to give one hell
To make things very un- pleasant for oneself.
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to give one his head
To allow him complete freedom, let him go just as he pleases. Another "horsey" phrase.
to give one law
A sporting term "law,'* meaning the chance of saving oneself. Thus a hare or a stag is allowed "law" — i e. a certain start before any hound is permitted to attack it; and a tradesman allowed "law" is one to whom tune is given to "find his legs.
to give one points
To be able to accord him an advantage and yet beat him; to be con- siderably better than he.
to give one rope enough
To permit a person to continue in wrongdoing till he reaps the con- sequences. "Give him rope enough and he'll hang himself" is a common saying of one ad- dicted to evil courses.
to give one the lie
To accuse him to his face of telling a falsehood.
to give one the push
To give him his conge, give him the sack.
to give one the slip
To steal off unperceived; to elude pursuit.
to give one three times three
To give him a rousing ovation, cheer after cheer.
to give oneself away
To betray oneself by some thoughtless action or remark; to damage one's own cause by carelessly letting something out.
to give out
To make public. Also, to come to an end, to become exhausted; as "My money has quite given out.
to give the bob to anyone
To deceive, to balk. Here bob is from M.E. bobben, O.Fr. bober, to befool.
to give the cue
To give the hint. In another sense cue means a person's frame of mind — in a good or bad skin.
to give the glad eye to
To cast inviting glances at. To have, or keep, an eye on. To keep strict watch on the person or thing referred to.
to give the lie to
To show that such and such a statement is false ; to belie. Lie (A.S. licgan, to 'bide or rest).
to give the whisper
To give the tip, the warning; to pass some bit of secret informa- tion.
to give tongue
Properly used of a dog barking when on the scent; hence sometimes applied to people.
to giye someone to the miller
To engage him in conversation till enough people have gathered round to set upon the victim with stones, dirt, garbage, and all the arms which haste supplied a mob with (see MILL).
to go
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
to go against the grain
Against one's inclination. The allusion is to wood, which cannot be easily planed the wrong way of the grain.
to go ahead
To prosper, make rapid pro- gress towards success; to start.
to go at a great lick
To run, ride, etc., at great speed ; to put on a spurt.
to go back on one's word
To withdraw what one has said; to refuse to perform what one has promised. To go back on a person is to betray him.
to go by the board
To go for good and all, to be quite finished with, thrown overboard. Here board means the side of the ship.
To go by Walker's bus
To walk. Similar expressions are, "To go by the Marrowbone stage," "To ride Shanks's pony.
To go by Weeping Cross
To suffer and repent of one's misdeeds. There are said to have been crosses called thus at Oxford, Shrewsbury, and Stafford.
to go farther and fare worse
To take more pains and trouble and yet find oneself in a worse position.
to go for a dip
To go bathing. This is a very old English phrase.
to go for a man
To attack him, either physically or in argument, etc.
to go halves
To share something equally with another.
to go hard with
To fare ill with; usually followed by but, implying "unless so-and-so happens.
to go hard with one
To prove a troublesome matter. "It will go hard with me before I give up the attempt," i.e. I won't give it up until I have tried every means to success, no matter how difficult, dangerous, or painful it may be.
to go in for
To follow as a pursuit or occupation. To go the whole hog. See HOG.
to go in with good cards
To have good patronage; to have excellent grounds for expecting success.
To go into the Church
To take holy orders, or become an "ordained" clergyman.
to go it
To be fast, extravagant, headstrong in one's behaviour and habits. To go it blind is to act without stopping to deliberate. In poker, if a player chooses to "go it blind," he doubles the ante before looking at bis cards.
to go it blind
To enter upon some undertaking without sufficient forethought, inquiry, or preparation.
to go nap
To set oneself to make five tricks (all one can) in the game of Nap; hence, to risk all you have on some venture, to back it through thick and thin.
to go off the deep end
To get unnecessarily excited. To have it at my finger's end. See FINGER.
to go on the bust
To go on the spree; to paint the town red. A bust up is a violent quarrel, a row.
To go round Robin Hood's barn
To arrive at the right conclusion by very roundabout methods.
to go scot-free
To be let off payment; to escape punishment or reprimand, etc.
to go the whole eoon
An American equivalent of the English f'to go the whole hog." See HOG.
to go the whole hog
To dp the thing completely and thoroughly, without com- promise or reservation; to go the whole way. William Cowper says (Hypocrisy Detected, 1779) that the Moslem divines sought to ascertain which part of the hog was forbidden as food by the Prophet.
to go the whole shoot
To do all there is to do, go the whole hog, run through the gamut.
to go to grass
To succumb, give in. From the putting out of race-horses or hunters to grass when they are too old for racing or hunting.
to go to the basket
Old slang for to go to prison: referring to the dependence of the lowest grade of poor prisoners (those in the "Hole") for their sustenance upon what passers-by put in the basket for them.
to go to the dogs
To go to utter ruin, morally or materially; to become impover- ished.
to go under
To become ruined; to fail utterly, lose caste. Also to pass as, to be known as; as "He goes under the name of 'Mr. Taylor,5 but we all know he is really 'Herr Schneider.
to go west
Of persons, to die; of things, to be lost, rendered useless, never obtained, as My chance of promotion has gone west.
to go with a run
To go swimmingly; "with- out a hitch." A seaman's phrase. A rope goes with a run when it is let go entirely, instead of being slackened gradually.
to gouge
To squeeze out a man's eye with the thumb: a cruel practice used by the Bostonians in America.
to grant quarter
To spare the life of an enemy in your power. The origin of the phrase is not certain, but the old suggestion that it originated from an agreement anciently made between the Dutch and the Spaniards, that the ransom of a soldier should be the quarter of his pay, is not borne out. It is more likely due to the fact that the victor would have to provide his captive with temporary quarters.
to grease
To bribe. To grease a man in the fist; to bribe him. To grease a fat sow in the a-se; to give to a rich man. Greasy chin; a treat given to parish officers in part of commutation for a bastard: called also, Eating a child.
to grease one's palm
To give a bribe GreasYmy fist withatester or two, and ye shall find it in youT pennyworth.— QUARLES: The Virgin Widow, iv,l,p.4& ^;Youmustoyi it first. C.: I understand you— Greaze him i' the fist.
to grease the wheels
To make things run smoothly, pass off without a hitch; usually by the application of a little money.
To grin like a Cheshire cat
An old simile, popularized by Lewis Carroll : — "Please would you tell me," said Alice a little timidly, . . . "why your cat grins like that?" "It's a Cheshire cat," said the Duchess, "and that's why.'* — Alice in Wonderland (1865), ch. vi.
to grind
To have carnal knowledge of a woman.
to grind one down
To reduce the price asked; to lower wages.
to grubshite
To make foul or dirty.
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