A-Z Database
On the spur of the moment means to act spontaneously without premeditation and dates from the early 19th century. The expression in fact revives an ol...
To reconnoitre or assess a situation beforehand, usually, with a hint of stealth; the expression has been used in this way since the early 15th centur...
see Back to square one
A metaphor for an ill fit or an uncomfortable, untenable situation dates from the late 18th/early 19th century.
To square the circle is to attempt something extremely difficult if not impossible and dates in this sense from the 1600s. Constructing a square equal...
To set something square is an expression that dates from the 1400s and means to set something straight. It is a figurative usage of mathematical squar...
These various American slang expressions meaning nothing or zero date from around the 1930s and derive from squat meaning to defecate. Therefore, don’...
Squeaky bum time is a British expression that describes the tense, final stages of an individual game of football (soccer) or a season-long league com...
Pig sticking was a British cavalry sport in India first attested in 1820 according to the OED. Cavalrymen armed with lances would hunt wild pigs and s...
American slang for girlfriend or boyfriend and dates from the 1940s. It derives from the squeeze implicit in embracing one’s girlfriend or boyfriend....
To have the squitters is to suffer from a thin, almost liquid form of diarrhoea. Contrary to what many people think, it is neither slang nor vulgar. S...
A squiz is slang for a look, as in take a squiz at something or other. Its usage is mainly British, Australasian and South African, and dates from the...
Stab meaning a try or attempt is American English dating from the late 19th century.
A metaphor for an act of treachery or betrayal dates from the early 20th century.
This expression appears to be an alternative, probably American, version of Shot in the dark and probably dates from a little later in the 19th centur...