Table Of ContentTable of Contents
About the publisher
Preface
Editor’s Note
Browse A-Z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
X Y Z
Dictionary
Thank You
More from Farlex
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The Farlex Idioms and Slang Dictionary
The Most Complete Collection of Idioms and Slang in the
English Language
Explore more books by Farlex at
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FARLEX INTERNATIONAL
FARLEX INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
a Farlex Group Company
• USA • Ireland
farlex.com farlex.ie
Copyright © 2017 by Farlex International
All rights reserved.
Farlex supports copyright. Copyright drives creativity and creates diverse and vibrant culture. Thank
you for purchasing an authorized copy of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not
reproducing or distributing any part of this work without permission.
ISBN-10: 1539588874
ISBN-13: 978-1539588870
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About the publisher
Farlex is the publishing team behind TheFreeDictionary.com, the award-
winning reference site with 1 billion+ annual visits.
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With The Farlex Idioms and Slang Dictionary, Farlex continues its
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Preface
It could be argued that if you don't know idioms, you don't really know
English. That's because the exquisitely robust corpus of the English language
is full of idioms, slang, phrasal verbs, and all kinds of expressions whose
meanings cannot be understood from their individual words alone, or even
gleaned from the sum of their parts. In other words, native speakers typically
know what an idiom means simply from having heard it used their whole
lives. But challenge those native speakers to explain why an idiom means
what it means, and you'll likely hear a long pause—or an attempt to define
the idiom with (oops!) another idiom.
Try this experiment: go a whole day without using any idioms, slang, or
phrasal verbs (which include ubiquitous phrases like "pick up" and "put
down"), and see how long you can last. After about five minutes, you'll
realize why this book contains more than 17,000 unique entries. And if you
find it easy to avoid using idioms, you probably need this book most of all:
idioms may sometimes be confusing, but they color the English language
with unparalleled richness, providing us with nearly unlimited opportunities
to say things in highly specific and nuanced ways. Without them, we'd be
much less able to express ourselves clearly and succinctly.
Of course, idioms should be used with care, precision, and discretion, or
else our speech and writing will become littered with clichés and devoid of
meaning. Use this dictionary to enrich and hone your vocabulary, to better
understand the origins and meanings of the phrases you hear and say every
day, and to enjoy the full possibility of English expression.
Get to know idioms, and get to know English even better.
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Editor’s Note
This book is written according to the standard styles and spellings used in
American English. While major differences between American and British
English are usually addressed, some information in the book might not
coincide with the styles, tendencies, or preferences of other English-speaking
communities.
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Browse A-Z
0-9
A adv alm ang asc asl ato
B bab bap bec beq bil bli blu bos bri bro bru bus
C cab cap cas cau che cla coa con cos cre
D dab dod dox
E
F fir fra
G ghe gla god gor
H haw hig huc
I inc itc
J
K
L lab lev loc
M map mos
N not nou
O one ont
P pix pum
Q qua
R roc
S sev shy snu ste swe
T tan tho toe
U ugl
V
W whe wok
X
Y
Z
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0-9
0 dark 100
0 dark 30
0-day
1 day wonder
10 Downing Street
10 to the dozen
110 percent
110 proof
12-ounce curls
15 minutes of fame
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
19 to the dozen
2 way street
20 to the dozen
20 winks
23 skidoo
23 Skidoo Street
3-on-the-tree
3 ring circus
3 sheets to the wind
3rd wheel
4-letter word
4-on-the-floor
40 minutes of hell
40 ways from Sunday
40 ways to Sunday
40 winks
the 400
4th wall joke
50-50 chance
5th wheel
6 ways to Sunday
a 7 day wonder
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8 ways from Sunday
8 ways to Sunday
800-pound gorilla
8th wonder of the world
9-day wonder
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