Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: on edge (used idiomatically: yes)
I was , if you will pardon the expression , absolutely buggered . By mid - afternoon I finally reached Inverkirkaig , not having seen anybody nor been passed by a car since leaving Ullapool . I tottered across to a cottage on the edge of the loch and asked for a pot of tea and a bite to eat . The residents , a kind couple , took compassion on me and provided my needs , refusing payment . After this , I felt a little refreshed but as I came over the hill towards Lochinver , my legs rebelled .
Idiom: step on it (used idiomatically: yes)
She screwed up her face and whispered : you 're so revoltingly fat you disgusting baboon . Léonie shut the fridge door : right , let 's go . They crept up the back staircase to the third floor , testing each tread for creaks before stepping on it , nightclothes bunched in one hand lest they trip . Inside the first attic , Léonie had discovered , if you fumbled your way through the dusty darkness to what seemed a cupboard on the far side , you found , within this , a ladder clamped to the wall that led to a trapdoor and thence to a bit of flat roof . She went first , plucked the basket from her cousin 's lifted arms , then pulled Thérèse up after her .
Idiom: hold court (used idiomatically: yes)
If that government is headed by Mr Gandhi , Mr Gandhi could conveniently decide to abort all elections in Punjab and Assam . Not that that would stop the terrorists from acting pretty well as they pleased . In large sections of Punjab they extort money ( calling it taxation ) , hold courts , decree what local newspapers should print and even decide what dress schoolchildren should wear . Hindus have long fled the rural parts of Punjab ; now some Sikhs are joining the exodus , disgusted by terrorist excesses that led to 3,787 deaths last year and about 1,500 so far this year . The militants are split between degrees of intransigence , which could make them vulnerable at the polls .
Idiom: go places (used idiomatically: no)
It had been old Jan 's idea . He was with them too . Old Jan always tagged along when Bruce went round his place . He was very proud of the new trees , you would think they were his . ' Only God can make a tree , ' he said , ' but we can give him a hand now and then .
Idiom: lend a hand (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Why did you expect to find Rose here?’ He was alarmed at the possibility that this lad was from the village and that the village was rife with gossip . Farrel explained that he was an agricultural student and had come to lend a hand with the harvest . ‘ I was here last year . It 's a holiday job .
Idiom: wipe the slate clean (used idiomatically: yes)
Others , however , assume the reverse . For them the death in our family is the result of their successful and fully justified vengeance - magic in return for an earlier killing in their family . So one killing , mystically interpreted either as the result of witchcraft , or of its antithesis vengeance - magic , cancels another and the slate is wiped clean . Clearly everything depends upon the point of view that is adopted , and upon rival interpretations of the same events . Zande conceptions are sufficiently flexible to permit the selection of explanations according to one 's position and interests .
Idiom: in black and white (used idiomatically: yes)
Reducing a 300dpi image this much effectively makes it 1,200dpi and laser printed artwork is then more than adequate . There is also the added bonus of a large range of typefaces and the ability to mix graphics with the text . Although the laser printed sheet is only in black and white the rostrum camera operator can add the colours optically and generate a very high quality slide for around half what it would have cost to produce using a ‘ conventional’ electronic system . ( Part of the reason for this , other than the high initial cost of the hardware , is that film recorders take quite an appreciable time to image the slide whereas a rostrum camera works as fast as the operator can change the artwork . ) At this point we are in the position that the market had reached just before Apple got interested .
Idiom: down the drain (used idiomatically: yes)
External hacking poses much less of a threat than malicious acts by staff or ex - staff . The greatest threat to computer security comes from within System security : neglect is money down the drain spreadsheets INTO A NEW DIMENSION For anyone feeling insecure about a five - year - old , two - dimensional , DOS - based spreadsheet , there are many new temptations
Idiom: turn a blind eye (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . somebody else , not just ourselves , you know . Okay , if we wa if we want to turn a blind eye to it then that 's our business you know but er but when you 're , when you 're actually erm Answerable to someone else . Yeah .
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
I have always fed my dog the dog ~ food that comes in the big green bag .
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: no)
Your dad 's got a What was that rally car then ? Well you know this next door neighbour of theirs that 's been driving cars all over the place ? Oh yeah . Pat and Steven have got the chance to do that tomorrow .
Idiom: set eyes on (used idiomatically: yes)
only with their agreement , Yes . I mean , if somebody was petrified of setting eyes on the youth again , then it would n't do them much good , for him to be sent to make good what damage he 's done to their house , or , Yes , it wants very delicate handling , I suppose . Well , the this friend of ours , the er , Director of Victims and Crime , er , we we have somebody at church who was burgled .
Idiom: lift a finger (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ But does not Miss Merchiston help at all?’ ‘ She ? ’ said Mrs Diggory witheringly . ‘ She 'd not lift a finger in this house , she would n't . Not if we was to up and go . She 'd starve first!’
Idiom: behind someone's back (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I can understand his wish for secrecy,’ Vitor said , ‘ but I do n't see the need to adopt the charade that you were his girlfriend.’ ‘ I did n't . It was Simon who gave that impression behind my back . As soon as I realised I told him it must stop , but the next thing I knew he was spouting the same fiction to a reporter.’ ‘ The article in Adelaide?’
Idiom: go without saying (used idiomatically: yes)
However , the kick enjoys a measure of success because it can literally curl around an otherwise effective guard and thump into the back of the opponent 's head . Even if it is stopped by the guard , you can drop the kicking leg quickly to the mat and push the opponent over it . It goes without saying that you must be quick , otherwise the opponent can turn the tables on you . ( b ) Then kick with the front foot Reverse roundhouse kick has a habit of curling around the opponent 's guard !
Idiom: in stitches (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Eventually I shouted ‘ Sandy are you in yet?’ Before I knew it I was out to sea . Sandy had given the boat a hefty kick before collapsing on the beach in stitches.’ around the world in 80 nips As the boat drifted along the Firth of Clyde towards the open sea Johnstone staggered to his feet and sang a rendition of the Rod Stewart song Sailing .
Idiom: in your face (used idiomatically: yes)
Tell me about the things You 've secretly yearned to be — Now the cracks are widening in your face Come , we can do everything we 've dreamed ; We 're alive , we 're awake —
Idiom: fly a kite (used idiomatically: yes)
Let 's make some paper windmills . Which way do they go round more quickly ? Let 's fly a kite or blow some bubbles up into the sky . Rain Rainwater can be collected in different - sized containers , raindrops observed going down window panes , etc .
Idiom: do the right thing (used idiomatically: no)
‘ You must advise me,’ Alida said , setting down her plate . ‘ If you have already decided … .’ ‘ You must be the one to tell me I am doing the right thing.’ Yes , thought Dorothea , that is it , and that is different . But when the announcement came , she was truly shocked .
Idiom: sit tight (used idiomatically: yes)
It is only necessary to imagine a rabbit 's reactions and its subsequent behaviour once it realises that there is an unwelcome visitor within the burrow system . I have explained how easy rabbits are to deal with in a dead - end , but a blockage can occur in the middle of a burrow when a number of rabbits have accumulated one behind the other . If the front rabbit sits tight and declines to budge there is no way the others can move . So the ferret meets an immovable rabbit . You may well think that it is a dead - end and therefore dig down towards it .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
Will I laugh with them or not ? What do I really want with the girl ? They offer to come on board the party boat to help me find Tamsin , but I say no : they might scare her . ‘ You think you won't?’ asks Des . They laugh again .
Idiom: see eye to eye (used idiomatically: yes)
Perhaps I have a different point of view from the older generation . " He glanced up for a moment towards the senator and Jacques Devraux . " I do n't always see eye to eye with my father for instance about the way things are done here . " Joseph tugged at his brother 's sleeve suddenly and nodded across the room . " Look , Chuck , there 's the man we met on the boulevard tonight . "
Idiom: get to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm going to get a job as a problem - page goddess . Oh , Meg , I see ghosts . How can I get to grips with what is , almost undoubtedly , not there at all?’ ‘ You 've given me an idea , Lee . I 'm going to go into therapy .
Idiom: wear the trousers (used idiomatically: yes)
Dickinson got down and held back the prickly branches while Killion blundered out , his lips triphammering away at the opening consonants of all the swear - words he knew . It turned out that Killion had been in the cellar when the police came , and he escaped through a trapdoor into the street . As he was wearing only trousers and shoes he knew that he would soon be picked up in the town , so he got away through alleys and into the country . It was sheer luck that he had chosen the same road as the truck . ' Now , perhaps , we can all go home , ' said Finlayson .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: no)
I told you , my lord . It appeared in the estuary . Your old ships , my lord King , were already engaged with the ships of Earl Siward and getting much the best of it . Two of the Northumbrian ships were on fire , and one broken - masted and drifting . The other three turned to fly up the estuary , which was stupid , as the tide was against them and they lost the wind .
Idiom: keep a straight face (used idiomatically: yes)
He exhaled slowly and rested a forearm on the top of the car door . ‘ Billy dropping in on you was a big coincidence and we do n't like coincidences , so further investigation may be necessary.’ He put his head on one side , but kept a straight face . ‘ If I read you right , you 're not the kind who would welcome further investigation much.’ ‘ You mean really deep , persistent scrutiny and monitoring of my day to day existence ?
Idiom: claim to fame (used idiomatically: yes)
Jamie Delgado , the only Briton to win a world Junior Title , which he did in Florida in the 14 and under age category , will continue to develop as a potential world beater for Britain , provided he stays firmly under the wing of David Lloyd . 10 . The LTA 's principal claim to fame at the end of 1992 will be the same as it is now — the richest tennis organisation in the world . What is certain is that there will be many surprises in 1992 , the game will have an ever - increasing worldwide audience , and there will be many more magnificent moments in 1992 that every tennis fan will treasure — and we , at Tennis World , will try to capture them all . TOUR DE FORCE
Idiom: behind the scenes (used idiomatically: yes)
Marion Blockley has just completed a book outlining discoveries from the last two decades . For most people she says , this is the closest they 'll come to seeing the treasures of their own home town . Now we continue our behind - the - scenes look at Central 's popular quiz show , ' Blockbusters'which has just celebrated its thousandth edition . Last night we met David Stewart and Fiona Thornton - Norris , two hopeful contestants from Wiltshire . Tonight , Wesley Smith sees how they get on and explores some of the secrets of the show 's success .
Idiom: make tracks (used idiomatically: yes)
Dusk was falling swiftly , as it always does in the tropics , and the silence that had so impressed me by daylight suddenly became noisy with the night life of the jungly - type trees in the mountains behind - the bull frogs , strange bird cries , the never - ending background of the cicadas . ‘ Too late for any more sightseeing now,’ said Robins . ‘ Let 's make tracks for Green 's or we 'll be late for supper . Mollie 's a stickler for punctuality.’ The clinic and the cottage hospital were up a small hill at the other end of Main Street , beyond the ship 's chandler and the jetty where the Mantela was moored .
Idiom: at loggerheads (used idiomatically: yes)
Although arguably the most constructive approach , this is usually the one which creates the greatest controversy . In the marginal farming areas of the uplands , where revenues from tourism are an important part of the farming economy , farmers may welcome further recreational development , but conservationists are usually more hostile . In the lowlands both farmers and environmentalists may combine to oppose development , but are often at loggerheads over the issue of access to farmland . The debate over recreation and access in the countryside therefore easily fragments into a plethora of parochial disputes , with constantly shifting allegiances and alliances , and one which oscillates between each of these three alternative solutions . As yet , no coherent policy has emerged , only a confusion of purpose over whether to impose greater restrictions or offer more choice .
Idiom: do a bunk (used idiomatically: yes)
at the front of the new edition was Gottwald in the same photograph and hat , but his righthand man has done the bunk . Call it ingratitude or history 's trick photography
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: yes)
' If the NIE shares offer a good premium , and I expect that they will , then people should be able to buy them , sell them quickly and make some money to buy into BT3 if they want . ' Both Mr Porter and Mr Graham expect the NIE issue to very popular , with many local investors keen to hold on to the shares so that they can qualify for the discount vouchers will entitle them to money off their electricity bills . This is an attractive perk , particularly in the light of last week 's Budget announcement of VAT on fuel and power from April 1994 . The flotation was supposed to have taken place last Autumn , but it was postponed until NIE secured funding from the EC for the under - sea power cable which will link Northern Ireland with the Scottish electricity grid . The EC funding was confirmed last week .
Idiom: at sea (used idiomatically: yes)
' I 'll give her up once I 've taken you to bed , Rachel , and not before ! ' Turning on his heel , he strode away , and she watched him bitterly , consumed with pain . Later , she stood alone at her bedroom window , looking out at the moonlit sea . He would be with Domino tomorrow . Would they make love all day at some hot , steamy house somewhere in this glittering cosmopolitan city ?
Idiom: down and out (used idiomatically: yes)
Too often modern sects have been too exclusivist and purist . But it need not always be so : sectarian formations without sectarian spirits are a genuine recipe for a future . But on a more general level we need to realise that the church is not down and out because she is on the privatised and peripheral margins of society . She is , however , hemmed in by the Adversary . So God is calling us and gathering us where we are .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
DIAGNOSTIC equipment bought with £ 16,000 raised in the community has been officially commissioned at Darlington Memorial Hospital . The electric response audiometer will be used to detect hearing defects in babies and adults which would not be discovered by other techniques . Fund raising for the state - of - the - art machine began in 1987 and senior technician Peter Barton said help had come from several organisations including the WRVS , the Guides and the League of Friends . ‘ This equipment will prove very useful in testing premature babies we suspect might have hearing problems but who are not able to have the normal tests,’ he said . ‘ It can also be used for adults who have tumours putting pressure on the audiological part of the brain and can indicate the presence of other illnesses such as multiple sclerosis.’
Idiom: coals to Newcastle (used idiomatically: yes)
Flemish illuminations in the abbot 's house , now a museum , recall the teeming peasantry of Avercamp and Breughel paintings . On Christmas Eve , 1950 , nationalists stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey and laid it in the grounds of Arbroath Abbey . In their protest they sought to restore some political coals to Newcastle : the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 committed the lay and ecclesiastical nobles of Scotland to support Robert Bruce , who stood against proud Edward 's army , and sent him homeward to think again . Always touch the walls of an old abbey — for the currents of ancient idea coming through from learned men , and for the systems that housed them . Arbroath 's walls offer a well - groomed feel , powdered silk , which must have as much to do with the history of the place as with Historic Scotland 's care .
Idiom: yesterday's news (used idiomatically: yes)
But the wounds inflicted by the media will , it appears , take a long time to heal . McDonnell , his promoter Barry Hearn and trainer Darkie Smith clearly believed that going into the final round McDonnell had a chance of winning the super - featherweight title on points . Not many impartial observers agreed — two of the three judges had him trailing — and the trio showed their displeasure with such sceptics at yesterday 's news conference . Smith said that some of the reporters had been drinking before getting down to the job of covering the fight ; Hearn is considering litigation . All three thought it right that the fight continued in the eleventh round when McDonnell 's right eye was all but closed , though the fighter admitted he could not see from that eye .
Idiom: weather the storm (used idiomatically: yes)
Both Russia and France were thus made more and more aware of their loneliness . Yet although the hardening of lines seems ominous in retrospect and the thin tie of Reinsurance could hardly have linked Russia and Germany for long , it could be argued that in 1888 Bismarck 's system was still successful . It had weathered the storms of the Bulgarian crisis . Germany was still in touch with both Russia and Austria - Hungary ; France was still isolated and still embroiled with Great Britain over Egypt . Great Britain had been associated with the stabilizing system by a skilful use of her Mediterranean fears , although Bismarck failed to turn association into alliance in 1889 .
Idiom: come to terms with (used idiomatically: yes)
Like the ‘ pop’ version of innate aggression , there is in the West today a similar ‘ pop’version of the necessity for catharsis . Howell ( this volume ) takes up some of these issues in her paper where she argues against the interpretation of ritual as catharsis among the Chewong . Much of Western psychotherapy draws , in various forms , on the catharsis model , whereby it is held as necessary for emotional health to come to terms with the repressed anger that is assumed to be inside the individual , and techniques are developed to make the individual confront these in a dramatic form . The sociologist Scheff is probably the social scientist who has attempted the most thoroughgoing analysis of catharsis in social life . In his book Catharsis in Healing , Ritual , and Drama much of previous psychological and anthropological thinking around the issue is incorporated .
Idiom: nuts and bolts (used idiomatically: yes)
Birmingham Chamber of Industry and Commerce . He was made a freeman of the City of Birmingham in 1982 . Sir Adrian Cadbury is not one of those who subscribes to the popular theory that a truly professional manager can take over the helm of any type of business with only a superficial knowledge of the nuts and bolts . I 'm very sceptical of the ability to shift from managing a bank to managing a steel mill , for example . I have grave doubts about that .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: yes)
A club , an unemployment club . What , what was that ? And there was a big room and you and you could go there and , and make things out of wood . I 've got a table somewhere I 've made . Er or you could make anything and there was an instructor there showing you .
Idiom: on the nose (used idiomatically: yes)
She threw off her shawl . ' As for me , I must write what I am owed in my book and then I too will go to bed . I 'm sleeping on my nose . ' She sat at the table and painstakingly wrote down the sums of money that should have come in for the work already done . She had expected to return home with full payment for the shoes she 'd made , but it seemed the theatre people were not too quick in settling bills , a practice they shared with the gentry .
Idiom: make a move (used idiomatically: yes)
Still , she did not move . Undeterred , he kept his gaze averted , saying quietly , ' I have something here which may yet put the company back on an upward spiral . ' When still she made no move , he chuckled and made as if to put the document away again , pausing when he saw out of the corner of his eye that she was returning to the desk , albeit hesitantly . ' What is it ? ' she asked suspiciously , curiosity getting the better of her . In a moment she was beside him and leaning forward , her narrowed eyes poring over the detailed plans , and excitement growing within her .
Idiom: off the record (used idiomatically: yes)
He had n't hurt her yet , and that was a good sign . There was n't any reason why he 'd want her out of the way , but when you get to be big in his business , the only exit is usually from a prone position , and guys like him develop a tendency to think the same way about people playing the smaller parts . I shaved and showered , clipping two seconds off the record , and was soon out on the highway heading for Faketown . That 's what people from my territory call Hollywood . Mecca for the grifters and drifters , the phonies and gold - brick men .
Idiom: go under the hammer (used idiomatically: yes)
Bank after bank bleated to John about a sudden dearth of cash in the Stevenson account . Each received a variant of Nora 's lofty homily on the virtues of staying calm and of reposing confidence in firms whose soundness was beyond question — plus , to be sure , the gold to back the words and to sugar the message . Surreptitiously she sold her properties ; from her lucrative firstborn at Alderley Edge to her failures at Pendle and Ary — all went under the hammer . Money was tight that summer and they fetched only two - thirds of what she considered their true value ; hoping for sixty thousand , she got a mere forty . But she was too busy then to grieve overmuch ; the bitterness was to come later .
Idiom: on top of the world (used idiomatically: yes)
Putin ’s Year of Living Dangerously MOSCOW – In the spring of 2008 , Russian President Vladimir ~ Putin was on top of the world . Oil and gas prices were sky high , with export revenues flooding the Kremlin ’s coffers . The country ’s once powerful military , which collapsed with the demise of communism in 1991 , was being rebuilt .