Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: see stars (used idiomatically: yes)
I saw the stars ; they captivate the eye , and their beauty is beyond comparison .
Idiom: join the club (used idiomatically: yes)
Novice enthusiasts in London should steer towards the Trafalgar Rowing Centre . The course offered here comprises five weekly sessions of two hours ' duration , costs only £ 16 and is open to individuals or groups . When you 've gained confidence on the water , you then have the option of joining the Curlew or Globe rowing clubs based at the centre . RIDING When sitting astride a conveyance that prefers hay to unleaded , you should remember that John Wayne made it look a lot easier than it is .
Idiom: break new ground (used idiomatically: yes)
Slum clearance The Housing , Town Planning etc . Act , 1919,(the Addison Act ) broke new ground in British housing policy in two related respects : the emphasis on building new dwellings to garden suburb ideals and to a standard hitherto unsurpassed in the public sector ; and the neglect of the older slums . For almost half a century the housing question had been dominated by the problems of insanitary , unfit dwellings and the association with overcrowding and ill health . Assumptions and practices changed , with far greater hope now reposing in a massive addition to the housing stock in order to at least begin to tackle the problems of overcrowding and health .
Idiom: lend a hand (used idiomatically: yes)
Right : Just married Below : Signing the register Left : William , Paul 's brother and best man , lends a hand Right : Shady characters ! Right : The happy family
Idiom: wear the trousers (used idiomatically: yes)
Sandison wondered if now he would be classified with Maidstone . Their clothes were remarkably similar . Both were wearing grey flannel trousers and pale beige or fawn linen jackets . Their hats were of different colours but almost the same shape . How long would it be , Sandison thought , before his hat resembled Maidstone 's — old , stained with sweat and with a brim destroyed by the constant folding and rolling it received in Maidstone 's small , tight , nervous hands .
Idiom: get to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
The Scots showed little of their famed fire in a mediocre finale to what was , England excepted , a mediocre Championship . Come to Daddy ! Wales lock Tony Copsey ( left ) gets to grips with Doddie Weir as fellow Dragons Emyr Lewis and Stuart Davies ( obscured ) put the frighteners on Scots back - rowers Dave McIvor and Derek White ( right ) . Snared in the Dragons ' den 5 NATIONS ROUND 5
Idiom: rare bird (used idiomatically: yes)
A Hitachi video recorder and Sony colour television worth £ 700 were stolen from a house in Geneva Road between Thursday and Monday . SNEAK thieves who raided a Darlington pet store could find themselves shopped by a parrot . Villains snatched the rare bird when they entered Cockerton Aquatics in Darlington , using a spare key taken from a car two weeks earlier . But they did n't realise that the bronze - winged Pionuse parrot has just discovered how to talk . And the bird 's loose tongue could lead police straight to their lair .
Idiom: under the microscope (used idiomatically: yes)
Exactly . Someone had to pick up the challenge . It 's a guy thing , the kind of guy thing which Reservoir Dogs puts under the microscope . Like early Scorsese , or some David Mamet , it 's a film which shows the limits of a certain kind of masculinity . Tarantino catches the way men relate to each other , how they talk and what they talk about , but pushes their banter to a blackly comic self - destructive conclusion .
Idiom: sweep the board (used idiomatically: yes)
I groped for its neighbour , found it , ducked through the gap and up on to the curved deck of the treadmill . I remembered the Bible - box being about a yard in from the edge . I squatted , swept the dusty boards with my hands , felt a thick leather spine , found the lid , opened the top cover and tore out several pages . With a dozen spills to hand , I reached for the matches in my pouch .
Idiom: go hand in hand (used idiomatically: yes)
Before the First World War the impact of the new colonial governments on this pattern of agriculture was extremely limited . Their primary emphasis was on the development of large - scale commercial agriculture — either through large , corporate - owned estates ( as with oil palm in Zaire , coffee , and bananas in Cameroun , and cotton in Sudan ) , through individual settlers ( as in Kenya , Zimbabwe and Zambia ) , or through both ( as in Tanzania and Cameroun ) . Sometimes this went hand in hand with the development of small - scale agriculture , although the circumstances in which this occurred varied greatly . Sometimes , as with cotton in Zaire , Chad and Tanzania such planting was compulsory ; sometimes , as with cocoa in Ghana , coffee in Cameroun and cotton in Uganda and Sudan it was voluntary . However in these years the total area of land devoted to such cash Crops by smallholders was minuscule in relation to the total area in production , and had little impact on the bush / fallow system as it had been traditionally practised .
Idiom: go it alone (used idiomatically: yes)
Neil had petrol poured over him by thugs who then tried to set him alight . Two 12-year - old boys have been remanded into the care of the local authority . Millions go it alone BRITONS have become a lonelier nation in the last 10 years , according to Census figures . More than one in four households were one - person homes at last year 's count , a four per cent increase on the 1981 figure .
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
The invidious 20 per cent rule change has fulfilled its purpose : the group has been prevented from operating , even at the level of gesture politics . So leadership elections are as much a threat as an opportunity for the left . On the face of it , it is hardly promising that the soft left has immediately split over the post of deputy . However , the left , broadly defined , is being courted rather than spurned . The arch - Kinnockites in the Tribune Group have shifted entirely into John Smith 's camp and are thus considered to have come out in their true colours as right - wingers .
Idiom: mean business (used idiomatically: yes)
It was pointed out that he met the Foreign Office Minister , Douglas Hogg , earlier this month . — PA Salman Rushdie : ‘ Crucial to show Iran we mean business’ Prints show Dunfermline as holiday camp for pilgrims By James Rougvie
Idiom: smoke and mirrors (used idiomatically: yes)
Another Fine Italian Mess ROME – A game of smoke and mirrors : this is how Italy ’s current electoral campaign appears – both to Italians and the wider world . Of ~ course , there is nothing new in this : Italy ’s political dynamics have always baffled participants and observers alike . That a small centrist party may now get the courts to postpone the election merely adds to the usual confusion .
Idiom: make tracks (used idiomatically: yes)
It continued . I went into the bathroom . My feet made neat tracks on the tiles . I washed , letting the water rush around the sides of the bath , letting it clean as much as possible along with myself . It was a losing battle , but I tried .
Idiom: go begging (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Well ma'am , there 's some scraps of food left over and … it 's bold of me to say so … but if it was going to be wasted I know my cousins would feel the benefit . They 've cut our rations again . But only if it was going begging of course!’ ‘ Why , Ruth , of course you may take it!’ Mrs Carson exclaimed .
Idiom: come clean (used idiomatically: no)
Newman has broken his left ankle , although the extent of the damage was not apparent until more than 24 hours after Monday 's goalless draw at Elland Road . Norwich manager Mike Walker insisted that Newman 's enforced lay-off would not force him into the transfer market . But he admitted : ‘ It is a crashing diappointment for Rob because he had only just come back into the side — and his return coincided with two successive clean sheets . ’ And Newman revealed : ‘ Lee came in high but there was nothing malicious about it . ‘ He caught me on my right thigh , my left foot came down and I did the splits .
Idiom: in the final analysis (used idiomatically: yes)
IN HIS gleeful excoriation of The British Academy of Cricket Manual for Gentlemen and Players in the January WCM , Mark Browning echoes the sentiments of your esteemed Editor , who called the book ‘ … the greatest , the most conspicuous and distinctly unrepeatable load of garbage ever dumped on the cluttered book - market’(WCM Aug 1988 ) , and both reviewers queried the sanity of any reader curious or gullible enough to read it in its entirety . Let me hasten to assure authors Martin Ward and Paul Oldham that there is at least one person who has read the book from cover to cover and though it both clever and hilarious , a beautifully - sustained joke and the most original piece of humorous writing on the fame produced in years . Whatever one 's view of the literary merits of the Manual ( and humour is in the final analysis a matter of personal taste ) , it is certainly wrong of Mr. Browning to imply that the book is inept , contains irritating mistakes and exhibits poor production values : this is simply not the case . Even his charge of boring repetition is difficult to substantiate objectively : boredom is in the mind of the beholder and you doubtless could find many people who have enjoyed A la Recherche du Temps Perdu , a work not altogether renowned for its brevity or conciseness . So , please , Mr. Browning — less of the vitriol , or I shall have to ask the chairman of the academy to impose the Ultimate Sanction of a Humiliation Notice in The Times !
Idiom: on paper (used idiomatically: yes)
Will the Leader of the House take into account early - day motion 452 ? [ That this House calls for publication of the Register of Members ' Secretaries and Research Assistants ; notes that the Register includes information on , amongst others provided with access passes , the proprietor of private psychiatric nursing and residential homes , employees of political and economic consultancies , international law firms , company directors , representatives of parliamentary lobbying organisations ( including Research and Information Services , Westminster Ltd. , Chelgate Public Relations Ltd. , Taylor Steingberg Associates , Westminster Communications , Decision Makers Ltd. , Charles Barker Public Affairs and others ) , a parliamentary researcher for parliamentary agents , a Lloyds underwriter and the Managing Director of Charles Barker Watney and Powell ; and urges the Leader of the House to place a Motion on the Order Paper to facilitate publication so that the public may be aware of who has such privileged access , and why . ] The motion calls for the publication of the Register of Members ' Secretaries and Research Assistants , and asks specifically that something be done about the business of the House — that is , that a motion should be put on the Order Paper to ensure that the register is published , as it contains an astounding cross - section of commercial lobbying organisations .
Idiom: way to go (used idiomatically: yes)
There was the renewed sound of breaking glass as the cars clashed again . The fork was coming up . Which way to go ? Right or left ? She pulled hard on the wheel and took the left fork .
Idiom: life and limb (used idiomatically: yes)
By Amaya Lopez ELITE , creators of those lovable cavemen Joe and Mac , have come up with another cartoon romp in the form of Dragon 's Lair on the SNES . Fans of the coin - op original will remember the dashing hero , Dirk , risking life and limb to rescue his fair damsel , Daphne , from the dragons . This is a fairly traditional arcade adventure but offers excellent graphics and several neat , distinctive touches . Amiga players will recall the top - notch Don Bluth animation of the computer version but also its rather easy and sluggish gameplay .
Idiom: take a leaf out of someone's book (used idiomatically: yes)
Essex reader Dee Evans said : ' Diana is wonderful and has to be Queen — but Charles is not fit to rule . ' He is out of touch and has behaved cruelly to Di . ' And Barbara Merifield , of Bedlington , Northumberland , said : ' It 's about time Charles and the rest of the Royals took a leaf out of Diana 's book . ' Meanwhile , Di and Charles 's private anguish exploded into a slanging match at Craigowan Lodge , a mansion inside the Balmoral estate . Shouting
Idiom: once in a while (used idiomatically: yes)
Spring snow needs the precise , perhaps even delicate use of the ski . Actions that are too heavy will break through , yet too little pressure will result in skiddy , poorly - controlled turns ( although skiing ' light ' can still be very enjoyable , particularly if you 're skiing quite fast ) . Once in a while why not take advantage of the smooth , even surface to concentrate on your control and technique ? It is here that you can try things out and work on your whole repertoire of turns ( refer to previous Pocket Clinics for inspiration ) . Ski with a friend and make some fairly short - radius turns which the second skier will try to emulate at exactly the same moment ( ie turn at the same time rather than follow the same track ) .
Idiom: over the hill (used idiomatically: no)
But before the firing from the bren , the tommy - gun , and two rifles could be switched to the second troop transport , its men were in action . Without any fuss they were setting up a machine - gun while a party came straight up the hill towards the ambush positions . The Australian bren gunner might have been caught as he moved smartly back up the steep hill had not ‘ two natives appeared from nowhere’ and carried his gun at a quick trot over the hill . These actions and the cycle of patrols , with the same Sections covering many miles of territory in repeated visits , led the Japanese to believe that there were several hundred Australians in the hills immediately above the Glano valley . Yet there were never more than 23 .
Idiom: no man's land (used idiomatically: yes)
Our advice is to take time to find out what they really want before they give away the sites to the private investors , because when they have done this , they ca n't erm participate in what is really developing . The Reichstag , once the seat of government in a united Berlin , dominates one end of the most valuable tract of land under discussion . In the land behind me , in what used to be no man 's land is hidden the bunker where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide at the end of the war . There are still rooms underground . Ignored until now , redevelopment is forcing Berlin to confront its history practically .
Idiom: claim to fame (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Very well , then , if you did n't come because of me , why did you come to Slane ? It 's hardly the Mecca of the Irish countryside . It 's a small , ordinary little village , its only claim to fame the castle , and the burial mounds . And the battle , of course . A student of history , are you , Ellie?’
Idiom: see stars (used idiomatically: yes)
Melanie Simmonite says she started 20 years ago … her husband did it so it was a case of you ca n't beat them join them … a driver says he 's got not idea how fast he goes … it takes him hundred of hours to get ready and then they come out and smash it up … there must be some logic he says … another driver says he came off in a field saw stars for a few seconds but he 's alright … another party game for the off roaders is the mud run … the challenge here to get through it … well from the rough of off road racing we 're driving back on to the fairways for the start of our action round up this week … for a success story from the Broome Manor club at swindon …
Idiom: join the club (used idiomatically: yes)
The league , which is the premier club cricket competition in the county , has operated with one division since its inception in 1972 and is organised into 1st XI , 2nd XI and 3rd XI competitions . The announced change is an exciting development which is anticipated to underpin the strength and depth of club cricket in Essex . The 18 clubs joining the existing 20 clubs were invited as a result of an ' in principle ' decision by an EGM of the league in 1991 , and following a lengthy discussion process conducted by the league committee ( initially with nearly 50 of the leading clubs in the county ) . All the clubs invited meet strict criteria relating to facilities , number of teams run , colts infrastructure and overall organisation . The whole process has been carried out with the full knowledge and support of the Essex Cricket Association and Essex County Cricket Club .
Idiom: join the club (used idiomatically: yes)
The colours of horses and ponies are grey , bay , dun , flea bitten grey , dapple grey , strawberry roan , chestnut and a lot of other colours . If you have a horse or pony there is a lot of events which you could go to and take part in . If you are under eighteen you could join a pony club , which involves you going to at least two meetings a year . When you join ' pony club ' there are a variety of different activities which you could go on , for example there is show jumping which involves you deciding what height jumps you would like to jump , normally the classes range from two feet high and up . There are various types of Show Jumping .
Idiom: heart of gold (used idiomatically: no)
She would raise her lamp and view the lover that she herself had grown , even if this meant that she must lose him for ever . She had fantasised the meeting : she would be lying naked and on some screen in front of her she would see , pulsing and radiant , her own dark lover and his home place . There would be her breast filled with veins and glands , the source of Maggie 's milk and much of her own sexual pleasure , all pink and red and living , and there , in the heart of it , would be — green and gold and sparkling — the bright egg of her dreams . However the mammogram room was cold and scientific . There was no doctor , no magic seer to give her the golden branch and lead her into the underworld , only yet another pretty young woman , the radiological technician .
Idiom: cook someone's goose (used idiomatically: yes)
Consider 26 : 26 . This will cook Arthur 's goose . The test of recurrent semantic contrast reveals that this , will and Arthur are regular semantic constituents ; the rest , however , i.e. cook — 's goose , constitutes a minimal semantic constituent , which as a whole contrasts recurrently with , say , help or destroy . Cook — 's goose is therefore an idiom .
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
For BP , the 1992 figures speak for themselves . Our underlying profit of £ xxx million became a £ yyy million loss after taking account of write - offs and provisions made during the year . This below - par performance was partly reflected in our share price , which fell sharply in the summer,[though in line with the market it had recovered some ground by the year - end]If , by Feb 11 , the price is on the way down , omit words in [ ] Until recently we have pursued an expansionary policy , investing through the recession and financing our investment by borrowing — for BP the most cost - effective form of funding . However , the prospect of the difficult trading conditions continuing , when taken together with our heavy debt position , led us at the mid - year to conclude that we had to put the group 's finances onto a more sustainable basis .
Idiom: on the up and up (used idiomatically: yes)
There was a green taffeta party dress , white socks in summer and in the winter long grey socks with garters at the knee . Every night my mother curled my hair with rags and my face was covered in freckles . We had arrived from Harehills on the up and up with the booming coal industry . My father was a salesman for an engineering firm selling pit motors . First the old Morris I liked had been exchanged for a Jowett Javelin .
Idiom: come of age (used idiomatically: no)
In the study of Campbell et al blood samples were collected into plastic tubes containing PGE 1 in addition to EDTA and theophylline ( Campbell et al , 1977 ) . In the other studies PGE 1 was not present in the sample tubes ( Burrows et al , 1978 ) . However , it is now generally accepted that β-thromboglobulin levels are elevated in diabetics ( Davis et al , 1979 ) and further evidence came from a large study of β-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 in diabetics compared to age- and sex-matched controls ( Betteridge et al , 1981 ) . It is known that there is a significant increase in the level of β-thromboglobulin with age ( Ludlam et al , 1975 ; Zahavi et al , 1980 ) and a sex difference in old healthy subjects ( Zahavi et al , 1980 ) . Both β-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 levels were significantly elevated in diabetics compared to age- and sex-matched controls ( Betteridge et al , 1981 ) .
Idiom: out of pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
' I know , I was driving the both of you , ' quipped Bunny , doing a quick Groucho Marx walk around the bed . Rayleen looked at him as if he 'd dropped from behind peeling wallpaper . Bunny straightened up and took my wallet out of his back pocket . He flipped it on my chest . ' There 's no cash left , you 've been caned .
Idiom: short shrift (used idiomatically: yes)
Jeff had a hard time with me . It is n't easy coping with a person who is twice your age and beset by problems you have no hope of being able to understand . He could have complained to the top about my basic lack of professionalism but instead he went out of his way to try and help — and sometimes got pretty short shrift in return . The rest of my colleagues also sensed my unhappiness . Some of them tried to make amends for their own earlier contribution to this state of affairs and moved to include me more fully in the life of the school — a few even started to invite me back home for meals and things .
Idiom: sit on the fence (used idiomatically: yes)
They say that it 's easy to denigrate but when you hate as much as JOHN BITUMEN the problem is one of selection . In this his second publication of poetry , or as he calls it ‘ making the bastards suffer’ , Bitumen has produced a well rounded collection of spite , venom and malicious slander . John Bitumen ( or Raging Bullshit as he 's known amongst his colleagues ) , is never one to sit on the fence ( vandalising it is more to his nature ) . Incisive but never grotesque , like the Dennis Hopper of the cabaret circuit , Bitumen 's issue of hate mail is reproduced here in open letters to Ford Capri drivers , gameshow contestants , students , hippies , masons and anyone else unlucky enough to get in his way . My only reservation for new readers is that if you 've not seen John Bitumen 's wall of hate live , looking every bit like Mussolini with a hangover , the sincerity of the sarcasm and the heartfelt cynicism of the material may not be fully appreciated .
Idiom: free rein (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr Lee , who is the first leader to be Taiwan - born and Taiwan - bred , has a taste for reforms that go too far and too fast for the old - guard mainlanders . He weakens Taiwan 's adherence to the Three Noes — no contact , no negotiation and no compromise with the ‘ bandit regime’ on the mainland — by easing the rules for travel and trade between Taiwan and China . By giving more or less free rein to the more extreme parts of the opposition , he encourages talk of Taiwan 's independence . Eleven members of the Democratic Progressive party elected to the National Assembly have been barred from taking their seats because they will not take an oath of loyalty to the Republic of China ( the official name for Taiwan ) , only to the Republic of Taiwan . Independence may be a reality in fact if not in name , but it contradicts the dream of a united China that both the Kuomintang and the communists of Beijing hold dear — so dear that China has always threatened to use force if Taiwan declared independence .