A-Z Database
The spelling in America would be battle-ax and it is originally American slang from the late 19th/early 20th century for a formidable or domineering w...
see Carbon copy
see Cleft stick
see Fine fettle
To be in or out of favour with someone, dates from the early 19th century and means the same thing as to be in someone’s good or bad graces, which dat...
see Greatness
see On one’s mettle
see Cup of tea
To be the be-all and end-all is to be the dominant or supreme factor. It can also be used to describe someone who has an insufferable, over-inflated o...
British slang for a judge or magistrate, dates from the early 19th century and derives from earlier British slang ‘harm and beck’ or ‘herman beck’ (or...
see On one’s beam ends
This catchphrase is from the TV and movie series Star Trek, which first aired on TV in 1966. The expression is often used as a jocular way to extract...
American informal for an accountant or bookkeeper, first attested from the early 1970s.
Apparently, beans were much more sought after in olden days than they are today. Therefore, a bean feast was a special annual dinner given by employer...
Bean has been British slang for a guinea since the early 19th century, and then slang for money in general from the 1850s. Not to have a bean is to be...