Showing 50 of 1,235 (page 7).
burn the candle at both ends
To exhaust oneself by working too much, going to bed late and getting up early
“She's been BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS studying for exams”
burn the midnight oil
To work late into the night
“I had to BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL to finish the report”
burst your bubble
To destroy someone's illusion
“Sorry to BURST YOUR BUBBLE”
bury one's head in the sand
Ignoring something that's obviously wrong, not facing reality
“Don't BURY YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND”
bury the hatchet
Make peace, agree to end a dispute
“Let's BURY THE HATCHET”
bury your head in the sand
To refuse to face reality
“Stop BURYING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND”
bust your chops
To tease or bother someone
“He's just BUSTING YOUR CHOPS”
busy as a bee
Very active and hardworking
“She's BUSY AS A BEE”
butter up
Flatter someone excessively in order to get something from them
“Don't BUTTER HIM UP”
butter wouldn't melt
Seemingly innocent but actually cunning
“She acts sweet BUT BUTTER WOULDN'T MELT in her mouth”
butterfingers
A clumsy person who drops things
“You BUTTERFINGERS. You dropped my phone.”
button your lip
To stop talking; be quiet
“BUTTON YOUR LIP and listen to me”
buy time
To delay something to gain more time
“I'm trying to BUY TIME with more questions.”
buzz off
To go away; leave someone alone
“Just BUZZ OFF, I'm busy.”
buzz saw
A dangerous situation or person
“He ran into the BUZZ SAW with that comment”
by a hair
By a very small margin
“We won BY A HAIR”
by all means
Of course, certainly
“BY ALL MEANS, go ahead”
by and large
Generally speaking; on the whole
“BY AND LARGE, it's been a disaster.”
by dint of
By means of; through the efforts of
“She succeeded BY DINT OF hard work”
by heart
From memory
“I know this procedure BY HEART, unfortunately.”
by hook or by crook
By some possibly dishonest means
“He'll get it BY HOOK OR BY CROOK”
by the book
Follow instructions exactly
“Do it BY THE BOOK”
by the skin of my teeth
By a very narrow margin; barely managing to do something
“I passed the exam BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH”
by the skin of one's teeth
Barely escaping disaster
“We escaped BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH”
by word of mouth
Via personal communications rather than written media
“Spread BY WORD OF MOUTH”
bypass something
To avoid or go around something
“Let's BYPASS the traffic on this route”
cakewalk
Something very easy to accomplish
“The exam was A CAKEWALK”
call it a day
To decide to stop working on something
“Let's CALL IT A DAY and pretend we achieved something.”
call it a night
End an evening's activities and go home
“I'm going to CALL IT A NIGHT”
call someone's bluff
To demand someone prove their claim
“I CALLED HIS BLUFF and he folded immediately.”
call the shots
Make the important decisions in an organization
“She CALLS THE SHOTS”
call the tune
Making important decisions and controlling a situation
“He CALLS THE TUNE”
calm before the storm
A quiet period before a period of trouble or activity
“It's THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM”
calm down
To become less angry or excited
“Just CALM DOWN and breathe”
can of worms
A source of many problems
“That opened A CAN OF WORMS”
can't judge a book by its cover
Cannot judge something primarily on appearance
“You CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER”
can't make head nor tail of
To be completely unable to understand something
“I CAN'T MAKE HEAD NOR TAIL OF this”
can't see the forest for the trees
Unable to maintain a wider perspective
“You CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES”
cancel culture
The practice of withdrawing support for public figures
“CANCEL CULTURE is affecting many celebrities”
card up your sleeve
A surprise advantage of which others are not aware
“He has A CARD UP HIS SLEEVE”
cards are stacked against you
The situation is unfairly against you
“THE CARDS ARE STACKED AGAINST US”
carrot and stick
A tactic in which rewards are offered, but there is also the threat of punishment
“Use THE CARROT AND STICK approach”
carry a torch for
To continue to be in love with someone even after a relationship has ended
“He still CARRIES A TORCH FOR her”
carry on
To continue doing something
“Just CARRY ON with your work”
carry the ball
To take charge or responsibility
“Who's GOING TO CARRY THE BALL?”
carry the can
To take the blame for something one did not do
“He had to CARRY THE CAN”
cash cow
A product, service, or business that makes a lot of steady profit
“That product is our CASH COW”
cash in
To take advantage of a quick profit; to die
“Time to CASH IN”
cash-strapped
In need of money
“We're CASH-STRAPPED”
cast pearls before swine
To waste something good on those who don't appreciate it
“Explaining subtlety to them is CASTING PEARLS BEFORE SWINE.”