[cry for] or [cry out for] {v.}, {informal} To need badly; be lacking in. * /It has not rained for two weeks and the garden is crying for it./ * […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

off and on

[off and on] also [on and off] {adv.} Not regularly; occasionally; sometimes. * /Joan wrote to a pen pal in England off and on for several years./ * /It rained […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

down the drain

[down the drain] {adj.} or {adv. phr.}, {informal} Wasted; lost. * /It is money down the drain if you spend it all on candy./ * /Our plans to go swimming […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

Recent updates

Kingsley Amis

(1922-1995) English author It is no wonder that people are so horrible when they start life as children.

hell and high water

[hell and high water] {n. phr.} Troubles or difficulties of any kind. * /After John's father died he went through hell and […]

put someone on

[put someone on] {v.} To play a joke on someone by saying or doing things that are only pretense; kid. * /When the voice on […]

Napoleon Bonaparte

You can stop while you are raising, but not when you are falling.

many hands make light work

[many hands make light work] If many people work together, even a hard job becomes easier. - A proverb. * /Come on boys, […]

up and at them

[up and at them] 1. {adv. phr.} Actively engaged in a task as if doing combat. * /"You want to know whether he will make a […]