A-Z Database

A-Z Database

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Out of true

A phrase that means not correctly aligned, first cited from the early 20th century.


Out of/from the ark

Out of or from the ark are phrases that mean very old or very old-fashioned and are hyperboles that date from the late 18th/early 19th century, with t...

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Out on a limb

In a risky and isolated position, American expression dates from the late 19th century, presumably alludes to tree climbing.


Out to lunch

Since the 1960s is American slang for not paying attention or not attending to the task at hand, from the allusion to taking long lunches off work.


Out-and-out

In the sense of completely, totally, thoroughly and is also used as an adjective in the sense of complete or utter, as in an ‘out-and-out’ scoundrel....

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Outside the box

see Think outside the box


Outstrip

To strip is now a largely archaic word dating from the 1400s meaning to move quickly. To outstrip means to outrun and leave someone behind and dates f...

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Over a barrel

To have someone over a barrel is to place him or her in an awkward or compromising situation. This figurative use dates from the late 19th century and...

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Over cadovers

This is just a way of saying that something or other is really over, finished, the end. Where it comes from, or when, remains a mystery, but there is...

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Over the coals

see Haul/drag/rake someone over the coals


Over the hill

Past one’s best and in decline, dates from the early 20th century, built on the analogy of life being like a hill or mountain. When one has reached th...

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Over the moon

Over the moon means wildly excited or elated, the source is the anonymous nursery rhyme, Hey Diddle Diddle, which dates from the late 1700s, where the...

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Over the top

Over the top' means excessive, exaggerated or beyond the norms, and derives from the military practice of going over the top of the trenches in WWI. O...

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Over-egg the cake/pudding

To over-embellish, exaggerate or spoil something dates from the late 20th century and the allusion is to baking where adding too many eggs can spoil t...

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Overboard

see Go overboard


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