[raise a hand] See: LIFT A FINGER.
[raise a row]{v. phr.} To cause a disturbance, a fuss, or a scene. •/He raised quite a row when he noticed that someone had scratched his brand new car./
[raise a stink]{v. phr.} To cause a disturbance; complain; protest strongly. •/Quite a stink was raised in the office when the boss discovered that several employees had left early./
[raise Cain]{v. phr.}, {slang} To be noisy; cause trouble. •/When John couldn’t go on the basketball trip with the team he raised Cain./ •/The children raised Cain in the living room./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS, RAISE THE DEVIL.
[raise eyebrows]{v. phr.} To shock people; cause surprise or disapproval. •/The news that the princess was engaged to a commoner raised eyebrows all over the kingdom./
[raise funds] or [money] {v. phr.} To solicit donations for a charity or a specific project. •/Our church is trying to raise the funds for a new organ./
[raise hackles] or [raise one’s hackles] {v. phr.} To make (someone) upset or annoyed; arouse hostility. •/Attempts to add new ingredients to the beer raised hackles among all the old brew masters./
[raise havoc] See: PLAY HAVOC WITH.
[raise heck] See: RAISE THE DEVIL.
[raise hob] See: RAISE THE DEVIL.
[raise one’s sights]{v. phr.} To aim high; be ambitious. •/Teenage boys sometimes think too much of themselves and have a tendency to raise their sights too high./
[raise one’s voice]{v. phr.} To speak loudly, as if in anger or in protest. •/"I’m sorry, Mom," Peter said. "I didn’t mean to raise my voice."/
[raise the devil] or [raise heck] or [raise hob] or [raise ned] {v. phr.}, {informal} To make trouble; start a fight or an argument. •/Mr. Black raised heck when he saw the dented fender. He blamed the other driver./ •/Some teenage boys raised the devil in town on Halloween night and damaged a lot of property./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS.
[raise the roof]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To make a lot of noise; be happy and noisy. •/The gang raised the roof with their singing./ 2. To scold loudly. •/Mother raised the roof when she saw the dog’s muddy footprints on her new bedspread./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS, RAISE CAIN.
[rake in]{v. phr.} To realize great profits; take in money. •/Because of the heavy snowfall, ski lodge operators in the Rocky Mountains have been raking in the dough this winter season./
[rake off]{v. phr.} To illegally expropriate part of a sum paid. •/The secretary-treasurer of the association has been caught raking off some of the membership dues./
[rake-off] See: KICKBACK.
[rake over the coals] See: HAUL OVER THE COALS.
[rake up]{v. phr.} To expose; gather; bring to light. •/Let’s forget about the past; there’s no need to rake up all those old memories./
[ramble on about]{v. phr.} To chatter on idly and without a purpose. •/When Ted has too much to drink, he always rambles on about the good old days./
[ram down one’s throat] See: SHOVE DOWN ONE’S THROAT.
[random] See: AT RANDOM.
[rank] See: CLOSE RANKS, PULL RANK.
[rank and file]{n. phr.} Ordinary people; the regular membership of an organization; the enlisted privates in the Army. •/The general usually inspects the rank and file on specific national holidays./ •/The secretary of the association sends letters annually to the rank and file./
[rap] See: TAKE THE RAP.
[rap one’s knuckles]{v. phr.} To scold or punish. •/The principal rapped our knuckles for cheating on the test./ •/If you talk back to Dad, you’ll get your knuckles rapped./ •/The club got its knuckles rapped by the principal for hazing new members./ •/Why rap my knuckles? It wasn’t my fault./ Compare: DRESSING DOWN, GIVE IT TO(2).
[rat] See: SMELL A RAT.
[rate] See: AT ANY RATE, FIRST RATE.
[rather] See: HAD RATHER.
[rat on] See: BLOW THE WHISTLE, RAT OUT.
[rat out] or [rat out on] {v. phr.}, {slang} To desert; to leave at a critical time. •/Joe ratted out on Sue when she was seven months pregnant./
[rat race]{n.}, {slang} A very confusing, crowded, or disorderly rush; a confusing scramble, struggle, or way of living that does not seem to have a purpose. •/The dance last night was a rat race. It was too noisy and crowded./ •/School can be a rat race if you don’t keep up with your studies./ •/This job is a rat race. The faster you work, the faster the boss wants you to work./
[rate with someone]{v. phr.} To be esteemed highly by another. •/The professor really rates with both the graduate students and the undergraduates./
[rattle] See: SABRE RAITLING.
[rattle off] or [reel off] {v.} To say quickly without having to stop to think; recite easily and rapidly. •/When Roger was seven he could rattle off the names of all the states in alphabetical order./ •/Joan memorized the "Gettysburg Address" so well that she could reel it off./ •/We asked the waitress what flavors of ice cream she had, and she rattled them off./
[rattle one’s saber]{v. phr.} To threaten another government or country without subsequent acts of war. •/It is considered an act of demagoguery on the part of politicians to rattle their sabers./ Compare: YELLOW JOURNALISM.
[rave about]{v. phr.} To talk very enthusiastically about someone or something. •/Hank praised the new TV show very highly but we didn’t think it was anything to rave about./
[raw] See: IN THE RAW.
[raw deal]{n. phr.} Unfair treatment; inequity. •/Barry got a raw deal when he was sent to teach the class on advanced nuclear physics; he’s an inexperienced graduate student./
[razzle-dazzle]{n.}, {slang} Fancy display; showing off. •/He is such a good player that he doesn’t have to add razzle-dazzle to his game./ •/Do we need all this razzle-dazzle to advertise our fair?/
[reach] See: BOARDING HOUSE REACH.
[reach first base] See: GET TO FIRST BASE.
[reach for the sky]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To put your hands high above your head or be shot. — Usually used as a command. •/A holdup man walked into a gas station last night and told the attendant "Reach for the sky!"/ Syn.: HANDS UP. 2. To set one’s aims high. •/"Why medical technician?" asked her father. "Reach for the sky! Become a physician!"/
[read between the lines]{v. phr.} To understand all of a writer’s meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid. •/Some kinds of poetry make you read between the lines./ •/A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines./
[read into]{v. phr.} To attribute extra meaning to; deduce from; consider to be implicit in. •/Just because Fred’s letters sounded so friendly Mary was wrong to read anything serious into them./
[read off]{v. phr.} To read in a speaking voice from a list. •/The secretary read off the names of those present in alphabetical order./
[read one like a book]{v. phr.}, {informal} To understand someone completely; know what he will think or do at any time. •/John’s girlfriend could read him like a book./ Compare: READ ONE’S MIND.
[read one one’s rights]{v. phr.} To give to an arrested person the legally required statement regarding the rights of such a person. •/"Read him his rights," Sergeant," the captain said, "and book him for breaking and entering."/
[read one’s mind]{v. phr.} To know what someone else is thinking. •/I have known John so long that I can read his mind./ — [mind reader] {n.} •/That’s exactly what I was going to say. You must be a mind reader!/ Compare: READ LIKE A BOOK.
[read the riot act]{v. phr.} To give someone a strong warning or scolding. •/Three boys were late to class and the teacher read the riot act to them./
[read over]{v. phr.} To read hurriedly in a rather superficial manner. •/The professor said he had no time to read my essay thoroughly but that he had read it over and would comment later in detail./
[read up on]{v. phr.} To study carefully in preparation for an examination or other special purpose. •/Since Mr. and Mrs. Lee are going to take their American citizenship exams soon, they must read up on the Constitution and the three branches of government./
[ready] See: AT THE READY, ROUGH-AND-READY.
[ready-made]{adj.} Mass-produced; machine made. •/I buy all my dresses ready-made because I can’t afford to have them made to order./
[ready money]{n. phr.} Cash on hand. •/Frank refuses to buy things on credit, but, if he had the ready money, he would buy that lovely old house./
[real] See: FOR REAL, IT’S BEEN REAL.
[rear] See: BRING UP THE REAR.
[rear end]{n.} 1. The back part (usually of a vehicle) •/The rear end of our car was smashed when we stopped suddenly and the car behind us hit us./ — Often used like an adjective, with a hyphen. •/A head-on crash is more likely to kill the passengers than a rear-end crash./ Contrast: HEAD-ON. 2. Rump; backside. •/Bobby’s mother was so annoyed with his teasing that she swatted his rear end./
[rear its head]{v. phr.} To appear; emerge. •/After decades of certainty that tuberculosis had been eradicated globally, it suddenly reared its ugly head right here in the United States./
[reason] See: IN REASON, LISTEN TO REASON, RHYME OR REASON, STAND TO REASON, WITHIN REASON.
[receive with open arms] See: WITH OPEN ARMS.
[reckon with]{v.} To consider as one of the things which may change a situation; consider (something) that will make a difference in the results. •/The coach said the opposing pitcher had a fast ball to be reckoned with./ Syn.: TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
[reckon without]{v.} To fail to consider as one of the things which might change a situation; not think about. •/The committee for the class picnic party made careful plans for a beach party but they reckoned without a sudden change in the weather./
[record] See: MATTER OF RECORD, OFF THE RECORD, ON RECORD.
[red] See: IN THE RED, PAINT THE TOWN RED, SEE RED.
[redcap]{n.} A porter at an airport or at a railroad station. •/Mr. Smith works as a redcap at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport./
[red carpet] See: ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET.
[red cent]{n. phr.} The one-cent coin; a copper coin; very little money. •/Poor Oscar is so broke he doesn’t have a red cent to his name./
[red eye]{adj. phr.} Bloodshot eyes that are strained from too much reading. •/Poor Tim has a red eye; he must have been studying too late again./
[red eye]{n. phr.}, {informal} A night flight. •/The company refused to pay for him to take a more expensive daytime flight, so he had to come in on the red eye./
[red-handed]{adj.} In the very act; while committing a crime or evil action. •/The criminal was caught red-handed while holding up the neighborhood bank at gunpoint./
[red herring]{n. phr.} A false scent laid down in order to deceive; a phony or misleading story designed to cause confusion. •/That story about the president having an affair was a red herring created by the opposition in order to discredit him./
[red-letter day]{n. phr.} A holiday; memorable day (usually printed in red on calendars). •/The Fourth of July is a red-letter day./ •/It was a red-letter day for Felix, when he won the lottery./
[red-light district]{n. phr.} A district of brothels or where prostitutes hang out. •/Most unwisely, the young sailor decided to spend his leave on shore by haunting the red-light districts of the port of call./
