Oxford dictionary of idioms: Part 1

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Part 1 Oxford dictionary of idioms book introduces the reader to the English idiom that are arranged in alphabetical order from A to rhyme k. Hopefully this will be a useful document for those who want to learn English idioms common in life. Invite you to refer to the disclosures.

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Nội dung Text: Oxford dictionary of idioms: Part 1

The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
Idioms Edited by Judith Siefring OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sào Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 1999, 2004 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 1999 Second edition 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-852711-X 1 Designed by Jane Stevenson Typeset in Swift and Frutiger by Kolam Information Services India Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd.
Contents Preface vii Dictionary of Idioms 1 Index 323
Preface The aim of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms is to provide clear definitions of phrases and sayings for those who do not know what they mean, but also to offer the curious reader interesting facts about the origins of phrases and examples of their use. This second edition of the Oxford Dictionary ofIdioms is based on the first edition, edited by Jennifer Speake. It maintains the first edition's focus on contemporary and historical phrases, sayings, and proverbs, and uses a combination of definition and (where required) explanatory note and illustrative quotation to provide a rounded picture of idiomatic usage. The coverage of the previous edition has been extended by the inclusion of more than 350 new idioms, and a great many contemporary illustrative quotations have also been added. These quotations have been taken from a variety of sources: from novels to travel guides, broadsheet newspapers to teenage magazines. They help to give the reader a better understanding of how an idiom is used: a typical context, a certain tone, or a particular resonance. The formation of new phrases and sayings is one of the most colourful aspects of language development, and by adding idioms such as chew the scenery, be in like Flynn, and give someone the hairy eyeball, and quotations from the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Arundhati Roy, Melvin Burgess, and Tom Clancy, the new edition hopes to reflect this colour. A new index section at the end of the book groups together idioms which share a common theme or subject, so giving readers a vivid snapshot of those areas and aspects of life that have generated a particularly rich variety offigurativeexpressions. My thanks must go to Richard Jones for his work on sourcing quotations, to Georgia Hole for proofreading, and above all to Sara Hawker for her help and insight throughout the project. JUDITH SIEFRING
Aa A abdabs A 1 excellent; first-rate. give someone the screaming abdabs induce an attack of extreme anxiety or irritation in i O The full form of this expression is >47 at ! Lloyd's. In Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the someone. j phrase was used of ships in first-class j O Abdabs (or habdabs) is mid 20th-century ! I condition as to the hull (A) and stores (1). The ! slang whose origin is unknown. The word is ! US equivalent is A No. 7; both have been in j sometimes also used to mean an attack of ; figurative use since the mid 19th century. j delirium tremens. from A to B from your starting point to your destination; from one place to another. abet 1987 K. Rushforth Tree Planting & Managementaid and abet: see AID. The purpose of street tree planting is to... make the roads and thoroughfares pleasant in their own right, not just as places about used to travel from A to B. know what you are about be aware of the from A to Z over the entire range; in every implications of your actions or of a particular. situation, and of how best to deal with 1998 Salmon, Trout & Sea-Trout In order to have them, informal seen Scotland's gamefishingin its entirety, 1993 Ski Survey He ran a 3-star guest house from A to Z, visiting 30 stretches ofriverand before this, so knows what he is about. 350 lochs a year, you would have to be travelling for a hundred years. above above yourself conceited; arrogant. aback 1999 Frank McCourt 'Tis Many a man made his take someone aback shock, surprise, or way in America by the sweat of his brow and disconcert someone. his strong back and it's a good thing to learn your station in life and not be getting above ! O The phrase is frequently used in the yourself. i passive form (be taken aback): this was not be above — be capable of stooping to an ; adopted in the mid 19th century from unworthy act. i earlier (mid 18th-century) nautical 1991 Maureen Duffy Illuminations The copyist i terminology, to describe the situation of a was not above turning author or forger and i ship with its sails pressed back against the ! mast by a headwind, preventing forward several MS S from this period must be viewed | movement. as highly suspect. 1991 Kathleen Jones Learning Not To Be First They were taken aback by the shabbiness of Abraham the hotel and lack of cleanliness in the city in Abraham's bosom in heaven, the place of generally. rest for the souls of the blessed, dated j O The phrase is taken from Luke 16:22: 'And ! i it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was I ABC j carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom', j as easy (or simple) as ABC extremely easy or j In the Bible, Abraham was the Hebrew straightforward. i patriarch from whom all Jews traced their I descent. j I O From the 15th to the 17th century, a I child's first spelling and reading book was ! commonly called an ABC, and this led to the j acceptable j development of its metaphorical use, 'the the acceptable face of the tolerable or | basic elements or rudiments of something'. attractive manifestation or aspect of.
accident 2 1996 New York Review of Books He presents i O The a c e i s t n e highest playing card in its himself as the acceptable face of I suit in many card games, so a cheating player j gambling... the man who, almost single- I mightwellhideonetouseagainstan unwary ; handedly, has turned a huckster's paradise j opponent. A North American variant is an ace \ into a gangster-free zone. I in the hole. The next two idioms are also j based on this meaning of ace. accident an accident waiting to happen Q a hold all the aces have all the advantages. potentially disastrous situation, play your ace use your best resource. usually caused by negligent or faulty within an ace of very close to. procedures. © a person certain to cause trouble. i O Ace here has the figurative meaning of 'a j j tiny amount' and is used with reference to 01997 Times Accidents are often said to be i thesinglespotontheplayingcard.Thephrase i 'waiting to happen'. It does not take much ; was first recorded in the early 18th century. imagination to see that the chaotic start to the Whitbread round-the-world race... could easily have ended in tragedy. Achilles accidents will happen however careful you an Achilles heel a person's only vulnerable try to be, it is inevitable that some spot; a serious or fatal weakness. unfortunate or unforeseen events will occur. j O In Greek mythology, the nymph Thetis j dipped her infant son Achilles in the water of j ! O This phrase is a shortened form of the i the River Styx to make him immortal, but the i i early 19th-century proverb'accidents will ! heel by which she held him was not touched j i happen in the best regulated families'. | by the water; he was ultimately killed in j battle by an arrow wound in this one a chapter of accidents: see CHAPTER. i vulnerable spot. 1998 Times The inclination to outlaw that of accord which it disapproves... is, if not the cloven of your own accord voluntarily or without hoof beneath the hem of Tony Blair's outside intervention. Government, certainly its Achilles heel. account acid give a good (or bad) account of yourself the acid test a situation or event which make a favourable (or unfavourable) finally proves whether something is good impression through your performance or or bad, true or false, etc. actions. i O The original use of the phrase was to settle {or square) accounts with someone I describe a method of testing for gold with 0 pay money owed to someone. Q have i nitric acid (gold being resistant to the effects j revenge on someone. i of nitric acid). 1990 Which? These deals are designed to accounting encourage impulse buying, so the acid test is there's no accounting for tastes it's whether you would have bought anyway. impossible to explain why different people come the acid be unpleasant or offensive; like different things, especially those things which the speaker considers speak in a caustic or sarcastic manner. unappealing, proverb put the acid on someone try to extract a loan or favour from someone. Australian & New 1 O Since the late 18th century, this has been j Zealand informal | the usual English form of the Latin expression I ! de gustibus non est disputandum 'there is no ! | disputing about tastes'. acquaintance have a nodding acquaintance with someone or something: see NODDING. ace scrape acquaintance with: see SCRAPE. have an ace up your sleeve have an effective resource or piece of information kept hidden until it is necessary to use it; have a acre secret advantage. God's acre: see GOD.
3 admirable I O Originally, this was an order to naval across ; personnel to go to their allocated positions across the board applying to all. j ready to engage the enemy. ! O , n the USA, this expression refers to a j horse-racing bet in which equal amounts are j man of action a man whose life is i staked on the same horse to win, place, or characterized by physical activity or deeds I show in a race. rather than by words or intellectual matters. 1999 Wall Street Journal The decline for the euro across the board was mainly attributed to a piece of the action: see PIECE. the further erosion of global investors' where the action is where important or confidence toward the euro-zone economy. interesting things are happening, informal be across something fully understand the 1971 Gourmet You can dine outside, details or complexity of an issue or weather permitting, or in the bar where situation. Australian the action is. act actual act your age behave in a manner appropriate your actual — the real, genuine, or to your age and not to someone much important thing specified, informal younger. 1968 Kenneth Williams Diary There's no doubt about it, on a good day, I look quite lovely in act the goat: see GOAT. your actual gamin fashion. act of God an instance of uncontrollable natural forces in operation. Adam I O This phrase is often used in insurance not know someone from Adam not know or j contracts to refer to incidents such as be completely unable to recognize the j lightning strikes or floods. person in question, informal a class act: see CLASS. the old Adam unregenerate human nature. clean up your act: see CLEAN. ! O In Christian symbolism, the old Adam do a disappearing act: see DISAPPEARING. ! represents fallen man as contrasted with the \ \ second Adam, Jesus Christ. get your act together organize yourself in the manner required in order to achieve 1993 Outdoor Canada It is the Old Adam in us. something, informal We are descendants of a long line of dirt 2002 New York Times There are still many who farmers, sheepherders... and so forth. think all that the dirty, homeless man on the corner talking to himself needs is just to get add his act together. add fuel to the fire: see FUEL. a hard (or tough) act to follow an add insult to injury: see INSULT. achievement or performance which sets a standard difficult for others to measure up to. adder 1996 Independent Her determination and deaf as an adder: see DEAF. championing of tourism will be a tough act to follow. admirable in on the act involved in a particular an admirable Crichton a person who activity in order to gain profit or excels in all kinds of studies and advantage, informal pursuits, or who is noted for supreme 1997 What Cellphone Conference calls are competence. becoming big business for the fixed-line operators, and now there are signs that the | O This expression originally referred to mobile networks are getting in on the act. j James Crichton of Clunie (1560-85?), a read someone the riot act: see R E A D . j Scottish nobleman renowned for his i intellectual and physical prowess. In J. M. ! Barrie's play The Admirable Crichton (1902), i action i the eponymous hero is a butler who takes j charge when his master's family is ship- action stations an order or warning to i wrecked on a desert island. prepare for action.
adrift 4 adrift something because neither party will compromise or be persuaded. cast (or cut) someone adrift ©leave someone in a boat or other craft which has nothing to secure or guide it. © abandon or agreement isolate someone. a gentleman's agreement: see GENTLEMAN. 01998 Oldie The various dissenting move- ments ... should be cut adrift and left to their own devices. ahead ahead of the game ahead of your advance competitors or peers in the same sphere of activity. any advance on —? any higher bid 1996 Daily Telegraph The smart money headed than —? for Chinatown, where you can pick up all j O This phrase is said by an auctioneer to those Eastern looks the designers are I elicit a higher bid, and so is used figuratively i promoting for next spring ahead of the j as a query about general progress in a game. I particular matter. ahead of your (or its) time innovative and radical by the standards of the time. streets ahead: see STREET. advocate play devil's advocate: see DEVIL. aid aid and abet help and encourage someone afraid to do something wrong, especially to afraid of your own shadow: see SHADOW. commit a crime. Africa j O Abet comes from an Old French term j meaning 'to encourage a hound to bite'. for Africa in abundance; in large numbers. South African informal 1986 Frank Peretti This Present Darkness She 1980 C. Hope A Separate Development An entire strained to think of... any friend who would museum of vintage stuff including... still aid and abet a fugitive from the law, Bentleys for Africa. without questions. after in aid of in support of; for the purpose of be after doing something be on the point of raising money for. chiefly British doing something or have just done it. Irish 1999 Teesdale Mercury A wine and savoury 1988 Roddy Doyle The Commitments I'm after evening in aid of cancer research will be rememberin'. I forgot to bring mine back. It's held... on Friday. under me bed. what's all this in aid of? what is the purpose of this? British informal age act your age: see ACT. air the awkward age: see AWKWARD. airs and graces an affected manner of come of age Q (of a person) reach adult behaving, designed to attract or impress. status, ©(of a movement or activity) British become fully established. give yourself airs act pretentiously or snobbishly. feel your age: see FEEL. 1948 Christopher Bush The Case of the Second a golden age: see GOLDEN. Chance It was said she gave herself airs, and it under age: see UNDER. was also hinted that she was no better—as they say—than she might be. agenda a hidden agenda: see HIDDEN. : O Air in the sense of 'an affected manner' j has been current since the mid 17th century; j agony I from the early 18th century the plural i form has been more usual in this derogatory i pile on the agony: see PILE. j sense. prolong the agony: see PROLONG. hot air: see HOT. agree up in the air (of a plan or issue) still to be agree to differ cease to argue about settled; unresolved.
5 all 1995 Scientific American Prospects for federal 1990 Times Thatcherism may be dying on its research and development are up in the air as feet in Britain, but it is alive and well in foreign Republicans looking for budget cuts take parts. control on Capitol Hill. on (or off) the air being {or not being) broadcast on radio or television. all all and sundry everyone. take the air go out of doors. 1991 Sunday Times In the manner of an Oscar- walk on air feel elated. winner, she thanks all and sundry for their 1977 Bernard MacLaverty Secrets 'I'm sure help. you're walking on air,' my mother said to Paul all comers anyone who chooses to take at his wedding. part in an activity, typically a competition. aisle 1992 AI Gore Earth in the Balance He has have people rolling in the aisles ©make an traveled to conferences and symposia in every audience laugh uncontrollably, ©be very part of the world, argued his case, and amusing, informal patiently taken on all comers. O1940 P. G. Wodehouse Quick Service I made all-in ©with everything included. the speech of a lifetime. I had them tearing up ©exhausted. British informal the seats and rolling in the aisles. all my eye and Betty Martin: see EYE. aitch all of as much as (often used ironically of an amount considered very small by the drop your aitches: see DROP. speaker or writer). Aladdin 1995 Bill Bryson Notesfroma Small Island In 1992, a development company... tore down an Aladdin's cave a place full of valuable five listed buildings, in a conservation area, objects. was taken to court and fined all of £675. an Aladdin's lamp a talisman that enables its be all one to make no difference to owner to fulfil every desire. someone. i O , n t r , e Arabian Nights tale of Aladdin, i the hero finds a magic lamp in a cave. He all out using all your strength or resources. i discoversthatrubbingitsummonsapowerful j all over the place in a state of confusion or j genie who is able to carry out all his wishes. disorganization, informal ! O Other variants of this phrase include a// alarm ! over the map and all over the lot which are ! North American, and all over the shop which i alarms and excursions confused activity and j is mainly British. uproar, humorous 1997 Spectator The government... proposed ! O Alarm was formerly spelled alarum, equalising standards and making them I representing a pronunciation with a rolling comparable... there could be no clearer I of the 'r'; the phrase was originally a call admission that standards are all over the j summoning soldiers to arms. The whole place. ; phrase is used in stage directions in j Shakespeare to indicate a battle scene. all the rage: see RAGE. all round ©in all respects, ©for or by each alight person. set the world alight: see SET. all-singing, all-dancing with every possible attribute; able to perform any necessary alive function. British informal alive and kicking prevalent and very active. O This phrase is used particularly in the area informal of computer technology, but it was originally 1991 Mark Tully No Full Stops in India You used to describe show-business acts. deliberately choose unknown actors, Ultimately, it may come from a series of 1929 although India is a country where the star posters which advertised the addition of system is very much alive and kicking. sound to motion pictures. The first Hollywood musical, MGM's Broadway alive and well still existing or active (often Melody, was promoted with the slogan All used to deny rumours or beliefs that Talking All Singing All Dancing. something has disappeared or declined).
all-clear 6 1991 Computing Each of the major ! O Alpha and omega are respectively thefirst j independents launched an all-singing i and last letters of the Greek alphabet, all-dancing graphics-oriented version last i Christians use the phrase as a title for Jesus year. j Christ, taking it from Revelation 1:8: 'I am all systems go: see SYSTEM. i Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the j ending, saith the Lord'. be all that be very attractive or good. US informal 0 1 9 9 4 BBC Holidays At Cambridge... you'll 2002 Guardian I can't believe how she throws find the alpha and omega of American herself at guys, she thinks she's all that. academic life: historic Harvard and space-age MIT (Massachusetts Institute of not all there not in full possession of your Technology). mental faculties, informal be all things to all men: see THING. altar — and all used to emphasize something sacrifice someone or something on the additional that is being referred to. altar of make someone or something informal suffer in the interests of someone or 1992 Kenichi Ohmae The Borderless World You something else. can whip up nationalist passions and stage- 1994 Post (Denver) The cherished goal of a manage protectionist rallies, bonfires and all. color-blind society... has been sacrificed on be all go: see G O . the altar of political expediency. be all up with: see U P . for all — in spite of—. altogether 1989 Independent For all their cruel, corrupt in the altogether without any clothes on; and reckless vices, the Maharajahs were naked, informal worshipped as gods by tens of thousands of 1991 Today The mothers... have agreed to their subjects. pose in the altogether. all of a sudden: see SUDDEN. on all fours: see FOUR. American as American as apple pie typically American all-clear in character. give (or get) the all-clear indicate {or get 1995 New York Times Magazine To reward people for something beyond merit is a sign) that a dangerous situation is now American as apple pie. safe. the American dream the ideal by which i O In wartime a signal or siren is often equality of opportunity is available to any j sounded to indicate that a bombing raid is American, allowing the highest aspirations i over. and goals to be achieved. alley amok a blind alley: see BLIND. run amok behave uncontrollably and up your alley: see up your street at STREET. disruptively. j O Amok, formerly also spelt amuck, comes ally I from the Malay word amuk, meaning 'in a pass in your ally: see P A S S . j homicidal frenzy', in which sense it was first j ! introduced into English in the early 16th ! century. i along along about round about a specified time or 1990 New York Review of Books Hersh's article date. North American informal or dialect is sensationalism run amok. It does no credit 1989 Motor Trend Along about this time, it to him or to The New York Times Magazine. had started raining, so they red-flagged the race for a change to rain tires. analysis in the final analysis when everything alpha has been considered (used to suggest alpha and omega Othe beginning and the that the following statement expresses end. ©the essence or most important the basic truth about a complex features. situation).
7 appeal ancient ant ancient as the hills: see HILL. have ants in your pants be fidgety or restless. the ancient of Days a biblical title for God, informal taken from Daniel 7:9. any angel not be having any of it be absolutely the angel in the house a woman who is unwilling to cooperate, informal completely devoted to her husband and family. anyone I O This was the title of a collection of poems ! anyone's game an evenly balanced contest. i on married love by Coventry Patmore be anyone's (of a person) be open to sexual : (1823-96), and it is now mainly used advances from anyone, informal j ironically. j anything on the side of the angels on the side of what anything goes: see GOES. is right. j O In a speech in Oxford in November 1864 apart i the British statesman Benjamin Disraeli be poles apart: see POLE. i alluded to the controversy over the origins of ! ! humankind then raging in the wake of the come apart at the seams: see SEAM. j publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin i j of Species (1859): 'Is man an ape or an angel? j ape j Now I am on the side of the angels' (The Times \ go ape go wild; become violently excited. \ 26 Nov. 1864). informal i O Originally mid 20th-century North angry ! American slang, this expression possibly angry young man a young man who feels i refers to the 1933 movie King Kong, which | stars a giant ape-like monster. and expresses anger at the conventional values of the society around him. ! O Originally, this term referred to a member apology j of a group of socially conscious writers in an apology for a very poor example of. ! Britain in the 1950s, in particular the 1998 Imogen de la Bere The Last Deception of I playwright John Osborne. The phrase, the Palliser Wentwood It's an apology for a bridge, ! title of a book (1951) by Leslie Paul, was used built of left-over stones. j of Osborne in the publicity material for his ! play Look Back in Anger (1956), in which the with apologies to used before the name of I characteristic views of the angry young an author or artist to indicate that I men were articulated by the anti-hero something is a parody or adaptation of j Jimmy Porter. their work. 2001 This Old House With apologies to Robert Frost, boundary expert Walter Robillard says, answer 'Good fences on the proper line make good the answer's a lemon: see LEMON. neighbours'. a dusty answer: see DUSTY. appeal ante appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober ask up (or raise) the ante increase what is at someone to reconsider, with the stake or under discussion, especially in a suggestion that an earlier opinion or conflict or dispute. decision represented only a passing i O Ante comes from Latin, in which it means j mood. i 'before'. As an English noun it was originally j j O This phrase comes from an anecdote told j ! (in the early 19th century) a term in poker and j j by the Roman historian and moralist Valerius j i similar gambling games, meaning'a stake j Maximus concerning an unjust judgement ; put up by a player before drawing cards'. i given by King Philip of Macedon: the woman | j condemned by Philip declared that she would i 1998 New Scientist This report ups the ante on j appeal to him once again, but this time when ! the pace at which these cases need to be j he was sober. identified and treated.
appearance 8 appeal to Caesar appeal to the highest apple pie possible authority. as American as apple pie: see AMERICAN. ! O The allusion is to the claim made by the i apostle Paul to have his case heard in Rome, apropos ! which was his right as a Roman citizen: 'I apropos of nothing having no relevance to ; appeal unto Caesar' (Acts 25:11). any previous discussion or situation. appearance approval keep up appearances maintain an seal (or stamp) of approval an indication or statement that something is accepted or impression of wealth or well-being. regarded favourably. to (or by) all appearances as far as can be seen. I O This expression stems from the practice of j 1991 Eric Lax Woody Allen To all appearances, | putting a stamp (or formerly a seal) on official j theirs was a unique case of sibling amity. I documents. apple apron apple of discord a subject of dissension. tied to someone's apron strings too much I O This expression refers to the Greek myth under the influence and control of j in which a golden apple inscribed'for the someone (especially used to suggest that ! fairest'was contended for by the goddesses j a man is too much influenced by his j Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite. mother). the apple of your eye a person or thing of whom you are extremely fond and proud. area a grey area: see GREY. i O | n Old English, the phrase referred to j the pupil of the eye, considered to be a a no-go area: see NO-GO. I globular solid body; it came to be used as a ; symbol of something cherished and watched j argue i over. argue the toss dispute a decision or choice apples and oranges (of two people or things) already made, informal, chiefly British irreconcilably or fundamentally different. i O The toss in this phrase is the tossing of a North American I coin to decide an issue in a simple and j unambiguous way according to the side of a rotten (or bad) apple a bad person in a ; the coin visible when it lands. group, typically one whose behaviour is likely to have a corrupting influence on the rest, informal ark she's apples used to indicate that everything out of the ark extremely old-fashioned. is in good order and there is nothing to j O The ark referred to is the biblical Noah's worry about. Australian informal j ark (Genesis 6-7), in which Noah j endeavoured to save his family and two of i O Apples and spice or apples and rice is i every kind of animal from the Flood. ! Australian rhyming slang for nice. apple cart arm upset the apple cart wreck an advantageous a call to arms a call to make ready for project or disturb the status quo. confrontation. cost an arm and a leg be extremely i O The use of a cart piled high with apples as i expensive, informal j a metaphor for a satisfactory but possibly i precarious state of affairs is recorded in give an arm and a leg for pay a high price for. ! various expressions from the late 18th keep someone or something at arm's length i century onwards. avoid intimacy or close contact with 1996 Business Age The real test will be someone or something. instability in China... Another Tiananmen the long arm of coincidence the far-reaching Square could really upset the apple cart. power of coincidence.