[plunk down]{v.}, {informal} 1. To drop down; fall. •/After walking a mile we plunked down on a bench to rest./ 2. To drop something noisily or firmly. •/He plunked the heavy suitcase down at the station./ 3. To pay out, primarily an excessive amount •/I had to plunk down $55 for a concert ticket./
[please] See: AS YOU PLEASE.
[pocket] See: BURN A HOLE IN ONE’S POCKET, LINE ONE’S POCKETS.
[pocket money] See: SPENDING MONEY.
[pocket one’s pride] See: SWALLOW ONE’S PRIDE.
[point] See: AT SWORDS' POINTS, AT THE POINT OF, BESIDE THE POINT, BOILING POINT, CASE IN POINT, COME TO THE POINT, EXTRA POINT, MAKE A POINT, ON THE POINT OF, SORE SPOT or SORE POINT, STRETCH A POINT or STRAIN A POINT, TALKING POINT.
[point-blank]{adv.} Straightforwardly; bluntly; directly. •/Sue refused point-blank to discuss marriage with Sam./
[point of view]{n.} Attitude; opinion. •/From the American point of view, Fidel Castro is a bad neighbor to have./
[point out]{v.} 1. To show by pointing with the finger; point to; make clear the location of. •/The guide pointed out the principal sights of the city./ 2. To bring to notice; call to attention; explain. •/The policeman pointed out that the law forbids public sale of firecrackers./ •/The school secretary pointed out that the closing date for making applications had passed./
[point up]{v.} To show clearly; emphasize. •/The increase in crime points up the need for greater police protection./ •/Johnny’s report card points up his talent for math./
[poison-pen]{adj.} Containing threats or false accusations; written in spite or to get revenge, and usually unsigned. •/Mrs. Smith received a poison-pen letter telling her that her husband was untrue./ •/To get revenge on Mary, Alice wrote a poison-pen letter to the teacher and signed Mary’s name to it./
[poke] See: PIG IN A POKE, TAKE A PUNCH AT or TAKE A POKE AT.
[poke around] or [poke about] {v.} 1. To search about; look into and under things. •/The detective poked around in the missing man’s office./ 2. To move slowly or aimlessly; do little things. •/He didn’t feel well, and poked around the house./
[poke fun at] See: MAKE FUN OF.
[poles apart]{adj.} Completely different. •/The two brothers were poles apart in personality./ •/ It was hard for the members to make any decisions because their ideas were poles apart./
[polish off]{v.}, {informal} 1. To defeat easily. •/The Dodgers polished off the Yankees in four straight games in the 1963 World Series./ 2. To finish completely; finish doing quickly, often in order to do something else. •/The boys were hungry and polished off a big steak./ •/Mary polished off her homework early so that she could watch TV./
[polish the apple]{v. phr.}, {slang} To try to make someone like you; to try to win favor by flattery. •/Mary polished the apple at work because she wanted a day off./ •/Susan is the teacher’s pet because she always polishes the apple./ — [apple polisher] {n.}, {slang} A person who is nice to the one in charge in order to be liked or treated better; a person who does favors for a superior. •/Jane is an apple polisher. She is always helping the teacher and talking to him./ •/Joe is an apple-polisher. He will do anything for the boss./ Compare: EAGER BEAVER, YES-MAN. — [apple polishing] {n.}, {slang} Trying to win someone’s good-will by small acts currying favor; the behavior of an apple polisher. •/When John I brought his teacher flowers, everyone thought he was apple polishing./
[politics] See: PLAY POLITICS.
[pond] See: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.
[pool] See: CAR POOL.
[pooped out]{adj.}, {slang} Worn out; exhausted. •/Everyone was pooped out after the hike./ •/The heat made them feel pooped out./
[poor as a church mouse]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Penniless; broke; extremely poor. •/The newly arrived boat people were poor as church mice./
[poor-mouth]{v.} To be constantly complaining about one’s poverty; keep saying how one cannot afford the better things in life. •/Uncle Jack indulges in an awful lot of poor-mouthing, but we know that he has half a million dollars stashed away in a secret savings account./
[pop] See: EYES POP OUT.
[pop fly]{n.} A baseball batted high into the air but not very far from the plate. •/The batter hit a pop fly to the shortstop./
[pop in]{v. phr.} To suddenly appear without announcement. •/"Just pop into my office any time you’re on campus," Professor Brown said./
[pop one’s cork] See: BLOW A FUSE, FLY OFF THE HANDLE, LOSE ONE’S MARBLES, LOSE ONE’S TEMPER.
[pop the question]{v. phr.}, {slang} To ask someone to marry you. •/After the dance he popped the question./ •/A man is often too bashful to pop the question./
[popup]{v.} 1. or [bob up] To appear suddenly or unexpectedly; show up; come out. •/Just when the coach thought he had everything under control, a new problem bobbed up./ •/After no one had heard from him for years, John popped up in town again./ 2. To hit a pop fly in baseball. •/Jim popped the pitch up./
[pork] See: SALT PORK.
[port of call]{n. phr.} 1. Any of the ports that a ship visits after the start of a voyage and before the end; a port where passengers or cargo may be taken on or put off; an in-between port. •/Savannah is a port of call for many Atlantic coasting vessels./ 2. A place you visit regularly or often; a stop included on your usual way of going. •/It was an obscure little restaurant which I had made something of a port of call./ •/His home had become one of my regular ports of call in Boston./
[port of entry]{n. phr.} 1. A port where things brought into the country to sell may pass through customs. •/Other ports of entry have been taking business from New York./ 2. A port where a citizen of another country may legally enter a country; a port having passport and immigration facilities. •/Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner./
[position] See: SCORING POSITION.
[possessed of]{adj. phr.}, {formal} In possession of; having; owning. •/He was possessed of great wealth./ •/He was possessed of great self-confidence./
[possum] See: PLAY POSSUM.
[post] See: PROM PILLAR TO POST.
[pot] See: GO TO POT.
[potato] See: HOT POTATO.
[potboiler]{n.} A book, play, or film written for the primary purpose of earning money for the author. •/"Reading a cheap potboiler helps me go to sleep," the professor wryly remarked./
[pot call the kettle black]{informal} The person who is criticizing someone else is as guilty as the person he accuses; the charge is as true of the person who makes it as of the one he makes it against. •/When the commissioner accused the road builder of bribery, the contractor said the pot was calling the kettle black./ •/Bill said John was cheating at a game but John replied that the pot was calling the kettle black./
[potluck] See: TAKE POTLUCK.
[potluck supper] See: COVERED-DISH SUPPER.
[potshot]{n.} A direct shot at an easy, stationary target from behind a protected position or camouflage; criticism. •/Modern journalists like to take potshots at the president of the United States./
[pound] See: PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH.
[pound away at]{v. phr.} 1. To attack; criticize. •/In his campaign speeches the candidate kept pounding away at the administration’s foreign policy./ 2. To work industriously. •/Mike was pounding away at the foundation of his new house with shovels and pickaxes./
[pound of flesh]{n. phr.}, {literary} The maximum payment authorized by law. •/He had hoped that Peter would be lenient regarding the interest they had agreed on, but Peter demanded his full pound of flesh./
[pound out]{v. phr.} 1. To play a piece of music very loudly on a percussion instrument. •/The boy was pounding out the tune "Mary had a little lamb" on the marimba./ 2. To flatten something with a hammer. •/The bodyshop uses special hammers to pound out the indentations in the bodies of cars./ 3. To produce a piece of writing on a typewriter in haste and without much care. •/She hurriedly pounded out a letter of recommendation for the foreign graduate student./
[pound the pavement]{v. phr.}, {informal} To walk up and down the streets; tramp about. •/John pounded the pavement looking for a job./ •/Mary and Bill pounded the pavement to find an apartment./
[pour] See: IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS.
[pour cold water on] See: THROW COLD WATER ON.
[pour it on thick] See: LAY IT ON THICK.
[pour money down the drain]{v. phr.} To spend one’s money unwisely; to waste one’s funds. •/"Stop supporting Harry’s drug habit," Ralph said. "You’re just pouring money down the drain."./
[pour oil on troubled waters]{v. phr.} To quiet a quarrel; say something to lessen anger and bring peace. •/The troops were nearing a bitter quarrel until the leader poured oil on the troubled waters./
[pour out]{v.} 1. To tell everything about; talk all about. •/Mary poured out her troubles to her pal./ 2. To come out in great quantity; stream out. •/The people poured out of the building when they heard the fire alarm./
[powder] See: TAKE A POWDER.
[powder room]{n.} The ladies' rest room. •/When they got to the restaurant, Mary went to the powder room to wash up./
[power behind the throne]{n. phr.} The person with the real power backing up the more visible partner (usually said about the wives of public figures). •/It is rumored that the First Lady it the power behind the throne in the White House./
[practice] See: IN PRACTICE also INTO PRACTICE, MAKE A PRACTICE OF, OUT OF PRACTICE.
[presence of mind]{n. phr.} Effective and quick decision-making ability in times of crisis. •/When Jimmy fell into the river, his father had the presence of mind to dive in after him and save him from drowning./
[present] See: AT PRESENT.
[press box]{n.} The place or room high in a sports stadium that is for newspaper men and radio and television announcers. •/In baseball the official scorer sits in the press box./
[press conference]{n. phr.} A meeting with news reporters. •/The reporters questioned the president about foreign affairs at the press conference./ •/The press conference with the senator was broadcast on television./
[press one’s luck] or [push one’s luck] {v. phr.} To depend too much on luck; expect to continue to be lucky. •/When John won his first two bets at the race track, he pressed his luck and increased his bets./ •/If you’re lucky at first, don’t press your luck./
[press the flesh]{v.}, {slang} To shake hands with total strangers by the hundreds, keeping an artificial smile all the way, in order to raise one’s popularity during political elections. •/Incumbent Governor Maxwell was pressing the flesh all day long at six different hotels./ Compare: BABY KISSER.
[pressure group]{n. phr.} An organization whose goal it is to create changes by lobbying for the benefit of its own members. •/Certain unscrupulous pressure groups stop at nothing to achieve their selfish aims./
[pretty] See: SITTING PRETTY.
[pretty kettle of fish] See: KETTLE OF FISH.
[pretty penny]{n. phr.} A large amount of money. •/Their new house is so big and modern that we’re sure it must have cost them a pretty penny./
[prevail upon] or [prevail on] {v.} To bring to an act or belief; cause a change in; persuade. •/He prevailed upon the musician to entertain instead of the absent speaker./ •/He prevailed upon me to believe in his innocence./
