C
Idioms beginning with "C"
Part of speech, explanation, example sentences, pronunciation
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Contents of C:
[climb the wall] {v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal}
1. To react to a challenging situation with too great an emotional response, frustration, tension, and anxiety.
By the time I got the letter that I was hired, I was ready to climb the wall.
2. To be […]
[clinging vine] {n.}
A very dependent woman; a woman who needs much love and encouragement from a man.
Mary is a clinging vine; she cannot do anything without her husband.
[cling to one's mother's apron strings]
See: [TIED TO ONE'S MOTHER'S APRON STRINGS].
[clip joint] {n.}, {slang}
A low-class night club or other business where people are cheated.
The man got drunk and lost all his money in a clip joint.
The angry woman said the store was a clip joint.
[clip one's wings] {v. phr.}
To limit or hold you back, bring you under control; prevent your success.
When the new president tried to become dictator, the generals soon clipped his wings.
* /Jim was spending too much time on dates when he needed […]
[cloak-and-dagger] {adj.}
Of or about spies and secret agents.
It was a cloak-and-dagger story about some spies who tried to steal atomic secrets.
The book was written by a retired colonel who used to take part in cloak-and-dagger plots.
[…]
[clock]
See:
[AGAINST TIME] or [AGAINST THE CLOCK],
[AROUND THE CLOCK] or [THE CLOCK AROUND],
[PUT BACK THE CLOCK] or [TURN BACK THE CLOCK],
[GO LIKE CLOCKWORK] or [GO OFF LIKE CLOCKWORK],
[TURN THE CLOCK BACK].
[clock watcher] {n. phr.}, {informal}
A worker who always quits at once when it is time; a man who is in a hurry to leave his job.
When Ted got his first job, his father told him to work hard and not be a clock watcher.