A-Z Database
British slang for stark naked from the late 19th/early 20th century and is a good example of what lexicographers call the Oxford –er, which is the sho...
see Scratch
To start or get the ball rolling means to get something started, to initiate a discussion, a project, etc. To keep the ball rolling is to prolong what...
The latest, newest, most advanced state of anything is first attested from 1910 and was first used in the context of engineering. The OED maintains th...
see In/out of the hunt
Stealing a march has come to mean the gaining of an advantage, especially secretly or slyly and dates in this sense from latter half of the 1700s. The...
To steal someone’s thunder means to detract from the kudos or attention due to someone by forestalling or pre-empting them. The source is John Dennis...
A horse race over hurdles or fences, as opposed to a race on the ‘flat’ without such obstacles. A steeplechase race in this sense dates from the late...
A typical example of a very old nautical phrase coming into everyday usage. To steer clear of something or somebody is to avoid them completely and da...
To travel steerage is to travel by ship at the cheapest possible rate and dates from the late 18th/early 19th century. It derives from being accommoda...
see Tread on someone’s toes
Means to take up a challenge or take action in response to an opportunity or crisis and dates in this sense from the mid-19th century. The expression...
Sterling as in pounds sterling refers to British money but the word sterling on its own is first cited from the late 1400s when it referred specifical...
To stew meaning to be left to suffer the natural consequences of one’s own actions dates in this sense from the mid-17th century. To stew in one’s own...
See Dip / put / stick one’s toe / toes in the water