A-Z Database
To disown or disassociate oneself from a particular state of affairs; the source is the New Testament, Matthew 27:24 when Pontius Pilate literally was...
A disappointing failure this figurative usage dates from the late 19th/early 20th century.
Lacking in colour, animation or vigour this figurative usage dates from the mid-19th century.
Washed up meaning finished, defeated, or a failure, is American and first attested from the 1920s. See also Take a bath and cleaned out. There may be...
A lovely old word, meaning to drink, party, and make merry. It dates in this sense from Middle English (from the period 1150 to1350).The OED says its...
This saying means if you do not waste anything, you will not want for anything and is first attested in this form from the late 18th century. It is, h...
Wasted is American slang for intoxicated, drugged, exhausted or even murdered, depending on the context, and dates from the 1950s. Synonyms like trash...
To watch or cover someone’s back is to guard and look after their well-being, both literally and figuratively and has evolved into ‘having someone’s b...
In its original format of ‘a watched pot never boils’, which is still the preferred American version, it is attributed to Benjamin Franklin who record...
Usually in the form of a simile, ‘like water off a duck’s back’ describes a remark or an incident that seemingly has no effect on the person so target...
Water under the bridge or past the mill meaning that something is irrevocable, in the past and therefore best forgotten, was an ancient saying before...
Frequently misquoted as “Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink” when in fact it was originally written as “Water, water, everywhere, not an...
A watershed is a significant turning point, a division, a transition or change of direction and acquired this figurative meaning from the mid-19th cen...
To wax lyrical means to be effusive and enthusiastic about something or someone and dates from the latter half of the 19th century. The word ‘wax’ use...
In the sense of great, excellent, admirable is American and dates from the mid-20th century and is thought to derive from the language of jazz. Not ma...