against the grain »
To sand or plane a piece of wood parallel or nearly parallel to the fibers such that splinters forming ahead of the tool originate below the cutting surface.
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ahead of one's time »
Showing characteristics of changes yet to be; present in one's work before later advances in the field; coming earlier than could be generally accepted.
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all but »
nearly; except that
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at all hours »
Late into the night or early morning; when people ought to be sleeping.
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beauty sleep »
Sleep before midnight, on the belief that early sleep hours conduce to health and beauty.[1].
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blind as a bat »
Nearly totally blind, having a very poor sense of vision.
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brain fart »
A lapse in the thought process; an inability to think or remember something clearly.
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bright-line rule »
A clearly defined rule or standard, comprised of objective factors, which leaves little or no room for varying interpretation.
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bring forward »
To make something happen earlier than originally planned.
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cast pearls before swine »
To give things of value to those who will not understand or appreciate it.
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cut one's teeth »
To begin; to gain early experience.
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dead in the water »
Nearly dead, doomed.
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ear tunnel »
A piece of jewelry that fits into a stretched earlobe hole and makes it seem like a peephole and makes it see-through.
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early bath »
Being shown a red card in soccer.
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early bird catches the worm »
Alternative form of early bird gets the worm.
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early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise »
platitude from Benjamin Franklin under the pseudonym Poor Richard.
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eleventh hour »
Nearly too late; the last minute.
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far and wide »
Over a great distance, or large area; nearly everywhere.
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flash in the pan »
A career notable for early success not followed by significant accomplishment.
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get a jump on »
To start early, especially to start before something begins or before others begin.
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grey area »
A topic that is not clearly one thing or the other.
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hindsight is 20/20 »
(idiomatic) In hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset; one is able to evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of the choice.
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hold over »
Something left from an earlier time.
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in black and white »
Explicitly, in writing, clearly and without doubt or misunderstanding, without any grey areas.
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in focus »
Clearly perceived.
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in front of one's nose »
Plain; clearly apparent; obvious.
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in its infancy »
Still in an early stage.
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in one's right mind »
Sane, sensible, reasonable; thinking clearly.
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in the first place »
To begin with; earlier; first; at the start.
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kitchen table software »
Especially in the early years of personal computers, a set of computer programs developed by an entrepreneurial advanced amateur or self-employed professional computer programmer in his or her own home; software developed by a small business using the services of such programmers.
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lay it on the line »
To state something, for example an ultimatum, strongly and clearly.
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long shot »
Something unlikely; something that has little chance of happening or working. The term arose from the accuracy of early ship guns, which were effective only at close range and unlikely to hit the mark at any great distance.
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miner's canary »
Any thing, especially an organism, whose demise or distress provides an early warning of danger.
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miners' canary »
Any thing, especially an organism, whose demise or distress provides an early warning of danger.
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morning person »
A person whose who wakes up without difficulty early each morning and who is alert and active during the first part of the day.
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nearly never bulled a cow »
(Irish) Near enough is not good enough.
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next to »
Almost; nearly.
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night person »
A person whose preference or custom is to remain awake and active during the night and the early morning hours, and who usually sleeps during part of the daytime.
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nighthawk »
A person whose preference or custom is to remain awake and active during the night and the early morning hours.
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nip in the bud »
To stop something at an early stage.
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not quite »
Almost, very nearly.
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oh dark hundred »
Some unspecified hour in the early morning.
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oh dark thirty »
Some unspecified hour in the early morning.
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on the brink »
Very nearly; imminent; close.
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on the point »
Very nearly; imminent; close.
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out of it »
Disoriented; not thinking clearly.
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pearl of wisdom »
A succinct, insightful saying, piece of advice, or moral precept.
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put across »
To explain or state something clearly and understandably.
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put back »
To change the time in a time zone to an earlier time.
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put oneself across »
To explain one's ideas and opinions clearly so that another person can understand them and get a picture of your personality.
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put the clock back »
To change the time in a time zone to an earlier time.
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reach an early grave »
To be sentenced to death before the age of 18.
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reach an early grave »
To die young. To die before the age of 80.
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reach an early grave »
To resign near the start for good.
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road to Damascus »
That was my Road to Damascus moment. They played one hit after another and this is the song I remember most clearly.
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robber baron »
Especially in the 19th-century and early 20th-century, a business tycoon who had great wealth and influence but whose methods were morally questionable.
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skip out »
To shirk; to avoid attending or to leave early, especially without permission.
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steal a march »
To start early.
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steal a march on »
To get ahead of someone or something by starting earlier.
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take back »
To retract an earlier statement.
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the early bird catches the worm »
the early bird gets the worm
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the early bird gets the worm »
Whoever arrives first has the best chance of success; some opportunities are only available to the first competitors.
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toss-up »
A decision in which neither choice is clearly favorable or unfavorable, or for which the outcome does not matter.
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turn back »
No turn a dial anticlockwise or adjust a clock or other meter to an earlier time or reading.
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two cents »
A nearly worthless amount, alluding to placing a copper penny on each of the eyelids of a pauper's or slave's body before burial.
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under one's nose »
Directly in front of one; clearly visible.
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under the wire »
At the last minute; before the deadline; barely on time; nearly late.
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up with the larks »
To wake up early, to be an early bird.
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wee small hours »
The very early morning, just after midnight, when most people are asleep.
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wind back the clock »
Figuratively to return in time to an earlier period of history.
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