anything else
something additional
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anything goes
There are no rules or standards to follow.
anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening
Pleasurable things are often unhealthy or unethical
anything worth doing is hard
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
anywheres
anywhere
Anzac Pact
The agreement between Aus- tralia and New Zealand in 1944.
anzac wafer
Hardtack.
apart from
excluding or in addition to something
ape leader
a person who is followed by others without being a true leader
apeshit
Out of control due to anger or excitement.
aphrodite's girdle
The cestus (#.v.). Apicius (a pis' i us) A gourmand. Marcus Gafaius Apicius was a Roman gourmand of the time of Augustus and Tiberius, whose income being reduced by his luxurious living to only ten million sesterces (about £80,000), put an end to his life, to avoid the misery of being obliged to live on plain diet.
Apollo and Diana
Latona commanded her children to avenge the insult, and they caused all the sons and daughters of Niobe to die. Niobe was inconsolable, wept herself to death, and was changed into a stone, from which ran water, "Like Niobe, ail "ears" (Hamlet, i,2).
Apollo Belvedere
An ancient marble statue, supposed to be a Roman-Greek copy of a bronze votive statue set up at Delphi in commemoration of the repulse of an attack by the Gauls on the shrine of Apollo in 279 B.C. It represents the god holding the remains of a bow, or (according to some conjectures) an aegis, in his left Band, and is called Belvedere from the Belvedere Gallery of the Vatican, where it stands.
apostle spoons
Spoons having the figure of one of the apostles at the top of the handle, formerly given at christenings. Sometimes twelve spoons, representing the twelve apos- tles; sometimes four> representing the four evangelists; and sometimes only one, was presented. Occasionally a set occurs contain- ing in addition the " Master Spoon " and the " Lady Spoon.
apostles
To manoeuvre the apostles, i.e. rob Peter to pay Paul; that is, to borrow money of one man to pay another.
apostle’s grove
The London district known as St. John’s Wood. Also called GROVE OF THE EVANGELIST.
Apostolic Constitutions
A doctrinal code relating to the Church, the duties of Christians, etc., contained in eight books of doubtful date, possibly as early as the 3rd century, but certainly later than the time of the Apostles, to whom at one time they were attributed.
Apostolic Fathers
Christian authors born in the 1st century, when the apostles lived. John is supposed to have died about A.D. 99, and Polycarp, the last of the Apostolic Fathers, born about 69, was his disciple. Clement of Rome (died about 100), Ignatius (died about 115), Polycarp (about 69-155), St.
Apostolic Majesty
A title borne by the emperors of Austria, as kings of Hungary. It was conferred by Pope Sylvester II on the King of Hungary in 1000. Cp. RELIGIOUS.
Apostolic Succession
This is the term in use for the doctrine that the mission given to the apostles by Christ (John xx, 23 and Matt. xxviii, 19) must extend to their legitimate successors in an unbroken line. This means in practice that only those clergy who have been ordained by bishops who are themselves • in the succession can administer the sacra- ments and perform other sacerdotal functions.
apothecary
To talk like an apothecary; to use hard or gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language.
apothecary's Latin
obsolete or pretentious language
appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
appeal to somebody
to attract or interest someone
appetite comes with eating
One's interest or desire increases as they engage in an activity
Appian Way
The oldest and best known of all the Roman roads, leading from Rome to Brundisium (Brindisi) by way of
Applause is the echo of a platitude. (Ambrose Bierce)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
apple cart
Down with his apple-cart; knock or throw him down.
Apple of Discord
A cause of dispute; something to contend about. At the marriage of Thetis and Peleus, where all the gods and goddesses met together, Discord (Ens), who had not been invited, threw on the table a golden apple "for the most beautiful." Juno, Minerva, and Venus put m their separate claims; the point was referred to Paris (g.v ), who gave judgment in favour of Venus.
apple of someone's eye
a person cherished and loved above all others
apple of the eye
The pupil, because it was anciently supposed to be a round solid ball like an apple. Figuratively applied to anything extremely dear or extremely sensitive. He kept him as the apple of his eye. — Deut. xxxii, 10.
apple polisher
Someone who tries to win favor by flattering people or doing small tasks
Apple Tree Gang
The name given to John Reid, and his friends, from Scotland, who were responsible for the introduction of Golf into U.S.A. in 1888, at Yonkers, N.Y. The name was coined in 1892 when Reid and his friends moved to their 3rd " course " at Yonkers — a 34-acre orchard which yielded six holes.
apple-cart
The human structure, so far as the phrases with which it is connected are concerned. As "I’ll upset your APPLE-CART," "down with his APPLE-CART."
apple-pie bed
A trick played at schools on new comers, or on any boy disliked by the rest. One of the sheets is removed, and the other is doubled in the middle, so that both edges are brought to the top, and look as if both sheets were there; but the unhappy occupant is prevented getting more than half-way down, and he has to remake his bed as best he can. This trick is sometimes played by children of a larger growth.
apple-pie bed
A bed in which the sheets are so folded that a person cannot get his legs down; perhaps a corruption of "a nappe-pli bed," from the Fr. nappe phee, a folded sheet. Also incorrectly used by schoolboys to describe a bed into which a quantity of strange objects have been piled to discomfit the occupant.
apple-pie order
In exact or very nice order.
apple-pie order
Prim and precise order. The origin of this phrase is still doubtful. Perhaps the suggestion made above of nappe- pli (Fr. nappes phees, folded linen, neat as folded linen) is near the mark.
apple-pye bed
A bed made apple-pye fashion, like what is called a turnover apple-pye, where the sheets are so doubled as to prevent any one from getting at his length between them: a common trick played by frolicsome country lasses on their sweethearts, male relations, or visitors.
apples
Clipping of apple and pears or apples and pears (“stairs”).
apples and pears
a rhyming slang expression for stairs
apples of perpetual youth
In Scandinavian mythology, the golden apples of perpetual youth, in the keeping of Idhunn, daughter of the dwarf Svald, and wife of Bragi. It is by tasting them that the gods preserve their youth.
Apples of Sodom
Thevenot says — "There are apple-trees on the sides of the Dead Sea which bear lovely fruit, but within are full of ashes." Josephus, Strabo, Tacitus, and others speak of these apples, and are probably referring to the gall-nuts produced by the insect Cynips wsana. The phrase is used figuratively for anything disappointing.
apples to apples
Comparing similar things to each other
apples to apples, oranges to oranges
Comparing similar things to each other
apply for something
to formally ask for something
apply oneself
To work hard and devote oneself to a task or activity
apply to somebody
to be relevant or suitable for a person
appro
Contraction of approbation, a word much in use among jewellers. Most of the extensive show of chains, watches, and trinkets in a shop window is obtained "ON APPRO," i.e., "on sale or return."
appy
Appendix.
apres moi le deluge
After me the deluge — I care Jtot what happens after I am dead and gone.
april fool
Any one imposed on, or sent on a bootless errand, on the first of April; which day it is the custom among the lower people, children, and servants, by dropping empty papers carefully doubled up, sending persons on absurd messages, and such like contrivances, to impose on every one they can, and then to salute them with the title of April Fool. This is also practised in Scotland under the title of Hunting the Gowke.
April fool
Called in France tm poisson d'Awil Gy.v.), and in Scotland a gowk (cuckoo).
April showers
Flowers.
April showers bring forth May flowers
Difficult times can lead to better circumstances later
apron string
Tied to or controlled by someone, often a parent or spouse.
apron string hold
An estate held by a man during his wife's life.
apron-string hold
to control someone tightly
apron-string tenure
A tenure held in virtue of one's wife. Tied to his mother's apron- string. Completely under his mother's thumb. Applied to a big boy or young man who is still under mother rule.
aqua pumpaginis
Pump water.
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