C
Idioms beginning with "C"
Part of speech, explanation, example sentences, pronunciation
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Contents of C:
[crack a smile] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To let a smile show on one's face; permit a smile to appear.
Bob told the whole silly story without even cracking a smile.
Scrooge was a gloomy man, who never cracked a smile.
* /When we gave the shy […]
[crack down] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To enforce laws or rules strictly; require full obedience to a rule.
After a speeding driver hit a child, the police cracked down.
- Often used with "on".
* /Police suddenly cracked down on the selling of […]
[crack of dawn] {n. phr.}
The time in the morning when the sun's rays first appear.
The rooster crows at the crack of dawn and wakes up everybody on the farm.
[cracked up] {adj. phr.}, {informal}
Favorably described or presented; praised. — Usually used in the expression "not what it's cracked up to be".
The independent writer's life isn't always everything it's cracked up to be.
* /In bad weather, a […]
[crackpot] {n.}, {attrib. adj.}, {informal}
1. {n.}
An eccentric person with ideas that don't make sense to most other people.
Don't believe what Uncle Noam tells you — he is a crackpot.
2. {attrib. adj.}
That's a crackpot idea.
[crack the whip] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To get obedience or cooperation by threats of punishment.
If the children won't behave when I reason with them, I have to crack the whip.
[crack up] {v.}
1. To wreck or be wrecked; smash up.
The airplane cracked up in landing.
He cracked up his car.
2. {informal}
To become mentally ill under physical or mental overwork or worry.
* /He had kept too busy for years, and when […]