A-Z Database
see Keep something on the back burner
This quaint American expression dates from the early 19th century and is simply a more expressive way of saying ‘take that’ or ‘ponder that’ usually a...
see Cart before the horse
To put or drop the hammer down, sometimes with the word ‘down’ omitted, has come to mean to exert maximum pressure or attention to some task or other....
see Ice the cake
see Mockers
To exert pressure, to coerce, especially in the sense of extracting a confession or information, dates from the 1600s and derives from thumbscrews, in...
see Have the wood on/over someone
see Go through the mill
To put someone through the wringer is to give them a hard time, dates from the early 20th century and derives from the old-fashioned habit of putting...
Obviously, its literal, original meaning of slaughter is very old, from at least medieval times, if not before. Its current figurative meaning, to def...
Put up or shut up is a forceful way of saying provide some fresh evidence or facts or withdraw from the debate. The expression is American in origin f...
see Dukes/duke it out
Be prepared to back up the validity of one’s statements with appropriate action or a money wager to the same effect, is first cited in America from th...
This expression meaning to make an effort derives from Aesop’s Fables c.550 BC in the fable of Hercules and the Wagoner where after his wagon gets stu...