[full-fledged]{adj.} Having everything that is needed to be something; complete. •/A girl needs three years of training to be a full-fledged nurse./ •/The book was a full-fledged study of American history./
[full of beans]{adj. phr.}, {slang} 1. Full of pep; feeling good; in high spirits. •/The football team was full of beans after winning the tournament./ •/The children were full of beans as they got ready for a picnic./ 2. also [full of prunes] Being foolish and talking nonsense. •/You are full of prunes; that man’s not 120 years old./
[full of it] See: FULL OF THE OLD NICK.
[full of oneself]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Interested only in yourself. •/Joe would be a nice boy if he would stop being so full of himself./ Compare: BIG HEAD.
[full of prunes] See: FULL OF BEANS(2).
[full of the moon]{n. phr.}, {literary} The moon when it is seen as a full circle; the time of a full moon. •/The robbers waited for a dark night when the full of the moon was past./ Contrast: DARK OF THE MOON.
[full of the Old Nick] or [full of the devil] or [full of it] {adj. phr.}, {informal} Always making trouble; naughty; bad. •/That boy is full of the Old Nick./
[full tilt]{adv.} At full speed; at high speed. •/He ran full tilt into the door and broke his arm./
[fun] See: MAKE FUN OF.
[fun and games]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. A party or other entertaining event. 2. Something trivially easy. 3. Petting, or sexual intercourse. 4. (Ironically) An extraordinary difficult task. •/How was your math exam? (With a dismayed expression): — Yeah, it was all fun and games, man./
[fun house]{n.} A place where people see many funny things and have tricks played on them to make them laugh or have a good time. •/The boys and girls had a good time looking at themselves in mirrors in the fun house./
[funny bone]{n.} 1. The place at the back of the elbow that hurts like electricity when accidentally hit. •/He hit his funny bone on the arm of the chair./ 2. or {informal} [crazy bone] Sense of humor; understanding jokes. •/Her way of telling the story tickled his funny bone./
[fur] See: MAKE THE FUR FLY.
[furious] See: FAST AND FURIOUS.
[fuse] See: BLOW A FUSE.
[fuss] See: KICK UP A FUSS.
[fuss and feathers]{n.}, {informal} Unnecessary bother and excitement. •/She is full of fuss and feathers this morning./
[gab] See: GIFT OF GAB or GIFT OF THE GAB.
[gaff] See: STAND THE GAFF.
[gain ground]{v. phr.} 1. To go forward; move ahead. •/The soldiers fought hard and began to gain ground./ 2. To become stronger; make progress; improve. •/The sick man gained ground after being near death./ •/Under Lincoln, the Republican Party gained ground./ Contrast: LOSE GROUND.
[gallery] See: PLAY TO THE GALLERY.
[gallon] See: TEN-GALLON HAT.
[gallows' humor]{n. phr.} Bitter joke(s) that make fun of a very serious matter, e.g. death, imprisonment, etc. •/When the criminal was led to the electric chair on Monday morning, he said, "Nice way to start the week, eh?"/
[game] See: AHEAD OF THE GAME, LOVE GAME, NAME OF THE GAME, PLAY THE GAME, AT --- STAGE OF THE GAME.
[game at which two can play]{n. phr.} A plan, trick, or way of acting that both sides may use. •/Rough football is a game two can play./ •/Politics is a game at which two can play./
[game is not worth the candle]{literary} What is being done is not worth the trouble or cost; the gain is not worth the effort. •/I don’t want to walk so far on such a hot day. The game is not worth the candle./
[game is up] or {slang} [jig is up] The secret or plan won’t work; we are caught or discovered. •/The game is up; the teacher knows who took her keys./ •/The jig’s up; the principal knows the boys have been smoking in the basement./ Compare: FAT IS IN THE FIRE.
[gang] See: ROAD GANG, SECTION GANG.
[gang up on] or [gang up against] {v. phr.}, {informal} To jointly attack someone, either physically or verbally; take sides in a group against an individual. •/The class bully was stronger than all the other boys, so they had to gang up on him to put him in his place./ Compare: LINE UP(4b).
[garbage down]{v. phr.}, {slang} To eat eagerly and at great speed without much regard for manners or social convention. •/The children garbaged down their food./
[garden apartment]{n.} An apartment with a garden near it. •/The couple live in a garden apartment./
[garment] See: FOUNDATION GARMENT.
[gas] See: STEP ON IT or STEP ON THE GAS.
[gasket] See: BLOW A FUSE or BLOW A GASKET.
[gas up]{v.}, {informal} 1. To fill the gasoline tank of. •/The mechanics gassed up the planes for their long trip./ 2. To fill the tank with gasoline. •/The big truck stopped at the filling station and gassed up./
[gate] See: GET THE BOUNCE or GET THE GATE, GIVE THE BOUNCE or GIVE THE GATE.
[gate crasher] See: CRASH THE GATE.
[gather] See: ROLLING STONE GATHERS NO MOSS.
[gather in]{v.}, {informal} To catch. •/The end gathered in the pass and went over for a touchdown./
[gauntlet] See: RUN THE GAUNTLET, THROW DOWN THE GAUNTLET.
[gay nineties]{n.} The years between 1890 and 1900; remembered as a happy exciting time. •/Ladies wore large hats in the gay nineties./ •/Picnics were popular in the gay nineties./
[gaze] See: CRYSTAL GAZING.
[gear] See: HIGH GEAR, SLIP A COG or SLIP A GEAR, THROW OUT OF GEAR.
[geese] See: FOX AND GEESE.
[gee whiz]{interj.}, {informal} Used as an exclamation to show surprise or other strong feeling. Rare in written English. •/Gee whiz! I am late again./
[general] See: IN GENERAL.
[generation gap]{n.}, {informal}, {hackneyed phrase} The difference in social values, philosophies, and manners between children and their parents, teachers and relatives which causes a lack of understanding between them and frequently leads to violent confrontations. •/My daughter is twenty and I am forty, but we have no generation gap in our family./
[generous to a fault]{adj. phr.} Excessively generous. •/Generous to a fault, my Aunt Elizabeth gave away all her rare books to her old college./
[George] See: LET GEORGE DO IT.
[get] See: GIVE AS GOOD AS ONE GETS, EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, GO-GETTER, TELL ONE WHERE TO GET OFF.
[get about] See: GET AROUND(1b).
[get a black eye]{v. phr.} 1. To receive a dark ring around the eye after being hit by someone’s fist or an object. •/In the fistfight Tom got a black eye from Pete./ •/Sue got a black eye when she ran into a tree./ 2. To have one’s character denigrated. •/Our firm received a black eye because of all the consumer complaints that were lodged against our product./
[get a break]{v. phr.} To receive a stroke of luck. •/Bill got a break when he won the lottery./
[get across]{v.} 1. To explain clearly, make (something) clear; to make clear the meaning of. •/Mr. Brown is a good coach because he can get across the plays./ Syn.: PUT ACROSS. 2. To become clear. •/The teacher tried to explain the problem, but the explanation did not get across to the class./
[get after]{v.}, {informal} 1. To try or try again to make someone do what he is supposed to do. •/Ann’s mother gets after her to hang up her clothes./ 2. To scold or make an attack on. •/Bob’s mother got after him for tracking mud into the house./ •/The police are getting after the crooks in the city./
[get ahead]{v.} 1. {informal} To become successful. •/Mr. Brown was a good lawyer and soon began to get ahead./ •/The person with a good education finds it easier to get ahead./ 2. To be able to save money; get out of debt. •/In a few more years he will be able to get ahead./ •/After Father pays all the doctor bills, maybe we can get a little money ahead and buy a car./
[get a load of]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To take a good look at; see (something unusual or interesting.) — Often used to show surprise or admiration. •/Get a load of that pretty girl!/ •/Get a load of Dick’s new car!/ Compare: LOOK OVER. 2. To listen to carefully or with interest, especially exciting news. — Often used as a command: /Get a load of this: Alice got married yesterday!/
[get along] also [get on] {v.} 1. To go or move away; move on. •/The policeman told the boys on the street corner to get along./ 2. To go forward; make progress; advance, •/John is getting along well in school. He is learning more every day./ Syn.: GET AHEAD. 3. To advance; become old or late. •/It is getting along towards sundown./ •/Grandmother is 68 and getting along./ 4. To get or make what you need; manage. •/It isn’t easy to get along in the jungle./ •/We can get along on $100 a week./ Compare: DO WITHOUT(2), GET BY, MAKE DO. 5. To live or work together in a friendly way; agree, cooperate; not fight or argue. •/We don’t get along with the Jones family./ •/Jim and Jane get along fine together./ •/Don’t be hard to get along with./
[get a fix] or [give a fix] {v. phr.}, {slang}, {drug culture} To provide (someone) with an injection of narcotics. •/The neighborhood pusher gave Joe a fix./ Contrast: GET A FIX ON.
[get a fix on]{v. phr.}, {informal} Receive a reading of a distant object by electronic means, as by radar or sonar. •/Can you get a fix on the submarine?/ Contrast: GET A FIX.
[get a grip on]{v. phr.} To take firm control of something. •/If Tim wants to keep his job, he had better get a grip on himself and start working harder./ Contrast: LOSE ONE’S GRIP.
[get a head start on]{v. phr.} To receive preliminary help or instruction in a particular subject so that the recipient is in a favorable position compared to his or her peers. •/At our school, children get a head start on their reading ability thanks to a special program./
[get a kick out of]{v. phr.} To be greatly thrilled; derive pleasure from. •/Tom and Many get a kick out of playing four hands on the piano./
[get a line on]{v. phr.} To receive special, sometimes even confidential information about something. •/Before Bill accepted his new position, he got a line on how the business was being run./
[get a move on]{informal} or {slang} [get a wiggle on] {v. phr.} To hurry up; get going. — Often used as a command. •/Get a move on, or you will be late./
[get a raise]{v. phr.} To receive an increment in salary. •/Because of his good work, Ted got a raise after May 1./
[get a rise out of]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To have some fun with (a person) by making (him) angry; tease. •/The boys get a rise out of Joe by teasing him about his girl friend./ 2. {vulgar}, {avoidable} To be sexually aroused (said of males) •/Jim always gets a rise out of watching adult movies./
[get (all) dolled up] See: DOLL UP.
[get along] or [on in years] {v. phr.} To age; grow old. •/My father is getting along in years; he will be ninety on his next birthday./
[get an earful]{v. phr.}, {informal} To hear more (of usually unwelcome news) than one expects or wishes to hear. •/I asked how Tim and his wife were getting along, and I certainly got an earful./ Contrast: SAY A MOUTHFUL.
