[clock watcher]{n. phr.}, {informal} A worker who always quits at once when it is time; a man who is in a hurry to leave his job. •/When Ted got his first job, his father told him to work hard and not be a clock watcher./
[close at hand]{adj. phr.} Handy; close by; within one’s range. •/My calendar isn’t close at hand, so I can’t tell you whether we can come next week or not./ •/I always keep my pencils and erasers close at hand when I work on a draft proposal./
[close call] or [shave] {n. phr.} A narrow escape. •/That sure was a close call when that truck came near us from the right!/ •/When Tim fell off his bicycle in front of a bus, it was a very close shave./
[closed book]{n.} A secret; something not known or understood. •/The man’s early life is a closed book./ •/For Mary, science is a closed book./ •/The history of the town is a closed book./
[closed-door]{adj.} Away from the public; in private or in secret; limited to a few. •/The officers of the club held a closed-door meeting./ •/The committee decided on a closed-door rule for the investigation./ Compare: IN PRIVATE.
[close down] or [shut down] {v.} To stop all working, as in a factory; stop work entirely; also: to stop operations in. •/The factory closed down for Christmas./ •/The company shut down the condom plant for Easter./
[closed shop]{n. phr.} 1. A plant or factory that employs only union workers. •/Our firm has been fighting the closed shop policy for many years now./ 2. A profession or line of work dominated by followers of a certain mode of thinking and behaving that does not tolerate differing views or ideas. •/Certain groups of psychologists, historians, and linguists often behave with a closed-shop mentality./ Contrast: OPEN SHOP.
[close in]{v.} To come in nearer from all sides. •/We wanted the boat to reach shore before the fog closed in./ — Often used with "on". * /The troops were closing in on the enemy.
[close its doors]{v. phr.} 1. To keep someone or something from entering or joining; become closed. •/The club has closed its doors to new members./ 2. To fail as a business; go bankrupt. •/The fire was so damaging that the store had to close its doors./ •/Business was so poor that we had to close our doors after six months./ Compare: CLOSE THE DOOR. Contrast: OPEN ITS DOORS.
[close-knit]{adj.} Closely joined together by ties of love, friendship, or common interest; close. •/The Joneses are a close-knit family./ •/The three boys are always together. They form a very close-knit group./
[close one’s eyes] or [shut one’s eyes] {v. phr.} To refuse to see or think about. •/The park is beautiful if you shut your eyes to the litter./ •/The ice was very thin, but the boys shut their eyes to the danger and went skating./ Compare: OPEN ONE’S EYES.
[dose out]{v.} To sell the whole of; end (a business or a business operation) by selling all the goods; also, to sell your stock and stop doing business. •/The store closed out its stock of garden supplies./ •/Mr. Jones closed out his grocery./ •/Mr. Randall was losing money in his shoe store, so he decided to close out./
[close quarters]{n. phr.} Limited, cramped space. •/With seven boy scouts in a tent, they were living in very close quarters./
[close ranks]{v. phr.} 1. To come close together in a line especially for fighting. •/The soldiers closed ranks and kept the enemy away from the bridge./ 2. To stop quarreling and work together; unite and fight together. •/The Democrats and Republicans closed ranks to win the war./ •/The leader asked the people to close ranks and plan a new school./
[close shave] See: CLOSE CALL.
[closet] See: SKELETON IN THE CLOSET.
[close the books]{v. phr.} To stop taking orders; end a bookkeeping period. •/The tickets were all sold, so the manager said to close the books./ •/The department store closes its books on the 25th of each month./
[close the door] or [bar the door] or [shut the door] {v. phr.} To prevent any more action or talk about a subject. •/The President’s veto closed the door to any new attempt to pass the bill./ •/Joan was much hurt by what Mary said, and she closed the door on Mary’s attempt to apologize./ •/After John makes up his mind, he closes the door to any more arguments./ Contrast: OPEN THE DOOR.
[close to home]{adv. phr.} Too near to someone’s personal feelings, wishes, or interests. •/When John made fun of Bob’s way of walking, he struck close to home./ •/When the preacher spoke about prejudice, some people felt he had come too close to home./
[close-up]{n.} A photograph, motion picture, or video camera shot taken at very close range. •/Directors of movies frequently show close-ups of the main characters./
[close up shop]{v. phr.} 1. To shut a store at the end of a day’s business, also, to end a business. •/The grocer closes up shop at 5 o’clock./ •/After 15 years in business at the same spot, the garage closed up shop./ 2. {informal} To stop some activity; finish what you are doing. •/After camping out for two weeks, the scouts took down their tents and closed up shop./ •/The committee finished its business and closed up shop./ Compare: CALL IT A DAY.
[clothes] See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER or SUNDAY-GO-TO-MEETING CLOTHES.
[clothing] See: WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING.
[cloud] See: EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING, IN THE CLOUDS, ON CLOUD NINE, UNDER A CLOUD.
[clover] See: FOUR-LEAF CLOVER, IN CLOVER or IN THE CLOVER.
[club] See: CHRISTMAS CLUB.
[cluck and grunt]{n.}, {slang}, {avoid it in restaurants} The familiar restaurant dish of ham and eggs; since ham is made of pork (and pigs grunt) and eggs come from hens (which cluck.) •/"I am sorry I can’t fix you an elaborate meal, but I can give you a quick cluck and grunt."/
[clutch] See: RIDE THE BRAKE.
[coal] See: CARRY COALS TO NEWCASTLE, HAUL OVER THE COALS or RAKE OVER THE COALS, HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON ONE’S HEAD.
[coast is clear] No enemy or danger is in sight; there is no one to see you. •/When the teacher had disappeared around the corner, John said, "Come on, the coast is clear."/ •/The men knew when the night watchman would pass. When he had gone, and the coast was clear, they robbed the safe./ •/When Father stopped the car at the stop sign, Mother said, "The coast is clear on this side."/
[coat tail] See: ON ONE’S COAT TAILS.
[cock] See: GO OFF HALF-COCKED also GO OFF AT HALF COCK.
[cock-and-bull story]{n. phr.} An exaggerated or unbelievable story. •/"Stop feeding me such cock-and-bull stories," the detective said to the suspect./
[cockeyed]{adj.} Drunk; intoxicated. •/Frank has been drinking all day and, when we met, he was so cockeyed he forgot his own address./
[cocksure]{adj.} Overconfident; very sure. •/Paul was cocksure that it wasn 't going to snow, but it snowed so much that we had to dig our way out of the house./
[C.O.D.]{n. phr.} Abbreviation of "cash on delivery." •/If you want to receive a piece of merchandise by mail and pay when you receive it, you place a C.O.D. order./
[coffee break]{n.} A short recess or time out from work in which to rest and drink coffee. •/The girls in the office take a coffee break in the middle of the morning and the afternoon./
[coffee hour]{n.} A time for coffee or other refreshments after a meeting; a time to meet people and have refreshments. •/After the business meeting we had a coffee hour./ •/The Joneses had a coffee hour so their visitor could meet their neighbors./
[coffee table]{n.} A low table used in a living room. •/There were several magazines on the coffee table./
[coffin nail]{n.}, {slang} A cigarette. •/"I stopped smoking," Algernon said. "In fact, I haven’t had a coffin nail in well over a year."/
[cog] See: SLIP A COG or SLIP A GEAR.
[coin money] or [mint money] {v. phr.}, {informal} To make a lot of money quickly; profit heavily; gain big profit. •/Fred coined money with many cigarette vending machines and juke boxes./
[cold] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD, BLOW HOT AND COLD, CATCH COLD or TAKE COLD, IN COLD BLOOD, OUT COLD, OUT IN THE COLD, PASS OUT(2), STONE-COLD, STOP COLD, THROW COLD WATER ON.
[cold cash] or [hard cash] {n.} Money that is paid at the time of purchase; real money; silver and bills. •/Mr. Jones bought a new car and paid cold cash for it./ * •/Some stores sell things only for cold cash./ Compare: CASH ON THE BARRELHEAD.
[cold comfort]{n.} Something that makes a person in trouble feel very little better or even worse. •/When Tim lost the race, it was cold comfort to him to hear that he could try again in two weeks./ •/Mary spent her vacation sick in bed and Jane’s letter about her trip was cold comfort./
[cold feet]{n. phr.}, {informal} A loss of courage or nerve; a failure or loss of confidence in yourself. •/Ralph was going to ask Mary to dance with him but he got cold feet and didn’t./
[cold fish]{n.}, {informal} A queer person; a person who is unfriendly or does not mix with others. •/No one knows the new doctor, he is a cold fish./ •/Nobody invites Eric to parties because he is a cold fish./
[cold-shoulder]{v.}, {informal} To act towards a person; with dislike or scorn; be unfriendly to. •/Fred cold-shouldered his old friend when they passed on the street./ •/It is impolite and unkind to cold-shoulder people./ Compare: BRUSH OFF(2), HIGH-HAT, LOOK DOWN ONE’S NOSE AT.
[cold shoulder]{n.}, {informal} Unfriendly treatment of a person, a showing of dislike for a person or of looking down on a person. — Used in the cliches "give the cold shoulder" or "turn a cold shoulder to" or "get the cold shoulder". •/When Bob asked Mary for a date she gave him the cold shoulder./ •/The membership committee turned a cold shoulder to Jim’s request to join the club./
[cold snap]{n.} A short time of quick change from warm weather to cold. •/The cold snap killed everything in the garden./
[cold turkey]{adv.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. Abruptly and without medical aid to withdraw from the use of an addictive drug or from a serious drinking problem. •/Joe is a very brave guy; he kicked the habit cold turkey./ 2. {n.} An instance of withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, or cigarette smoking. •/Joe did a cold turkey./
[cold war]{n.} A struggle that is carried on by other means and not by actual fighting; a war without shooting or bombing. •/After World War II, a cold war began between Russia and the United States./
[collar] See: HOT UNDER THE COLLAR, ROMAN COLLAR, SAILOR COLLAR.
[collective farm]{n.} A large government-run farm made by combining many small farms. •/The Russian farmers used to live on collective farms./
[collector’s item]{n.} Something rare or valuable enough to collect or save. •/Jimmy’s mother found an old wooden doll in the attic that turned out to be a collector’s item./
[College Boards]{n.} A set of examinations given to test a student’s readiness and ability for college. •/John got a high score on his College Boards./ •/College Boards test both what a student has learned and his ability to learn./
[color] See: CHANGE COLOR, GIVE COLOR TO or LEND COLOR TO, HAUL DOWN ONE’S COLORS, HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR, NAIL ONE’S COLORS TO THE MAST, OFF-COLOR or OFF-COLORED, SAIL UNDER FALSE COLORS, SEE THE COLOR OF ONE’S MONEY, SHOW ONE’S COLORS, WITH FLYING COLORS.
[color guard]{n.} A military guard of honor for the flag of a country; also: a guard of honor to carry and protect a flag or banner (as of a club). •/There were four Marines in the color guard in the parade./ •/Bob was picked to be a color guard and to carry the banner of the drum corps at the football game./
