A-Z Database
To be under the radar or fly under the radar is to act surreptitiously so to avoid being noticed or detected and has been used in this metaphorical se...
To be under the thumb is a very old expression meaning to be under someone’s command or control and dates in this sense from the late 1500s. The expre...
Somewhat indisposed, not feeling well, dates from the early 19th century. Although the origin is not certain, it is reasonable to conjecture that the...
Undercooked or underdone is a sports commentators’ cliché from the early 21st century meaning a lack of match practice. Presumably the metaphor derive...
Originally an American coinage for the beaten dog in a dog fight, where the beaten dog usually lies under the winning dog. First usage in a dogfightin...
Describes dubious, surreptitious, possibly cheating tactics and derives from gambling during the 17th century, when card players had to keep their han...
This increasingly overused word is from the mid-20th century (1956 according to the OED) and has come to mean the opposite of overwhelm. Overwhelm its...
Ever since Shakespeare coined this expression in Henry IV Part II, Act III, Scene I, in 1597/98, it has been a way of describing the constant pressure...
The exact quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Act III, Scene II is “This was the most unkindest cut of all” which Marc Anthony uses to describe...
To explain, analyse or break down into constituent parts is first attested in the language of computers and automation in the mid-1950s, but its usage...
An unsung hero is a person who makes a substantive but unrecognised contribution to an enterprise and it dates in this sense dates from the mid-19th c...
see Blue in the face
People can talk, wait, or engage in virtually any number of pastimes until the cows come home, which means a very long but indefinite time. The expres...
Untoward means improper or unseemly and has enjoyed this meaning since the early 1600s. From this same time, its antonym, toward, enjoyed the opposite...
To be 'up a gum tree' or to be 'stuck up a gum tree' means to be in trouble or in some sort of predicament and dates in this sense from the mid-19th c...