Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
He came to Baxter and earnestly beseeched his forgiveness . However , spies continued to attend Richard Baxter 's preaching services to try and gain evidence against him . During one of these services , Richard Baxter preached so powerfully on ' Making light of Christ and His salvation ' , that the two spies in the congregation fled in terror from the church . Due to the large crowds coming to hear Baxter 's preaching , some of his friends built a large meeting house for him in Oxenden Street , which was completed on April 16th 1676 . Because of the great spiritual needs of the people , Mrs. Baxter urged the building of another meeting house in Bloomsbury .
Idiom: behind closed doors (used idiomatically: yes)
' I would hope that between now and polling day those people would make up their mind to actually vote , not out of habit , but for us . I am confident we will capture quite a share of that still undecided vote . ' BEHIND their closed doors and curtained windows , the sizeable minority of undecided Darlington voters still hold the key to the result of this vital marginal seat . And they could hold the key to much more than that . For these voters and others like them throughout the country hold the key to Number 10 .
Idiom: under fire (used idiomatically: yes)
But the Collector had no time to worry about the locomotion of corpses ; this doorway had to be held until the defenders on the other side of the staircase had made good their retreat . A barricade of flagstones prised up from the floor had been erected for a final stand and the Collector , snatching a moment to look back towards it , was dismayed to see that the other party was already behind it , thus leaving himself and his men exposed on the flank . He bellowed at the Sikhs to retreat and as they stumbled back under a cross - fire from the other side of the hall , two of them fell dead and another mortally wounded . Once again there was a flurry of bodies from the doorway they had been defending and another charge . It was now time for the Collector to play his last card .
Idiom: on the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
Being practical people they all realise it 's going to be a while before DCE becomes reality . Armed with input from the outside , Sun now has a prototype of this non - major revision in hand . Considering that NFS version 3 , which was a major re - do , is sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust because it failed to garner popular support , there will probably be some reluctance to call this puppy by the same name . JAPANESE ' ACE ' FORMED Last Wednesday saw the formation of what is effectively a Japanese version of the now defunct ACE Advanced Computing Environment consortium .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
This reads just like the conversational style of the Soviet satirist of NEP , M. Zoshchenko . It was used in a similar way by the newly literate or semi - literate Bolsheviks at the higher levels of the Smolensk and Kursk guberniia party organizations , as can be seen from even a cursory reading of their minutes . This style also reflects the attempt by the political élite in Moscow to hand down to the provinces general directives which were as sophisticated as possible and based on Marxist tenets in so far as they could be understood at lower levels . Zoshchenko could caricature them in the 1920s , but by the 1930s it became too dangerous to ridicule what had solidified into a standardized bureaucratic mode of oppression . Makarenko went further than making fun of educational inspectors .
Idiom: reach for the stars (used idiomatically: yes)
Tony Roche Leicester 41 , Barbarians 23 EVER since Geoff Cooke told Neil Back that he was too small to play for England , the Leicester flanker has reached for the stars — and flattened most of them . Five Nations regulars Gavin Hastings , Craig Chalmers , Tim Rodber and Jean Baptiste Lafond were among Back 's victims yesterday as rampant Leicester gave the multi - talented Barbarians a stuffing of festive proportions . Out - gunned 11 caps to three , Tigers ended a run of defeats in this annual frolic with a five - try triumph , topped off with a typical Baa - Baas ' style try , started in front of their own posts and finished by Tony Underwood behind the posts at the other end .
Idiom: under the weather (used idiomatically: yes)
The price of the book , the first twelve monthly instalments , the newsletter and all postage and packing is just £ 80 ( in Eire or the rest of Europe £ 94.00 ) . Renewal of the amendment service after one year is presently £ 40.00 ( in Eire or the rest of Europe £ 46.40 ) . If you 're feeling under the weather as yet more 1992 bumf lands on your desk , order the silver lining , CRONER 'S EUROPE on 10 days free approval now . When you become a Croner subscriber , we make you a promise . THE CRONER PROMISE
Idiom: on the rocks (used idiomatically: no)
There is no man on a rock high above some trees standing in a strange position
Idiom: in a fog (used idiomatically: yes)
Two girls sit on the steps and begin to cry . No sign of the DJ . He probably thinks everyone is still having a good time out there somewhere in the fog . Or he could be dead . It rolls down the stairs to the floor below .
Idiom: back to square one (used idiomatically: yes)
Mhm . The thing is , I mean we 're hardly to getting to grips with other people . But the thing is , there 's been that many changes now , so having a bloody Labour government is just gon na be back to square one and into reverse you know , and go back . Oh God ! I wan I do n't want him as Prime Minister .
Idiom: strike a chord (used idiomatically: yes)
She said : ' It was leaked while Leonora was still alive and it was very distressing . ' Her husband added : ' We arrived here , the three of us , very tired , very scared and very , very desperate about the future . ' From the moment Leonora was admitted , to her death on October 22 last year , the treatment , and the care with which we were all looked after , struck a very deep chord . ' Today rescues crisp addict THIN , fat , young , old — they came in all shapes and sizes as the TODAY Cellulite Roadshow was launched yesterday .
Idiom: same difference (used idiomatically: yes)
NME 'S TV BASTARDS JIMMY HILL WITH A beard , without a beard , same difference . CHRIS TARRANT HE LAUGHS and laughs and laughs .
Idiom: catch fire (used idiomatically: yes)
Two days later the oil caught fire and the wharf and ships being repaired there were damaged by the fire . There was also some damage by fouling to the wharf . The trial judge found that it was not foreseeable that fuel oil on water would catch fire but there was some foreseeable damage in the fouling . This was sufficient to establish duty and as the fire damage was a direct consequence of the breach of duty , the defendants were also liable for the fire damage . Overseas Tankship ( UK ) Ltd v Morts Dock & Engineering Co ( The Wagon Mound No 1)[1961]AC 388 ( Hereafter Wagon Mound 1 )
Idiom: get off the ground (used idiomatically: yes)
Shabba Ranks and his enigmatic manager ‘ The Specialist’ seem to be in a minority with their enthusiasm for the record . ‘ Essentially they did n't know me from a hole in the ground when I first approached them and were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt . ‘ The whole thing might not have ever got off the ground if Maxi Priest had n't been in the same room as them when I called up . He put in a good word for me and it went on from there . ‘ When Shabba and his posse were listening to the final tune they were nodding sagely .
Idiom: lose heart (used idiomatically: yes)
This is unlike other adult service users whose motivation is likely to be high and whose need is consistent , so assessment should be . Speed of response is also important . Andrew Hemmings who manages an alcohol recovery project in Manchester for Turning Point , said people had lost heart and started to drink again because of delays in establishing whether the local authority was going to pay for treatment . ‘ Whereas previously we could get the money from the DSS , now there is a long , cumbersome process to go through and people are falling by the wayside because of it . Last year we dealt with 16 different local authorities so it is very time consuming.’
Idiom: rank and file (used idiomatically: yes)
Primarily peasant guerilla fighters , people who were fighting in the Red Army , and it draws its mass support , the Party members draw their mass support , er from the peasants in the areas where they establish their authority . And this rank and file membership and the wider group of supporters are subject to leadership from above , there is no real inner party democracy in the Maoist Communist Party . Policy is decided by the leadership and there are various er mechanisms for passing erm the leadership 's ideas on to the rank and file , various systems of , of education , some might say indoctrination and so on , but no real inner party er democracy , no real er involvement in the decision making processes by this mass membership of ordinary peasants . And thirdly the objective was no longer what Marx had acclaimed the objective of er a party following his leadership should be , no longer the objective which Lenin , in the Russian Revolution , claimed was the objective for the Russian Bolshevik Party not a workers ' revolution which would then spread and become international , worldwide . Quite clearly the objective and you can reading between the lines of the propaganda which pours out er of the Chinese Communist Party for the late thirties onwards , reading between the lines you can see it the objective is essentially Chinese state power , achieving power and using power to build er a national er unified , modern state .
Idiom: make a virtue of necessity (used idiomatically: yes)
One of their number said , as if consciously echoing Lenin , that the ultimatum ‘ destroys the brotherhood of the labouring classes of all nations , awakens manifestations of national animosity and obscures the class consciousness of the masses , in this manner favouring counter - revolution’ . The Bolshevik delegates were obliged to withdraw from the Soviet . Piatakov and his faction made a virtue of necessity . It was now no longer necessary to make even token gestures towards Ukrainian opinion . Piatakov rejected any idea of an independent Ukraine and urged military invasion to re - establish Russian control .
Idiom: scratch the surface (used idiomatically: yes)
Yes . I thought they just pratted about And scratched the surface . No . They , they , they
Idiom: in bed with (used idiomatically: no)
That scandal in the Sixties . War Minister , John Profumo . He was porking this hooker who was also in bed with a Russian spy.’ ‘ Ivanov.’ ‘ That 's the guy .
Idiom: catch fire (used idiomatically: no)
The manufacturers of the helicopter , Boeing Vertol , would not specify the sums involved . By June 1990 the remaining relatives had still not received compensation ( having rejected offers of up to £ 200,000 each ) and were continuing litigation in the United States . An inquest on May 22 , 1990 , into the deaths of 45 people when a British Midland Boeing 737 crashed near Kegworth in December 1988 [ see p. 36410]returned a verdict of accidental death , discounting negligence on the part of pilot and crew ( who , amid the confusion , had turned off the functioning engine instead of the one that had caught fire ) . The jury urged the UK 's Civil Aviation Authority and Department of Transport to consider a number of safety measures to improve identification of engine and airframe problems . In July an Indian government report on the February crash of an Indian Airlines Airbus A320 in Bangalore in February 1990 [ see p. 37268]found that not enough time had been allowed to enable personal to adapt to changes in aircraft , equipment , maintenance , ground facilities and the training of engineers and pilots .
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
The reception desk itself and the issue desk currently in the library will merge . The screens should be removed from the reception desk to make it more friendly and less like a bank . The screens do , however , act as a block for sound and security and this should be borne in mind when the changes are considered . It is not possible for all the functions of the two desks to be done at one desk in reception . Two desks will still be needed .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
I hurried along keeping close to a wall and waiting for the inevitable mortar burst that would follow in the path of the jeep . A few seconds later there was a loud explosion in a hedgerow just off the road , a short distance away . Yesterday morning at the crossroads leading to the village a jeep carrying wounded Airborne troops received a direct hit by a mortar bomb killing everyone on board . At Brigade H.Q the Brigade Major was just leaving as I arrived and there was no sign of Shimi Lovat . He was probably visiting one of the forward units at the village perimeter .
Idiom: on the mend (used idiomatically: yes)
Almost all his spines had fallen out and to top that he 's albino . But a skin biopsy got to the root of the problem and diagnosed that he 's suffering from mites , an allergic reaction to the mites and a fungal growth . Now thanks to regular shampooing he 's on the mend . Male speaker For the skin condition we 're bathing him in Nizoral shampoo which gets rid of the fungus growth and makes the skin better and more stable .
Idiom: heart and soul (used idiomatically: yes)
Another officer praised Demierre ’s willingness to accept unpleasant tasks like expelling refugees , which he completed “ with heart and soul ” .
Idiom: put someone in mind of (used idiomatically: yes)
The palazzo 's marble walls were made blotched and hideous by some obscene , scaly growth , and its steps were covered in green and black slime . The whole place had a hopeless air of neglect , a dead , decaying look . It put Luce in mind of a corrupt and rotting corpse . She shivered . Michele glanced at her .
Idiom: pull a face (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Yeah,’ Ari said , nodding , ‘ Leila and R. J. talked about that . I still do n't really see what it is you 're getting at though.’ Tammuz pulled a face . ‘ OK . I 'll try to explain .
Idiom: ride high (used idiomatically: yes)
The heart of Paddy Ashdown 's power base here in the west country . There is no doubt that both Labour and the Conservatives are worried about the’ yellow peril’as they call the Liberal Democrats , who are advancing from the south west into Wiltshire , Gloucestershire , Herefordshire and Oxfordshire . Their delegates may look the same as in the beard and sandal days of the Liberals , but in reality the party is now well organised and riding high in the polls but their true identity remains a mystery . Peter asks’ Who are you ? What is a Lib Dem ? .
Idiom: to the hilt (used idiomatically: yes)
THE INSIDE STORY . Far be it from us to condone tax evasion . But we believe that company car drivers should be able to enjoy the finer things in life without being taxed to the hilt . Which brings us to the 1991 Rover 800 Series . In particular , the Rover 820 Si 16v .
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
They will have to ask permission from the match umpires before they can use their fingers to scratch mud from the surface of the ball . The game 's official lawmakers are preparing the new legislation , to be presented to the ICC , following last summer 's controversy surrounding Pakistan 's Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis . The law , which covers all levels of cricket , will also specifically ban bowlers from lifting the seam on a ball . It is hoped the law will be in place in time for next summer 's Ashes series . Explaining the proposals , MCC secretary Col John Stephenson said : ‘ We have had to cater for all cricket , so it may not seem to be as tough as some people have been demanding .
Idiom: lie low (used idiomatically: yes)
Ornithologically important heaths occur on this formation , although many are declining in interest through lack of management and development of forestry plantations . Weald Clay Within the band of Lower Greensand is the low - lying Weald Clay , producing a flatter landscape up to 30 km . wide with heavy soils and little natural drainage . These soils are often cold and waterlogged and traditionally this is an area of deciduous woodland with small pasture fields . Greater agricultural mechanisation has led to considerable modification of this landscape and larger arable fields now occur in the area .
Idiom: blow someone's cover (used idiomatically: yes)
Al - Makesh smiled when Graham looked at him in surprise . ‘ I have my sources , just like you . But if you were arrested for murder they would have to be very careful not to blow their cover . Any sort of publicity could have splashed UNACO across the front page of every newspaper in the world.’ ‘ I would have recognized you the moment I saw you,’ Graham said .
Idiom: beat the daylights out of (used idiomatically: yes)
But he vociferously calls himself a European , if only because of his many German , Dutch and Belgian customers – as long as ( he invariably adds ) nobody tries to stop his heart beating with pride whenever a brilliant black woman sprinter from Martinique does the blue - white - and - red flag proud , or when the French rugby stars beat the living daylights out of their " hereditary enemies , " the English .
Idiom: set eyes on (used idiomatically: yes)
She made sure that Duart and his heir would be magnificently turned out for this visit to a foreign clan . She knew better than to urge them to dress in the fashions Lachlan had learned abroad ; but all the maids were driven frantic sewing silk and linen , gold thread , fur and leather . Eachuin Odhar and his grandson spent much effort on dodging her , for whenever she set eyes on them she tried new tunics on them . But the worst was the day she ambushed them as they rose . ‘ Would you meet Argyll like a rat - chewed , three - year - old hearthrug , Duart?’
Idiom: play gooseberry (used idiomatically: no)
‘ I 've got a neat little ketch moored down at the marina . Useful for getting around.’ ‘ Look … ’ she began in a cool voice , glancing round for Tara , who seemed to have disappeared into the house , ‘ when I used the phrase ‘ playing gooseberry’ , I was referring to my staying at Hummingbird House . I certainly would n't dream of tagging along with you and Tara when you go sailing or sightseeing or whatever … ’ ‘ Tara 's seen it all,’ he pointed out softly .
Idiom: think the world of (used idiomatically: yes)
Should I stay with a cheat ? MY marriage has been in trouble for two years , ever since my husband started having affairs . We have two children , aged eight and six , and I know my husband thinks the world of them , but he is carrying on living the life of a single man , with no thought for me . I have started divorce proceedings , as we have been living apart for the last two months , but now he is pleading with me to take him back . I do n't know what I am doing .
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: no)
Boat trips nearby . NENE VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge steam railway running over 7 miles through the Nene Park , between Wansford and Peterborough via Yarwell Mill and Nene Park . Locomotives and stock from nine countries . Shop .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
Generally yes . Generally . But it it 's sods law that it will happen there is n't a lady there behind the bar . Well , really if there 's a fire does it matter whether it 's a lady or gent that ? I do n't think so but we 've specified in here a lady shall .
Idiom: crocodile tears (used idiomatically: yes)
Remember your moral crime : that you have now lied twice about why I had written to you in the first place ( Letters report , 5 December ) , and you have lied on purpose and you have done so with manifest contempt and disregard for any say or rights that I may have against your sick sense of ‘ editorship’ . Your conduct has confirmed that I was utterly correct to abbreviate your filthy title to NewSS — as you represent , by your conduct , the new form of fascism . It is curious and yet inevitable that you , of all people , should have dared write a piece in the NewSS claiming to shed crocodile tears for the alleged disunity among , or between , the opportunistically ‘ revived’ banners of the ARA and the ANL . Going by your ‘ concern’ for the ‘ targets of racist violence’ , not to speak of your capacity to understand what constitutes racism or why the ‘ ANL and the ARA’are both anti - black , I would not be surprised if one day you are hauled before the black community as a prime suspect involved in a series of racist attacks against the image of the black person in the street . I wait to see how long you can control your imbecile temptation to violate my copyrights on this letter and once again untruthfully take words and phrases from it to show your ‘ powers’ to match those boasted by your kind in the NF and the BNP , whose performances are different from yours only in that instead of using your limbs to physically assault us like they would , you have acted by wearing the ‘ civilised’guise of being the ‘ editor’of the ‘ left’NewSS , and have written to assail my integrity , my capacity to think , my freedom to defend and speak for my constitutionally organised members at the Stratford school .
Idiom: go all the way (used idiomatically: yes)
They retailed around £ 38-£45 , depending on the model , and for sound kicked the shit out of my Levin . Suddenly , everyone had one . They were all blonde too , and although the pickguard was ugly and went all the way round and forward of the soundhole , looked more like Martins . I do n't remember the Levin as particularly special . From day one my D35 blew it away , and I felt no pangs as it went , traded in against the Martin which cost me £ 225 in Top Gear in Denmark Street .
Idiom: sweetness and light (used idiomatically: yes)
There are , however , occasional admissions of this policy in the British press . It enables both countries to augment their own dominant positions within the Community while pretending to be acting for the sake of ‘ Europe’ . However , the Franco - German relationship , for all its sweetness and light in public , is a complicated relationship . The history of three German invasions in less than a century , together with the ambiguous record of the French under German occupation onwards , and the sudden , unexpected , role as one of the victorious powers , have left a mixed historical residue composed of fear , awe and mistrust . ‘ The Germans are a great people , a very great people’ , declared de Gaulle at Stalingrad .
Idiom: have been around (used idiomatically: yes)
She 's undergone vital surgery to remove the cancer and now , in addition , is taking the drug , Tamoxifen , which , according to the new research , can reduce the risk of death by a quarter . For the victims of breast cancer like Jean , the drug may mean the difference between life and death . The drug has been around for the last 20 years , but this is the first time the research has been carried out over such a lengthy period . Researchers say the drug can save 1,000 lives in this country alone and more than 10,000 worldwide . Although the findings are encouraging , they 're by no means the complete answer to the problem .
Idiom: on the dot (used idiomatically: yes)
That was just what I had been doing for the past four months innocent of impending restrictions . Will my rambles be as arcane as JTR 's one day ? ‘ 7.10 am on the dot and my husband will give you a lift to Torridon,’ the woman in the council house opposite the hotel had said . I stood waiting in the pre - dawn dark watching house lights go on . Garden birds roused themselves bravely , far off a cockerel said it was the new day and buzzards with peeinging whistle arced over the slowly silhouetting mountains .
Idiom: spit it out (used idiomatically: no)
Woolley champed on his sandwich . ‘ I have n't asked for any , and they have n't sent them.’ He discovered a piece of bone in his bacon and spat it out . The pilots were looking at him with a mixture of dread and shock . ‘ But sir —’