about time »
Far past the desired time.
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ark ruffian »
Rogues who, in conjunction with watermen, robbed, and sometimes murdered, on the water, by picking a quarrel with the passengers in a boat, boarding it, plundering, stripping, and throwing them overboard, etc. A species of badger.
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back in the day »
In the past; at one time, especially a time which is fondly remembered.
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backseat driver »
A passenger in a car who insists on giving the driver directions.
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baptism by fire »
A rite of passage through the survival or success of a crisis.
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behind its time »
Showing characteristics of the past; present in one's work after later advances in the field; coming later than could be generally accepted.
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blind »
A covering for a window to keep out light. The covering may be made of cloth or of narrow slats that can block light or allow it to pass.
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blow off »
To pass gas; to break wind.
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blow over »
To pass naturally; to go away; to settle or calm down.
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borne out »
Past participle of bear out.
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bought the farm »
Simple past tense and past participle of buy the farm: died; often refers to death in battle.
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box the compass »
To know, and be able to recite the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North, both clockwise and anticlockwise.
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box the compass »
To make a complete reversal in stance or opinion.
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bring back »
To cause someone to remember something from the past.
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by the way »
Incidentally; a parenthetical statement not timely, central, or crucial to the topic at hand; foregone, passed by, something that has already happened.
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cap it all off »
To surpass or outdo something.
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charity mugger »
A person employed by a charity, or by an intermediary fundraising agency employed by the charity, who stands in the street and invites passersby to set up standing orders or direct debits to make regular donations to the charity.
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cherry pick »
To position oneself near the opponent's goal to attempt to receive an errant or intentional pass for an easy score, as in basketball or versions of soccer where offsides are not enforced.
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chrome horn »
The front bumper of a car when used to bump another vehicle, usually to inform the driver of the other vehicle, that the first car would like to pass.
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come about »
To come to pass; to develop; to occur; to take place; to happen.
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come by »
To come near to; to pass.
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done a bunk »
Simple past tense and past participle of do a bunk.
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draw on »
To advance, continue; to move or pass slowly or continuously, as under a pulling force.
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due course »
Regular or appropriate passage or occurrence.
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dyed in the wool »
Simple past tense and past participle of dye in the wool.
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flutter in the dovecote »
I further argued that the principal cause for the political deadlock that persisted for thirty years after the guns fell silent was Israeli intransigence rather than Arab intransigence. The appearance of the first wave of revisionist studies excited a great deal of interest and controversy in the media and more than a flutter in the academic dovecote. — Israel Confronts Its Past.
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four score and seven years ago »
As an opener, a sometimes sarcastic indicator to indicate a past event being mentioned is particularly important.
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get by »
to pass
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go along for the ride »
To accompany someone passively, or to take a passive role in a project.
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go by »
To pass, to go past, without much interaction.
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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 the way of the dinosaurs »
To go extinct or become obsolete; to fall out of common use or practice; to go off the firsthand market; to become a thing of the past.
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go the way of the dodo »
To go extinct or become obsolete; to fall out of common use or practice; to go out of the firsthand market; to become a thing of the past.
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go to seed »
To pass from flowering or ripening to the formation of seeds.
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gongoozle »
To leisurely watch the passage of boats, from the bank of a canal, lock or bridge.
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greener pastures »
Any place or condition that is more favorable or beneficial.
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hand off »
To pass or transfer something to someone.
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hate somebody's guts »
To despise; to hate intensely or passionately.
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heart of gold »
A kind, compassionate, or caring attitude; kindheartedness.
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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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history repeats itself »
Things that have happened in the past will happen again.
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hold off »
To delay commencing an action (until some specified time or event has passed).
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hospital pass »
A poorly executed pass to a team-mate causing the receiver to present an easy target for a defender, and thus be tackled hard.
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hospital pass »
A throw that stays in the air long enough that it allows too many people to get underneath it, increasing the risk of injury and a trip to the hospital. Thus, a hospital pass.
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hospital pass »
An unwinnable case, often passed to a newly-qualified member of the firm.
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hospital pass »
Exempting one from regular activities, to instead visit a hospital.
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hot and heavy »
Passionate.
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hot potato »
A child's game in which players pass a ball or other item between them, with the object of avoiding being left holding the item when time expires.
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jump »
To employ a move in certain board games where one game piece is moved from one legal position to another passing over the position of another piece.
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let sleeping dogs lie »
To leave things as they are; especially, to avoid restarting or rekindling an old argument; to leave disagreements in the past.
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lion »
The arms of the University of the West Indies are Barry wavy of six Argent and Azure an open Book proper bound Gules garnished Or on a Chief of the third a Lion passant guardant Erminois. Crest: A Pelican proper. . See talk page.
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long since »
Past.
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look back »
To reminisce about a past time.
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look-in »
A quick short pass to a receiver running diagonally toward the center of the field.
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lose the plot »
To have one's results decline severely in quality or suddenly fall below an acceptable standard, especially when compared to past excellence.
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many happy returns »
A greeting, usually for birthdays, in reference to the passing year; Happy birthday!.
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meet one's maker »
To die or to pass into the afterlife.
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nose test »
An inspection of the nasal passages or a trial of their function, as for breathing difficulties.
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of late »
In the recent past; recently; lately.
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old hat »
Something uninteresting, hackneyed, or passé due to overuse or long-standing familiarity..
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once bitten, twice shy »
One is cautious in the future if one has been hurt in the past.
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one side »
You should move to one side and allow me to go through the passageway you are blocking.
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one two »
wall pass
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ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny »
(biology, social sciences, art, philosophy) The physical, cultural, moral, or intellectual development of each individual passes through stages similar to the developmental stages of that individual's species, society, or civilization.1905, J. A. Harris, "The Importance of Investigations of Seedling Stages," Science, New Series, vol. 22, no. 554, p. 186:With reference to seedling stages the statement that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny must be made with great reserve.1961, M. E. Wolfgang, "Pioneers in Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)," The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, vol. 52, no. 4, p. 367:Haeckel maintained that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, and this idea was incorporated by Lombroso into his parallelism between the criminal and the child.2002, B. S. Jackson, "Models in Legal History: The Case of Biblical Law," Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 11:For even if we accept that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," those responsible for the drafting of ancient legal documents were not children, and are hardly to be endowed with some form of infantile mentality.
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other days, other ways »
People of the past thought and acted differently.
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over the hill »
Old, past the prime of life.
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palm off »
To attempt to pass off a counterfeit or inferior product as genuine.
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pass away »
To die.
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pass by »
To proceed past something.
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pass by »
To pass over. disregard, overlook.
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pass muster »
To adequately pass a formal or informal inspection.
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pass muster »
To measure up to a particular standard.
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pass off »
To happen.
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pass off »
To misrepresent something.
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pass on »
To convey or communicate.
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pass on »
To die.
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pass on »
To skip or decline.
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pass out »
To faint; fall asleep.
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pass out »
To distribute, to hand out.
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pass out »
To graduate, usually marked by the ceremony at the end of their training.
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pass the buck »
To transfer responsibility or blame from oneself onto another; to absolve oneself of concern for a given matter by claiming to lack authority or jurisdiction.
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pass the hat »
To ask for money, especially from a group of people; to solicit donations or contributions.
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pass through »
To transit something.
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pass through »
To make something move through something else.
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pass through »
To infiltrate.
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peed off »
Simple past tense and past participle of pee off.
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pick up »
To collect an object, especially in passing.
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pick up »
To collect a passenger.
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puddle jumper »
A small passenger airplane, typically used for shorter connecting trips to smaller airports.
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put one past somebody »
To deceive, trick, or fool, especially by concealing something.
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quarter past »
Fifteen minutes past any hour.
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red face test »
A hypothetical test of a person's embarrassment, that is either passed or failed. Saying one passes the red face test means one would not blush and thus would not be embarrassed by disclosing something to others or doing something, and saying one fails the red face test means a situation would cause them discernible embarrassment.
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rest on one's laurels »
To rely on a past success instead of trying to improve oneself further.
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ride shotgun »
To ride in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
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run something past »
To bring an idea or proposal to the attention of someone in order to obtain their opinion.
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run the gamut »
To encompass the full range or variety possible.
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sainted »
Simple past tense and past participle of saint.
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shacked up »
Simple past tense and past participle of shack up.
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shotgun »
A play formation in which the quarterback is a few feet behind the snapper when the ball is hiked, ideally allowing for an easier pass play.
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shotgun »
The front passenger seat in a vehicle, next to the driver.
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silver spoon »
Wealth passed down or inherited.
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sleep in »
To sleep late; to go on sleeping past one's customary or planned hour.
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squaring the circle »
The historical problem of how to construct, using compass and ruler, a square having the same area as a given circle.
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sticking point »
A disputed issue or state of affairs that causes an interruption or outright impasse in progress towards some goal or resolution, especially in negotiation or argumentation.
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stop up »
To fill a hole or cavity, or block an opening or passage, as with a plug.
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stop up »
To increase the aperture of a photographic lens, moving from an f/stop represented by a higher number to an f/stop represented by a lower number and causing more light to pass into the camera.
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take back »
To cause to remember some past event or time.
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the bee's knees »
Most excellent; surpassingly wonderful; cool.
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there is nothing new under the sun »
There is nothing truly novel in existence. Every new idea has some sort of precedent or echo from the past.
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throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick »
Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at [1] on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at [2] on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at [3] on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at [4] on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at [5] on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at [6] on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isn
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thumb a ride »
To flag or signal a passing vehicle in hopes of securing passage.
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tickled pink »
Simple past tense and past participle of tickle pink.
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time flies »
Time seems to pass quickly. Time flies when you're having fun.
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time flies when you're having fun »
Time seems to pass quicker when one is enjoying oneself.
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time out of mind »
The distant past beyond anyone's memory.
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to go »
Belonging to the subgroup that have not passed or have not been finished or have not been addressed yet.
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tomorrow is another day »
Tomorrow will bring new opportunities and a fresh start for one's endeavors.1600, author unknown, "Phillidaes Love-call to her Coridon, and his replying" (song), in England's Helicon, printed at London by I.R. for John Flasket:Phil. Yonder comes my Mother, Coridon,whether shall I flie?Cor. Under yonder Beech my lovely one,while she passeth by.Say to her thy true-Love was not heere,remember, remember,to morrow is another day:1896, Amelia E. Barr, A Knight of the Nets, ch. 8:"Well, well, my dear lass, to-night we cannot work, but we may sleep. . . . Keep a still heart tonight, and tomorrow is another day."1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, ch. 63:"Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day."2005, Fran Schumer, "JERSEY: In Princeton, Taking On Harvard's Fuss About Women," New York Times, 19 June (retrieved 18 Aug. 2009):"Half of me is depressed
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tough love »
The compassionate use of stringent disciplinary measures, to attempt to improve someone's behavior.
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track record »
An organization's, product's, or person's past performance reviewed in its entirety, usually for the purpose of making a judgment.
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tuckered out »
Simple past tense and past participle of tucker out.
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turn back »
To refuse to allow someone to pass a border or enter a place.
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turn the corner »
To pass a critical point.
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upper crust »
The topmost layer of a bread, pastry dish, or other item with a hardened coating.
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wash over »
To pass unnoticed so that one is unaffected by it.
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water under the bridge »
Something in the past that cannot be controlled or undone, but must be accepted, forgiven, or forgotten.
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way back when »
A time in the distant past.
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weekend warrior »
A person who indulges in a sport or pastime on an infrequent basis, usually on weekends when work commitments are not present.
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whistle past the graveyard »
To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; To proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome.
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whistle past the graveyard »
To enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences.
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word of mouth »
Verbal means of passing of information.
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wring out »
To squeeze a wet material, either by twisting with one's hands, or by passing it through a wringer, to remove the water.
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zoom past »
To pass very quickly.
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| BTW, Why won't you become an editor? |