A-Z Database
An exact or perfect fit, the expression dates from the 18th century.
A metaphor for the darkish stubble that appears on most men's faces in the late afternoon, having shaved in the morning. It was coined by the Gem Razo...
Meaning a dose of something to which one is addicted is American from c. 1930. Fix in the criminal sense to fix the result of a sporting contest, date...
see Physog
Flabbergasted is to be astonished or utterly confounded. The OED informs us that this colloquialism, in use since the late 18th century, is a purely a...
A flagstone is large paving stone that has nothing to do with flag as in a standard or pennant. The etymology is from an Old Norse word flaga meaning...
Dissension, opposition or criticism, this figurative use is American and dates from the 1960s. The original meaning is of course anti-aircraft fire, d...
Meaning eccentric, unreliable or untrustworthy is American slang from c. 1959 from the allusion that a flake is a fragile sliver of anything, perhaps...
see Flim-flam
British slang for vagina dates from the early 21st century.
British slang for talk or behaviour designed to flatter or deceive. As a noun, it means unnecessary and vacuous ostentation, dates from the early 20th...
A Flash Harry is a derogative term for an over-confident and showy young man. It is thought to derive from the fictional character called Flash Harry...
Means temporary or ephemeral success and has been used in this figurative sense since the late 18th/early 19th century. Its earlier literal sense deri...
Flat meaning an apartment is a British colloquialism that dates from around 1824. From the late 18th/early 19th century, flat was commonly used to mea...
Flat out meaning at top speed dates from the early 20th century and the origin remains uncertain. ‘Flat out like a lizard drinking’ is Australian from...