a house is not a home »
A home is not merely a building but requires inhabitants and a friendly atmosphere.
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accident of birth »
Reference to the fact that various benefits or detriments to the life of a person arise from the circumstances into which that person was born, these being entirely beyond his control.
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arm's length »
Barely within reach.
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beat down »
To severely beat someone up.
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beat someone's brains out »
To beat someone very severely.
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bite someone's head off »
To severely berate someone.
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by the skin of one's teeth »
Barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare.
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cast off »
To finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them securely from the needle.
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catch dust »
To be rarely used.
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catch hell »
Be severely reprimanded, punished, or beaten.
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catch it »
Be severely reprimanded, punished, or beaten.
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count on »
To rely upon, trust, or expect.
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crocodile tear »
A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.
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dead as a doorknob »
Entirely, unquestionably or certainly dead.
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divide and conquer »
A combination of political, military and economic strategies that aim to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.(computing) Applied to various algorithms, such as quicksort, that solve a problem by splitting it recursively into smaller problems until all of the remaining problems are trivial.(as imperative, proverb) In order to rule securely, don't allow alliances of your enemies.
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draw on »
To appeal to, make a demand of, rely on; to utilize or make use of, as a source.
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dressing-down »
A reprimand or rarely, a thrashing.
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eat up »
To accept or believe entirely, immediately, and without questioning.
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every cloud has a silver lining »
In every bad situation there is an element of good1881, National Academy of Code Administration (U.S.), Folio, page 417:Every cloud has a silver lining; but in the old-fashioned meeting-houses every cloud of hymnal melody generally had a nasal lining before the congregation...1887, Shakers, Religion, page 36:that "a little reserve and thou'lt fail surely," will prove to be true in our experience. Every cloud has a silver lining and so has every sorrow,1918, George Jean Nathan, Performing Arts, page 222:But the most popular attitude toward what we may call "sad" plays is the peculiar one of believing that, since every cloud has a silver lining,
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flight of fancy »
An idea, narrative, suggestion, etc. which is extremely imaginative and which appears to be entirely unrealistic, untrue, or impractical; thinking which is very speculative.
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for all the world »
Entirely, to all appearances.
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force someone's hand »
Bring about a situation which necessitates an agent to act, often causing a plan to be executed prematurely.
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from the bottom of one's heart »
In earnest; sincerely; with one's full feeling.
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go the whole hog »
To do something as entirely or completely as possible; to reserve or hold back nothing.
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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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have someone's guts for garters »
To reprimand severely.
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head to toe »
Entirely; completely; over one's full body.
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if you want a thing done well, do it yourself »
It is better to do something oneself, than rely on others to do it well.
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in one's element »
In a situation which is entirely appropriate or familiar.
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kit and caboodle »
Everything entirely, the whole lot.
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lay a finger on »
To merely touch.
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lock up »
To close all doors and windows of a place securely.
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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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on sufferance »
Unwillingly agreed to or barely tolerated.
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once in a blue moon »
Very rarely; very infrequently.
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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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rely on »
To be confident in.
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rely on »
To be dependent upon.
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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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rip to shreds »
To severely devalue, to refute.
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scratch the surface »
To barely begin; to see or do only a fraction of what is possible.
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settle for »
To accept or allow something, especially something not entirely desirable.
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slowly but surely »
In a slow, yet careful manner
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take with a pinch of salt »
Not take entirely seriously.
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there but for the grace of God go I »
A recognition that others' misfortune could be one's own, if it weren't for the blessing/kindness/luck bestowed by fate or the Divine.Man's fate is in God's hands.More generally, our fate is not entirely in our own hands.
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three-martini lunch »
A leisurely, expensive, midday meal associated with drinking, which is tax-deductible because business is discussed.
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through and through »
Completely; entirely; fundamentally.
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to the gills »
Entirely or extremely; to the greatest degree possible.
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under the wire »
At the last minute; before the deadline; barely on time; nearly late.
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you can hang your hat on that »
It's something to put faith in, to rely upon or trust (when used in a positive connotation).
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you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone »
It is advantageous not to rely solely on being nice.
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yours sincerely »
A polite formula to end a letter, especially when the recipient’s name is known to the sender.
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