a cat may look at a king »
Even a purported inferior has certain abilities, even in the presence of a purported superior
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a cut above »
Superior to; of a higher quality than.
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a notch above »
Superior to; of a higher quality than.
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all fur coat and no knickers »
Of superficial appearance and with no real substance beneath.
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all mouth and no trousers »
Superficial, engaging in empty, boastful talk, but not of real substance.
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all mouth and trousers »
Superficial, engaging in empty, boastful talk, but not of real substance.
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angel's advocate »
Someone who sees what's good about an idea and supports it.
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as all get-out »
Extremely; to a superlative degree; very much.
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back office »
The IT and infrastructure support services for a company, separate from the public face of the business.
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back up »
To provide support or the promise of support.
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bag of rations »
A fussy or overly zealous military superior.
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bail out on »
To abandon, or stop supporting someone or something.
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be there for »
To be available to provide comfort and support for someone, especially in a period of difficulty.
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better than sex »
Superlative; wonderful.
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boss about »
To act in a bossy manner with another person, ordering them to do things, whether or not one is actually their superior.
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boss around »
To act in a bossy manner with another person, ordering them to do things, whether or not one is actually their superior.
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bottle up »
Keep suppressed and hidden.
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bragging rights »
The prerogative to praise oneself for an accomplishment or for possession of a superior characteristic.
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bridge »
A particular form of one hand placed on the table to support the cue when making a shot in cue sports.
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bridge »
The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board.
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bring owls to Athens »
To undertake a pointless venture, one that is redundant, unnecessary, superfluous, or highly uneconomical.
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catch big air »
Superlative of catch air; make a big jump high off the ground.
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caught in the act »
To be found doing something that you weren't supposed to be doing, while you're doing it.
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check out »
To have one's purchases recorded and bagged at a supermarket, and pay for it.
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cheer on »
To cheer and support a team, to barrack, to root for.
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cite chapter and verse »
To provide specific references from an authoritative book, as the Bible or a book of statutes or rules, to support a statement.
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comfort woman »
A woman forced, or supposedly recruited, into brothels by the Japanese occupation forces during World War II.
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cop out »
To avoid or shirk, either by failing to perform, or by performing in a grossly insufficient, negligent, or superficial manner.
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crème de la crème »
Best of the best; something that's superlative. The very best.
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deadbeat dad »
A man, especially one who is divorced or estranged from his partner, who fails to provide monetary child support when he is legally required to do so.
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deep pockets »
An ample supply of money, especially money which one is willing to spend; the possessor of such money.
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depend on »
To be dependent on something or someone for support or help.
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different as chalk and cheese »
Two things which are superficially alike but very different in substance.
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drip »
To have a superabundance of valuable things. Usually followed by "with".
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earn one's keep »
To perform satisfactory physical labor or to provide other worthy services in return for remuneration, lodging, or other benefits; to support oneself financially.
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fall away »
To cease to support a person or cause.
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fear »
Extreme veneration or awe, as toward a supreme being or deity.
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feast or famine »
A situation in which something is always either extremely abundant or in extremely short supply.
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fifth wheel »
Anything superfluous or unnecessary.
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fill in »
To inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information.
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first among equals »
A person or position that if formally equivalent to others in a group, but is superior in some attribute.
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first rate »
Superb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality.
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fish out »
To deplete the supply of fish in a given body of water.
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for all one is worth »
Intensely, vigorously, with as much effort as one can supply.
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full of oneself »
Egotistical, believing oneself to be superior to others; preoccupied with one's own work, interests, point of view, etc.
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gild the lily »
To embellish or improve something unnecessarily; to add superfluous attributes to something.
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go by the board »
To be superseded, rejected, or obliterated; to pass by with little consequence; to amount to nothing.
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go large »
To supersize.
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head start »
A factor conducive to superiority and success.
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hear, hear »
Let us hear and applaud the previous speaker; I endorse the previous statement; Expression of support, agreement, or enthusiasm for what has just been said.
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high ground »
A position of advantage or superiority in a conflict or competition.
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high horse »
An appearance or sense of smug superiority.
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hold up »
To support or lift.
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jumped-up »
Describes a person who thinks he is superior in some way that the speaker disagrees with. For instance, of a higher class, or has more authority than they have in reality.
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king »
A male monarch; member of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation.
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kiss up »
To pay false flattery to another, particularly a superior at work, in order to get special attention.
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kneel before »
To kneel in front of someone or something, especially in order to worship or supplicate.
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knock up »
In the morning as by knocking at the door; rouse; call; summon; also, to go door-to-door on election day to persuade a candidate's supporters to go to the polling station and vote. See also knocker up.
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lean on »
To depend upon for support.
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leave to one's own devices »
To leave alone, unsupervised, without assistance.
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little pitchers have big ears »
Small children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire.1844, Charlotte M. Yonge, Abbeychurch, ch. 2:Seeing me listening to something she was saying to Mamma, she turned round upon me with that odious proverb, "Little pitchers have long ears."1939, "Bedtime Bedlam," Time, 17 Apr.:A caution to U. S. parents, but a joy to radio merchandising, is the dread truth that little pitchers have big ears.2002, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, ISBN 9780743455961, p. 185:I suppose he might say pushed or went woowoo, but took a shit is, I fear, very much in the ballpark (little pitchers have big ears, after all).
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lower the boom »
To use one's superior physical strength; clobber.
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make a living »
To earn enough income to support oneself and, if applicable, one's family.
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moral high ground »
A position or point of view which is ethically superior or more reputable, in comparison to others which are under consideration.
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mutual admiration society »
A group of two or more people, in a workplace or other social environment, who routinely express considerable esteem and support for one another, sometimes to the point of exaggeration or pretense.
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no brainer »
Something that supposedly doesn’t take much intellectual thought. Whoever says that something is a no brainer is usually the one with no brains.
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not have a leg to stand on »
To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation.
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number one with a bullet »
Superlative; impossible to beat.
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off the chain »
Free from work or direct supervision. In reference to slave labor, where workers are chained, or to the figurative chain of workers of an assembly line.
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old school »
Characteristic of a style, outlook, or method employed in a former era, remembered either as inferior to the current style, or alternately, remembered nostalgically as superior or preferable to the new style, the older denoting something that would be considered out of date or out of fashion to some, but as such, is considered by others as cool and hip.
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on board »
Agreeing or supporting.
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one thousand »
Used in a common chronometric counting scheme, in which each iteration is sequentially numbered and supposed to be approximately one second in length.
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orphan drug »
But which is not manufactured or marketed because the demand is insufficient to cover the costs of supply.
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out of sight »
Superb, excellent.
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over one's head »
Performing at a level greatly superior to one's usual level of performance.
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painting rocks »
Pointless or futile work organised by the government, supposedly to increase employment but in fact merely disguising the unemployment level.
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poacher turned gamekeeper »
A person who now works against the same people they once supported.
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pretty pictures »
Image supplements in a presentation: graphs, charts, etc.
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pull one's head in »
To withdraw as a turtle might; to discontinue support of a particular argument.
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pull the plug »
To cease life support.
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pull the plug »
To cease to support; to halt.
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put forth »
To give or supply; to make or create.
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rag bagger »
A sailboat, usually a cruising sailboats which tend to carry and store lots of supplies along the deck, or any sailboat that looks like a neglected vessel, or messy vessel.
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ride herd on »
To supervise a group of people, such as workers, and/or their actions, i.e. their work.
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rules OK »
To be popularly accepted, or supported by the general majority of people.
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second banana »
A comedian who plays a secondary or supporting role, especially as straight man and traditionally in vaudeville or burlesque theatre.
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second banana »
A person who serves in a supporting, secondary, or subsidiary capacity; an assistant.
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see someone through »
To constitute ample supply for one for.
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sell out »
To abandon one's supporters or principles to seek profit or other personal advantage.
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seller's market »
An excess of demand over supply, leading to abnormally high prices; a market condition favoring the seller.
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shoot off at the mouth »
To disclose some information that was supposed to be secret.
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shoulder to cry on »
Someone offering emotional support to another in distress.
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shroud »
A rope or cable serving to support the mast sideways.
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sigh of relief »
A reassurance or support, something that reduces stress from an arduous activity.
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sit on »
To block, suppress, restrain.
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sitting pretty »
Having a comfortable or certain supply of money or resources.
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skin deep »
superficial
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snake oil »
A type of 19th century patent medicine sold in the United States that claimed to contain snake fat, supposedly a Native American remedy for various ailments.
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squirrel away »
To stash or hide; to hoard, collect, save, or accumulate; to create a reserve, stash, or hoard of some supply, so as to recall a squirrel's burying of nuts.
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stand for »
To advocate, to support.
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straight man »
A member of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in preparatory dialog with the principal comedian; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy.
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sugarcoated »
Made superficially more attractive. This often implies the reality has faults that are being hidden.
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supposed to »
Permitted.
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supposed to »
Required.
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sword and sorcery »
Of or pertaining to a genre of narratives—including short stories, novels, television shows, films, and computer games—which combines wizardry and other fantastical supernatural elements with violent combat using medieval weaponry..
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take sides »
To ally oneself with a given opinion, agenda or group; to support one side or viewpoint in a competition or confrontation.
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take the shadow for the substance »
To be easily deceived, credulous, superficial.
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talk is cheap »
It is easy to make boastful or unrealistic statements which are not supported by actions or evidence.
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talk like an apothecary »
To use hard or gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language.
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think one's shit doesn't stink »
To be arrogant or snobbish; to feel superior to others.
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throw a sickie »
To take a day off from work, supposedly because of ill health. The illness could be either real or feigned.
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tide over »
To support or sustain someone, especially financially, for a limited period.
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to be the cat's whiskers »
To perform better than was generally supposed possible.
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touch%C3%A9 »
An acknowledgement of the success, appropriateness or superiority of an argument, sometimes used sarcastically to mock one's opponent's absurd logic.
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turn against »
To rebel or oppose something formerly supported.
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turn around »
An upset; a suprising comeback.
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turn on »
To rebel; to go against something formerly supported.
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up a creek without a paddle »
In a difficult situation, without any help. Superlative form of up a creek: most up a creek.
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vote with one's feet »
To show a lack of support for something by departing or otherwise absenting oneself.
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vote with one's feet »
To show support for something by going to or otherwise being present somewhere.
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win over »
To persuade someone, gain someone's support, or make someone understand the truth or validity of something.
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world-beater »
Someone or something superior to all others of its sort.
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wrap in the flag »
To claim one's cause deserves support for patriotic reasons or that one's own motives are patriotic.
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yes man »
A person who always agrees with his employer or superior.
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you bet »
Expresses support, agreement, certainty or emphasis.
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you can't fight city hall »
(chiefly US) Nothing can be done to change the situation, because it is a governmental decision.I see they're going to build the airport after all. I suppose you can't fight city hall.
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