Flashcards based on "Random idiom flashcards set to learn" set

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1 of 10
Kept secret or hidden; kept from public knowledge; hushed up; concealed.
Categories: adjective cars informal
A Dictionary of American Idioms
1 of 10

hush-hush

[hush-hush]  {adj.},  {informal}
Kept secret or hidden; kept from public knowledge; hushed up; concealed.
The company had a new automobile engine that it was developing, but kept it a hush-hush project until they knew it was successful.
Categories: adjective cars informal
A Dictionary of American Idioms
2 of 10
A great success; something that is much praised; something that causes wide enthusiasm.
Categories: informal noun success
A Dictionary of American Idioms
2 of 10

howling success

[howling success]  {n.},  {informal}
A great success; something that is much praised; something that causes wide enthusiasm.
The party was a howling success.
The book was a howling success.
Categories: informal noun success
A Dictionary of American Idioms
3 of 10
A person of limited culture; a nonintellectual.
Contrast: [HIGH BROW].
Categories: noun
A Dictionary of American Idioms
3 of 10

lowbrow

[lowbrow]  {n.}
A person of limited culture; a nonintellectual.
Some people claim that only lowbrows read the comics.
Contrast: [HIGH BROW].
Categories: noun
A Dictionary of American Idioms
4 of 10
A person who is an avid cultural sightseer, one who seeks out cultural opportunities ostentatiously, such as going to the opera or seeing every museum in a town visited, and brags about it.
Categories: informal noun slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
4 of 10

culture vulture

[culture vulture]  {n.},  {slang},  {informal}
A person who is an avid cultural sightseer, one who seeks out cultural opportunities ostentatiously, such as going to the opera or seeing every museum in a town visited, and brags about it.
Aunt Mathilda is a regular culture vulture; she spends every summer in a different European capital going to museums and operas.
Categories: informal noun slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
5 of 10
Having gaps in one's train of thought, confused, incoherent; resembling the behavior of someone who is under the influence of drugs.
Categories: adjective informal slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
5 of 10

spaced out

[spaced out]  {adj.},  {slang},  {informal}
Having gaps in one's train of thought, confused, incoherent; resembling the behavior of someone who is under the influence of drugs.
Joe's been acting funny lately — spaced out, you might say.
Categories: adjective informal slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
6 of 10
A boring person whose company is usually not wanted.
Categories: bother noun slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
6 of 10

jake flake

[jake flake]  {n.},  {slang}
A boring person whose company is usually not wanted.
Please don't invite Turner, he is a jake flake.
Categories: bother noun slang
A Dictionary of American Idioms
7 of 10
To cause to flee; frighten away.
Categories: verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
7 of 10

scare away

[scare away] or [off]  {v. phr.}
To cause to flee; frighten away.
Jake is a confirmed bachelor; the best way to scare him off is to start talking about marriage.
Categories: verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
8 of 10
To frighten very much.
Categories: informal verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
8 of 10

scare out of one's wits

[scare out of one's wits] or [scare stiff] or [scare the daylights out of]  {v. phr.},  {informal}
To frighten very much.
The owl's hooting scared him out of his wits.
The child was scared stiff in the dentist's chair.
Pete's ghost story scared the daylights out of the smaller boys.
Categories: informal verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
9 of 10
To find, collect, or get together with some effort when needed.
Categories: informal money verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
9 of 10

scare up

[scare up] or [scrape up]  {v.},  {informal}
To find, collect, or get together with some effort when needed.
The boy scared up enough money to go to college.
"Will you stay for supper?" she asked. "I can scare up enough for us all."
He managed to scrape up the money for his speeding fine.
Categories: informal money verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
10 of 10
1a. To come to an end; be used up.
Syn.: [GIVE OUT] (5).
1b. To use all of the supply; be troubled by not having enough.
Compare: [RUN SHORT].
2.  {informal}
To force to leave; expel.
Syn.: [KICK OUT], [RUN OFF].
Categories: informal time verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms
10 of 10

run out

[run out]  {v.}
1a. To come to an end; be used up.
Jerry almost got across the brook on the slippery stones but his luck ran out and he slipped and fell.
We'd better do our Christmas shopping; time is running out.
Syn.: [GIVE OUT] (5).
1b. To use all of the supply; be troubled by not having enough.
The car ran out of gas three miles from town.
Millie never runs out of ideas for clever party decorations.
Compare: [RUN SHORT].
2.  {informal}
To force to leave; expel.
Federal agents ran the spies out of the country.
Syn.: [KICK OUT], [RUN OFF].
Categories: informal time verb
A Dictionary of American Idioms