A - Z Database
The fable that swans sing shortly before their death is extremely ancient. Plato (c.428-438 BC) makes mention of it in his Dialogues, as does Chaucer...
see Down/up the swannee
These days, it is an adjective mostly used to describe a genre of action-adventure films involving period costume and sword fighting. The films of Dou...
SWAT is an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics. SWAT teams are elite paramilitary units employed by US law enforcement departments. The first SWAT...
To swear blind is first cited from the early 20th century and means to swear that something is true, emphatically and vehemently. Blind here is used a...
To use bad language excessively; dates from the early 18th century. Cavalrymen, especially non-commissioned troopers, were notorious for their coarse...
To sweat or exert oneself to the extremity, dates from the late 19th century.
To sweat profusely with heavy beads of sweat, which resemble bullets; a metaphor dating from the early 20th century.
The garment dates from the late 19th century, so-called because it was worn after sweating from sports or exercise to prevent cold. See also jersey an...
‘The Sweeney’ is British rhyming slang for the London Metropolitan Police Flying Squad, a specialised fast-reaction police unit, Sweeney Todd/Flying S...
To conceal something, especially something you have done wrong dates from the mid-20th century. Carpet is more often used in Britain, while rug is mor...
To sweep the board means much the same thing as to make a clean sweep and means to win everything going. It dates from the early 19th century and deri...
Drastic, widespread or comprehensive changes; sweeping in this sense dates from the late 18th century and derives the older literal meaning of sweep m...
see Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
This British expression means 'with consummate ease, skill or efficiency' and is often used to express a superlative of any kind but the origin is obs...