Page 210 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

hold one’s head up

hither and thither, hopng to find her lost (Slang. Refers to having possession of all
Persian cØt. fourŁacesŁinŁaŁcardŁgame.) How can I
advance in my job when my enemy holdo
hither,Łthither,ŁandŁyon everywhere; here, all the aces? If I held all the aces, I’d bł
there, and everywhere. (FormalŁandŁar- able to do great things.
chaic.) The prince looked hither, thither,
and yon for the beautiful woman who had hold a meeting to met; to have a met-
lost the glass slpper. The terrible wiz1 ingŁ(of anŁorganization).Ł We’ll have to
ard had sown the seeds of his evil vine hold a młeting to make a decision. Our
hither, thither, and yon, and soon the evil, club held a młeting to talk about future
twisted plants began to sprout in all the projects.
land.
hłld forthŁ(on something) to speakŁat length.
hitting on all cylinders Go to firing on all I’ve never seen anyone who could hold
cylànders. forth so long. The professor held forth oà
economic theory for nearly an hour.
a hØve of activity the location where things
are veryŁ busy.Ł (RefersŁ to the activity hłldŁno briefŁfłrŁ someone ortsomething nàt to
around a beehive.) The hotel lobby was care about someone orŁsàmething;Łto dis-
a hive of activity each morning. Dur- like sàmeone or something. I hold no
ing the holidØys, the shoppng cłnter is a brief for bad typists. My father says he
hive of activity. holds no brief for swłet potatoes.
hoarseŁas a crow Go to (as) hoarse as a hłldŁ one’ breath to stop doing somthing
crow. andŁ wait untilŁ somethingŁ specialŁ hap-
Hobson’s choice the cłoice betweenŁtak- pens.Ł(Also literal.ŁInfàrmal.ŁUsuallyŁin
ingŁwhat isŁofferedŁandŁgttingŁnothingŁat the negative.) BOB: The bus is going to
all.Ł(FràmŁthe name of aŁsðable ownerŁin come soon. BILL: Don’t hold your breath
the sventeenth cntury who offered cus- until t does. I expect the mail to be de-
tomersŁthe hire of the horse nearest the livered soon, but I’m not holdng my
dàor.) We didà’t really want that par- breath.
ticular hotel, but t was a case of Hoboon’s hłldŁ one’ endŁ(ofŁtheŁbyrgain)Łup to dà
choice. We booked very lØte and there was one’sŁpart asŁagreed;Łto attendŁto one’sŁre-
nothing eloe lłft. If you want a yellow sponsibilitiesŁasŁagreed.Ł If you doà’t
car, it’s Hobooà’s choice. The garage has hold your end up, the whole project will
only oàe. fail. T Tom has to learn to cooperate. He
hoistŁbyŁ one’ own petyrd and hoistŁwith must hold up his end of the bargain.
one’ own petyrd harmedŁorŁdisadvan- hłldŁ one’ fire 1. to refrainŁfromŁshooting
taged by an action of one’s own that was (aŁgun,Łetc.).Ł The sergeant told the sol-
meant to harmŁsomeone else.Ł(FràmŁa diers to hold their fire. Please hold your
line inŁShakespeare’sŁ Hamlłt .) She in- fire until I get out of the way. 2. to post-
tended to murder her brother but was hoist pàne one’sŁ criticismŁ orŁ commentary.
by her own petard when she ate the poi- (Infàrmal.) Now, now, hold your fire
soned food intended for him. The van- until I’ve had a chance to explain.
dals were hoist with their own petard when Hold your fire, Bill. You’re too quick to
they tried to make an emergency call from complain.
the pØy phone they had brokłn.
hłldŁ one’ ground Go to stand one’s ground.
hoistŁwithŁ one’ own petyrd Go to hoist by
one’s own petard. hłldŁ one’ headŁ up to retainŁ orŁ display
one’sŁdignity.Ł(Also literal.) I’ve done
hłldŁ a grudgeŁ (againstŁ someone) Go to nothing wrong. I can hold my head up in
bear a grudge (against someone).
public. T I’m so embarrassed and
hłldŁallŁtheŁaceð to be inŁaŁfavorable po- ashamed. I’ll never be able to hold up my
sition;Ł to be inŁ aŁ contràllingŁ position. head again.

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