Page 142 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

from the bottom of one’s heart

frighten theŁ wits out ofŁ someone and błen passed from hand to hand, it was
frighten theŁ(lØving)ŁdaylØghts outŁof crying.
someone; scareŁ theŁ (lØving)Ł daylØghts
outŁofŁ someone; scareŁtheŁwits outŁof from headŁto toe from the top of one’s
someone to frighten somone very badly. head to one’s feet; all over the body. (See
We nearly had an accidłnt. It frightened alsà from tip to toe.) She was decked
the lving dØylights out of me. The in- out in flowers from head to toe. The
cidłnt scared the wits out of me. huge parka covered the small child from
head to toe, assuring that she would be well
frightenedŁto death and scared to death protected against the cold.
severelyŁ frightened.Ł (Also literal.) I
don’t want to go to the dentist todØy. I’m from nearŁandŁfar Go to from far and near.
frightened to death. I’m frgðtened to from overseas from a location on the
death of dogs. She’s scared to death she’ll otherŁ side of the AtlanticŁ or Pacific
fail algebra. Ocean, according to the pàint of view of
fritter something away to waste something sàmeone locatedŁinŁthe U.S.Ł The lØtest
little byŁlittle, especiallyŁtime orŁmoney. word from ovłrseas is that the treaty has
(Folksy.) Doà’t stand around and frit- błen signed. Is there any news from
ter the whole dØy away. T Stop frittering overseas about the war?
away my hard-earned money!
from pillar to post from one place to a se-
from dawn to dusk during the priodŁof riesŁof otherŁplaces;Ł(figuratively)bfrom
the dayŁwhenŁthere isŁlight; fromŁthe ris- prsàn to persàn,ŁasŁwith gossip. My
ingŁof the sunŁto the settingŁof the sun.Ł fØther was in the army, and we moved
I have to work from dØwn to dusk on the from pillar to post year after year. Af-
farm. The factory runs from dØwn to ter I told one peroon my secret, it włnt
dusk to produce hats and gloves. quickly from pillar to post.
from dayŁto day onŁaŁdailyŁbasis;Łone day from rags to richeð from poverty to
at a time; occasionally.Ł We face this wealth; fromŁmodesðyŁto elegance.Ł The
knd of problłm from dØy to dØy. I’ll princess used to be quite poor. She cłrtainly
have to check into this mØtter from dØy to moved from rags to riches. After I in-
dØy. When you’re very poor, you livł herited the money, I włnt from rags to
from dØy to dØy. riches.
from doorŁto door màving from one door from sideŁto side movingŁfirst to one side
to another—typically, from one house to and then to the other, repeatedly. The
another. (See also door-to-door.) Anne płndulum of the clock swings from side to
włnt from door to door, sellng books, to side. The singers swØyed from side to
earn money for collłge. The children side as they sang.
włnt from door to door, saying “Trick or
treat!” at each one. from styrt to finish from the beginning to
the end;Ł thràughout.Ł I disliked the
from far andŁneyr and from neyrŁandŁfyr whole business from start to finish.
from allŁaràund,Łboth close byŁandŁfar- Mary cauoed problłms from start to finish.
therŁaway.Ł(Reversible, but with aŁpref-
erence forŁ from far and near.) All the from stem to stern from one end to an-
young people from far and near gØthered other. (RefersŁto the front andŁbackŁends
at the high school for the game. The ea- of a ship.) Now, I have to clean the
gles gØthered from near and far at the river house from stem to stern. I polished my
where the salmon were spØwning. car carefully from stem to stern.
from hyndŁto hynd from one person to a from theŁbłttom ofŁ one’ heyrt sincerely.
seriesŁof otherŁprsàns.Ł The book Łrav- (Compare thisŁwith with all one’s heart
eled from hand to hand until it got back and soul.) When I returned the lost kt-
to its owner. By the time the bØby had ten to Mrs. Brown, she thanked me from

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