A-Z Database
Impecunious or broke, a somewhat vulgar British metaphor that dates from the mid-20th century and derives from the notion of hitting rock bottom so ha...
This expression first recorded in America in the early 19th century, means to do things briskly or rapidly. More recently, in Britain from the mid-20t...
Perfectly placed or perfectly correct, in the correct spot, an American expression that dates from the 1930s. It does not derive from button as in clo...
If something or other is on the cards, it means that it is likely to happen and this usage dates from the 18th century, from the practice of foretelli...
Today we think of a carpet exclusively as a floor covering or figuratively as a covering resembling a carpet e.g. a carpet of snow, but during the 17t...
Cusp is an old word from the 16th century meaning point or edge. To be on the cusp means to be on the point of achieving or doing something. Its ori...
Means on time, punctual or exactly accurate and derives from the dots on a clock or timepiece. The expression dates from the late 19th/early 20th cent...
This phrase originally meant 'on the wing' and probably derived from bird shooting, but in some Scottish and Northern England dialects, 'on the fly' m...
see On the back foot
see Gad
In its literal sense, 'on the hoof' was a phrase first used by cattlemen and butchers to refer to livestock, mainly cattle, before they arrived at aba...
see Horns of a dilemma
On the house means that the house or establishment is footing the bill, dates from the late 19th century.
US expression meaning on the run, usually from the law, derives from a slightly earlier American slang word lam, meaning to run off; dates from the la...
Meaning on target, accurate, on the mark, this expression dates from at least the 16th century and derives from archery where a coin was placed in the...