A-Z Database
To be three sheets in the wind means to be drunk or inebriated and is first cited in this sense from 1821. The origin is nautical from the days of sai...
This word has been in existence since Anglo-Saxon times, c 900. In its original form it was ‘trascold’ or ‘trescold’ where the first syllable meant to...
see Go through the mill
Depending on the context, to go through the roof can mean to get very angry or it can mean excessively high as in prices going through the roof. Both...
To go through thick and thin means to progress through all eventualities, from the good (thick) to the lean (thin) and dates from at least the 14th ce...
see Spanner in the works
To throw, cast or fling anything to the wind is to discard it and in this general sense the expression dates from at least the 1400s. Thus, one can th...
see Take up or throw down the gauntlet
To throw in the towel means to give up or admit defeat and dates in this sense from the early 20th century. It derives from boxing where the seconds,...
Means to make or take up a challenge or demonstrate one’s willingness to join an enterprise and dates in this sense from the latter half of the 19th c...
To have a tantrum or lose one’s temper from the obvious allusion to a toddler or child expressing frustration or anger by literally throwing toys out...
To throw someone under the bus is to callously betray a friend or an ally. It is originally an American expression that is first cited from the early...
This expression meaning do not discard essentials along with non-essentials has always been used metaphorically and was originally a German proverb fr...
To throw the book at someone is to punish or prosecute someone to the fullest extent and is originally American and dates from c. 1930. The book refer...
see Everything but (or including) the kitchen sink