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.
|
babe in the woods »
A person who is innocent, naive, inexperienced, or helpless.
|
babes in the wood »
Criminals in the stocks, or pillory.
|
barrow man »
A man under sentence of transportation; alluding to the convicts at Woolwich, who are principally employed in wheeling barrows full of brick or dirt.
|
born with a silver spoon in one's mouth »
Note. The original nautical expression is just born with a silver spoon and describes those young gentlemen who were able to enter the Royal Navy without examination and whose promotion was assured. the converse was born with a wooden ladle.
|
chase after »
To pursue someone with romantic intentions; to woo.
|
come out of the woodwork »
To appear or emerge as though out of nowhere, frequently in large numbers or quantity.
|
cut a wide swath »
To clear a broad track through a grassland, woodland, geographical region, or other area, either by natural means or by human action.
|
dead wood »
Dead limbs and branches still attached to a living tree.
|
dead wood »
Personnel no longer contributing to an organization.
|
does a bear shit in the woods »
Rhetorical question in response to a question where the answer is an emphatic yes.
|
don't take any wooden nickels »
Do not permit yourself be cheated or duped; do not be naive.
|
dye in the wool »
To dye woolen fibers before they are spun into thread.
|
dyed in the wool »
Simple past tense and past participle of dye in the wool.
|
dyed-in-the-wool »
Dyed before being formed into cloth.
|
| Like Phrases.net? Why won't you tell a friend about us? |
