he doesn’t call me on the carpet again.

call someone or something in to call on the spe-

cial talents, abilities, or power of some-

one or something. They had to call a

new doctor in. T Yes, they had to call in a

specialist. T They had to call in a huge

tractor to move the boulder.

call someone or something into question to

cause someone or something to be eval-

uated; to examine or reexamine the

qualifications or value of someone or

something. Because of her poor record,

we were forced to call Dr. Jones into ques-

tion. We called Dr. Jones’s qualifications

into question.  They called the whole

project into question. T I cannot call into

question the entire medical profession.

call someone or something off 1. to call a halt

to an attack by someone or something.

Please call your dog off. It’s trying to bite

me! T Okay, you can call off the police. I

surrender. T It’s time to call off the man-

hunt. The criminal has given himself up.

2. [with something] to cancel an event.

It’s too late to call the party off. The first

guests have already arrived. T Because of

rain, they called off the baseball game.

call someone or something up 1. to call a per-

son, business, or office on the telephone.

Mary called the company up and or-

dered a new supply of medicine. T Tom

called up Mary. 2. [with something] to

summon information from a computer.

T John used a computer to call up the in-

formation. T With a few strokes on the

computer keyboard, Sally called up the fig-

ures she was looking for.

call someone’s bluff to demonstrate that a

person is or is not being deceptive, usu-

ally by demanding that the person prove

a claim or carry out a threat. All right,

I’ll call your bluff. Show me you can do it!

Tom said, “I’ve got a gun here in my

pocket, and I’ll shoot if you come any

closer!” “Go ahead,” said Bill, calling his

bluff.

call the dogs off to stop threatening, chas-

ing, or hounding (a person). (Also literal.

Informal. Note the variation in the ex-

amples.) All right, I surrender. You can

call your dogs off. T Tell the sheriff to call

off the dogs. We caught the robber. T

Please call off your dogs!

call the meeting to order to start a meet-

ing officially; to announce that the meet-

ing has started. The president called the

meeting to order shortly after noon. We

cannot do anything until someone calls the

meeting to order.

call (the) roll and take (the) roll to call

the names of people on the rolls, expect-

ing them to reply if they are present.

After I call the roll, please open your books

to page 12. I will take roll, and then we

will do arithmetic.

call the shots and call the tune to make

the decisions; to decide what is to be

done. (Informal.) Sally always wants to

call the shots, and Mary doesn’t like to be

bossed around. They don’t get along well.

Sally always wants to call the tune.

Look here, friend, I’m calling the shots. You

just be quiet.

call the tune Go to call the shots.

calm as a toad in the sun Go to (as) calm

as a toad in the sun.

the calm before the storm Go to the lull

before the storm.

can take it to the bank able to depend on

the truthfulness of my statement: it is not

counterfeit or bogus; to be able to bank

on something. Believe me. What I am

telling you is the truth. You can take it to

the bank. This information is as good as

gold. You can take it to the bank.

Can you imagine? Can you believe that?;

Imagine that! She wore jeans to the

dance. Can you imagine? Billy was eat-

ing the houseplant! Can you imagine?

cancel something out to destroy the effect of

something; to balance something. T This

last payment cancels out my debt. Yes,

your last payment cancels it out. T Bob’s

two good grades canceled out his two fail-

ing grades.

cannot help doing something not able to re-

frain from doing something; not able not

to do something. Anne is such a good

cook, I can’t help eating everything she

makes. Since John loves to shop, he can’t

help spending money.

cannot stomach someone or something Go to

not able to stomach someone or something.

[can’t] Go to the expressions listed at not

able, as well as those listed below.

can’t do anything with someone or something

not [to be] able to manage or control

someone or something. (Also with can-

not.) Bill is such a problem. I can’t do

anything with him. My hair is such a

mess. I just can’t do anything with it.

can’t help but do something [to be] unable

to choose any but one course of action.

(Also with cannot.) Her parents live

nearby, so she can’t help but go there on

holidays. Bob is a tennis fan and can’t

help but travel to Wimbledon each year.

can’t hold a candle to someone not [to be]

equal to someone; unable to measure up

to someone. (Also with cannot.) Mary

can’t hold a candle to Ann when it comes

to auto racing. As for singing, John can’t

hold a candle to Jane.

can’t make heads or tails (out) of some-

one or something [to be] unable to under-

stand someone or something. (Also with

cannot.) John is so strange. I can’t make

heads or tails of him.  Do this report

again. I can’t make heads or tails out of it.

can’t see beyond the end of one’s nose

[to be] unaware of the things that might

happen in the future; not farsighted; self-

centered. (Also with cannot.) John is

a very poor planner. He can’t see beyond

the end of his nose. Ann can’t see beyond

the end of her nose. She is very self-

centered.

can’t see one’s hand in front of one’s face

[to be] unable to see very far, usually due

to darkness or fog. (Also with cannot.)

It was so dark that I couldn’t see my hand

in front of my face. Bob said that the fog

was so thick he couldn’t see his hand in

front of his face.

can’t stomach someone or something Go to

can’t stand (the sight of) someone or some-

thing.

can’t wait (for something to happen) [to be

very eager and] to be unable to endure

the wait for something to happen. I am

so anxious for my birthday to come. I just

can’t wait. Tom can’t wait for Mary to

arrive.

can’t wait (to do something) [to be very ea-

ger and] unable to endure the wait until

it is possible to do something. I’m glad

it’s almost summertime—I just can’t wait

to go swimming! Jimmy can’t wait to go

to school tomorrow.

cap and gown the academic cap or mor-

tarboard and the robe worn in academic

ceremonies. We all had to rent cap and

gown for graduation. I appeared wear-

ing my cap and gown, but I had shorts on

underneath because it gets so hot at that

time of year.

capable of doing something having the abil-

ity to do something. Do you think Tom

is capable of lifting 200 pounds? No one

I know is capable of such a crime!

a card an entertaining and clever person

who says or does funny things. (Preceded

by be, become, seem like, or act like.) He

is such a card. Always making jokes.

Mary is a card, and someone is going to

have to deal with her!

the cards are stacked against one luck is

against one. (Informal. Refers to playing

cards. See also have the cards stacked

against one; stack the cards (against some-

one or something).) I have the worst luck.

The cards are stacked against me all the

time. How can I accomplish anything

when the cards are stacked against me?

carried away excited or moved to (ex-

treme) action (by someone or some-

thing). The crowd got carried away and

did a lot of damage to the park. I know

that planning a party is fun, but don’t get

carried away.

carry (a lot of ) weight (with someone or

something) to be very influential with

someone or some group of people.

Your argument does not carry a lot of

weight with me. The senator’s testimony

carried a lot of weight with the council.

Her opinion carries weight with most of

the members.

carry a secret to one’s grave Go to carry

a secret to the grave.

carry a secret to the grave and carry a

secret to one’s grave to avoid telling a se-

cret, even to the day of one’s death.

John carried our secret to his grave.

Trust me, I will carry your secret to the

grave!

carry a torch (for someone) to be in love

with someone who is not in love with

you; to brood over a hopeless love affair.

(Also with the.) John is carrying a torch

for Jane. Is John still carrying a torch?

Yes, he’ll carry the torch for months.

carry on (about someone or something) to

make a great fuss over someone or some-

thing; to cry and become out of control

about someone or something. (Note the

variation in the examples below.) Billy,

stop carrying on about your tummy ache

like that. Billy, you must stop carrying

on so. The child carried on endlessly

about his mother.

carry one’s cross Go to bear one’s cross.

carry one’s (own) weight and pull one’s

(own) weight to do one’s share; to earn

one’s keep. Tom, you must be more

helpful around the house. We all have to

carry our own weight. Bill, I’m afraid

that you can’t work here anymore. You just

haven’t been carrying your weight.

you would just pull your weight, we would

finish this by noon.

carry on somehow to manage to continue

somehow, in spite of problems. Even

though we did not have a lot of money, we

managed to carry on somehow. Don’t

worry about us. We will carry on somehow.

carry on without someone or something to

manage to continue without someone or

something. I don’t know how we will be

able to carry on without you. We can’t

carry on without a leader!

carry on (with someone or something) 1. [with

something] to continue with something.

Can I please carry on with my work

Yes, please carry on. 2. [with

someone] to behave improperly with

someone; to be affectionate in public.

Look at Jane carrying on with Tom. They

ought to be ashamed. Jane, stop carry-

ing on like that!

carry over to extend into another time pe-

riod or location. I don’t like for bills to

carry over into the next month. Please

do not let the paragraph carry over.

carry something out to perform a task; to

perform an assignment. (Also literal

meaning to remove something.) “This

is a very important job,” said Jane. “Do

you think you can carry it out?” T The stu-

dents didn’t carry out their assignments.

carry something over to let something like a

bill extend into another period of time;

to extend to another location. We’ll

carry the amount of money due over into

the next month. T Yes, please carry over

the balance.  We’ll have to carry this

paragraph over to the next page.

carry the ball 1. to be the player holding

the ball, especially in football when a goal

is made. (Sports.) It was the fullback

carrying the ball. Yes, Tom always car-

ries the ball. 2. to be in charge; to make

sure that a job gets done. (See also drop

the ball.) We need someone who knows

how to get the job done. Hey, Sally! Why

don’t you carry the ball for us?  John

can’t carry the ball. He isn’t organized

enough.

carry the day and win the day to be suc-

cessful; to win a competition, argument,

etc. (Originally meaning to win a battle.)

Our team didn’t play well at first, but

we won the day in the end. Hard work

won the day and James passed his exams.

carry the weight of the world on one’s

shoulders to appear to be burdened by

all the problems in the whole world.

Look at Tom. He appears to be carrying the

weight of the world on his shoulders.

Cheer up, Tom! You don’t need to carry the

weight of the world on your shoulders.

carry through (on something) Go to follow

through (on something).