[peeping Tom] <n.> A man or boy who likes sly peeping. * /He was picked up by the police as a peeping Tom./
[peg] See: SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE, TAKE DOWN A PEG.
[peg away] <v.> To work methodically, industriously, or steadily * /Thomson pegged away for years at a shoe repair business./ * /Jones kept pegging away, and finally recognition came./
[pen] See: POISON-PEN, SLIP OF THE PEN.
[penalty box] <n.> A place where penalized hockey players are required to go to wait until the penalty is over. * /Two players got into a fight and were sent to the penalty box for two minutes./
[penny for one's thoughts] Please tell me what you are thinking about; what's your daydream. * /"A penny for your thoughts!" he exclaimed./
[penny pincher], [penny pinching] See: PINCH PENNIES.
[penny wise and pound foolish] Wise or careful in small things but not careful enough in important things. - A proverb. * /Mr. Smith's fence is rotting and falling down because he wouldn't spend money to paint it. He is penny wise and pound foolish./
[pen pal] <n.> A friend who is known to someone through an exchange of letters. * /John's pen pal writes him letters about school in Alaska./
[people who live in glass houses should not throw stones] Do not complain about other people if you are as bad as they are. - A proverb. * /Mary says that Betty is jealous, but Mary is more jealous herself. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones./
[pep talk] <n.>, <informal> A speech that makes people feel good so they will try harder and not give up. * /The football coach gave the team a pep talk./ * /Mary was worried about her exams, but felt better after the teacher's pep talk./
[period of grace] See: GRACE PERIOD.
[perish the thought] <v. phr.> Let us not even think of it; may it never come true. - Used as an exclamation. * /If John fails the college entrance exam - perish the thought - he will go back to high school for one more year./ * /Perish the thought that Mary should have cancer./ Compare: GOD FORBID.
[perk up] <v.> To get or give back pep, vigor, health, or spirit; become or make more lively; liven up. * /He perked up quickly after his illness./ * /The rain perked up the flowers wonderfully./
[person] See: IN PERSON.
[pet name] <n. phr.> A special or abbreviated name indicating affection. * /He never calls his wife her real name, "Elizabeth," but only such pet names as "honey," "honey bunch," "sweetheart," and "sugar."/
[petard] See: HOIST WITH ONE'S OWN PETARD.
[Peter] See: ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL.
[peter out] <v.>, <informal> To fail or die down gradually; grow less; become exhausted. * /After the factory closed, the town pretty well petered out./ * /The mine once had a rich vein of silver, but it petered out./ * /But as he thought of her, his anger slowly petered out./ Compare: GIVE OUT.
[photo finish] <n. phr.> A close finish in a race of people or animals, where the camera must decide the actual result, sometimes by millimeters. * /The black horse was declared the winner in a photo finish./
[pick] See: BONE TO PICK or CROW TO PICK.
[pick a bone] See: BONE TO PICK.
[pick a fight] See: PICK A QUARREL.
[pick a hole in] or [pick holes in] <v. phr.>, <informal> To find a mistake in or things wrong with; criticize; blame. * /The witness said he had been walking in the moonlight last Sunday, but the lawyer picked a hole in what he said by proving that there was no moon and that it rained Sunday night./ * /Mary is always picking holes in what the other girls do./ Compare: FIND FAULT.
[pick and choose] <v.> To select with much care; choose in a fussy way; take a long time before choosing. * /He was never one to pick and choose./ * /Some people pick and choose to get something perfect, and some just because they can't make up their minds./
[pick apart] or [pick to pieces] <v. phr.> To criticize harshly; find things wrong with; find fault with. * /After the dance, the girls picked Susan apart./ * /They picked the play to pieces./
[pick a pocket] <v. phr.> To steal by removing from the pocket of another. * /While in the train, somebody picked his pocket and took the last dollar he had./
[pick a/the lock] <v. phr.> To burglarize; open illegally; open a lock without the regular key. * /The robber got into the house by picking the lock./
[pick a quarrel] <v. phr.> To seek the opportunity for a fight or a quarrel. * /When Charlie has too much to drink, he has a tendency to pick a quarrel with whomever happens to be around./ See: PICK A FIGHT.
[pick at] <v.> 1. To reach or grasp for repeatedly. * /The baby kept picking at the coverlet./ 2. To eat without appetite; choose a small piece every little while to eat. * /He picked at his food./ 3. To annoy or bother continually; find fault with. * /They showed their displeasure by continually picking at her./ Syn.: PICK ON.
[pick holes in] <v. phr.> To criticize or find fault with something, such as a speech, a statement, a theory, etc. * /It is easier to pick holes in someone else's argument than to make a good one yourself./
[pick-me-up] <n. phr.> Something you take when you feel tired or weak. * /John stopped at a drugstore for a pick-me-up after working three hours overtime./ * /Mary always carried a bar of chocolate in her pocketbook for a pick-me-up./
[pickpocket] <n.> A thief; a petty criminal who steals things and money out of people's pockets on a bus, train, etc. * /In some big cities many poor children become pickpockets out of poverty./
[pick off] <v.> 1. To pull off; remove with the fingers. * /He picked off the burs that had stuck to his overcoat./ 2. To shoot, one at a time; knock down one by one. * /The sniper picked off the slower soldiers as they came out into the road./ 3. To catch a base runner off base by throwing the ball quickly to a fielder who tags him out. * /The pitcher turned around suddenly and threw to the second baseman to pick the runner off second base./ Compare: OFF BASE. 4. To catch and, especially in football, to intercept. * /Alert defenders picked off three of Jack's passes./
[pick on] <v.> 1. <informal> To make a habit of annoying or bothering (someone); do or say bad things to (someone). * /Other boys picked on him until he decided to fight them./ Syn.: PICK AT(3). 2. To single out; choose; select. * /He visited a lot of colleges, and finally picked on Stanford./
[pick one's teeth] <v. phr.> To clean one's teeth with a toothpick. * /It is considered poor manners to pick one's teeth in public./
[pick one's way] <v. phr.> To go ahead carefully in difficult or unfamiliar places; advance with care. * /After nightfall we drove slowly along, picking our way until we found the right turn./ * /He picked his way across the rough and rocky hillside./
[pick out] <v.> 1. To choose. * /It took Mary a long time to pick out a dress at the store./ 2. To see among others; recognize; tell from others. * /We could pick out different places in the city from the airplane./ * /We could not pick Bob out in the big crowd./ Syn.: MAKE OUT(2). 3. To find by examining or trying; tell the meaning. * /The box was so dirty we couldn't pick out the directions on the label./ Compare: FIND OUT.
[pick over] <v.> To select the best of; look at and take what is good from; choose from. * /She picked the apples over and threw out the bad ones./ * /We hurried to the big sale, but we were late and everything had already been picked over./
[pick the brains of] <v. phr.> To get ideas or information about a particular subject by asking an expert. * /If you have time, I'd like to pick your brains about home computers./
[pick to pieces] See: PICK APART, PICK HOLES IN.
[pickup] <n.>, (stress on "pick") 1. A rugged, small truck. * /When he got into the lumber business, Max traded in his comfortable two-door sedan for a pickup./ 2. Scheduled meeting in order to transfer merchandise or stolen goods. * /The pickup goes down at 7 A.M. every day by the loading dock./ * /The dope pushers usually make their pickup on Rush Street./ 3. A person who is easy to persuade to go home with the suitor. * /Sue is said to be an easy pickup./
[pick up] <v.> 1. To take up; lift. * /During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard./ 2. <informal> To pay for someone else. * /After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check./ 3. To take on or away; receive; get. * /At the next corner the bus stopped and picked up three people./ 4. To get from different places at different times; a little at a time; collect. * /He had picked up rare coins in seaports all over the world./ 5. To get without trying; get accidentally. * /He picked up knowledge of radio just by staying around the radio station./ * /Billy picked up a cold at school./ 6a. To gather together; collect. * /When the carpenter finished making the cabinet, he began picking up his tools./ 6b. To make neat and tidy; tidy up; put in order. * /Pick up your room before Mother sees it./ 6c. To gather things together; tidy a place up. * /It's almost dinner time, children. Time to pick up and get ready./ 7. To catch the sound of. * /He picked up Chicago on the radio./ 8. To get acquainted with (someone) without an introduction; make friends with (a person of the other sex). * /Mother told Mary not to walk home by herself from the party because some stranger might try to pick her up./ 9. <informal> To take to the police station or jail; arrest. * /Police picked the man up for burglary./ 10. To recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal; find. * /State police picked up the bandit's trail./ * /The dogs picked up the fox's smell./ 11. To make (someone) feel better; refresh. * /A little food will pick you up./ 12a. To increase (the speed); make (the speed) faster. * /The teacher told her singing class to pick up the tempo./ * /The car picked up speed./ 12b. To become faster; become livelier. * /The speed of the train began to pick up./ * /After the band practiced for a while, the music began to pick up./ 13. To start again after interruption; go on with. * /The class picked up the story where they had left it before the holiday./ * /They met after five years, and picked up their friendship as if there had been no interruption./ 14. <informal> To become better; recover; gain. * /She picked up in her schoolwork./ * /He picked up gradually after a long illness./ * /His spirits picked up as he came near home./
[pick up the tab] <v. phr.> To pay the bill in a restaurant; be the one who underwrites financially what others are doing. * /"I am always the one who picks up the tab," Charlie complained bitterly. "Others get away with being freeloaders."/ Compare: FOOT THE BILL.
[Pidgin English] <n. phr.> A jargon that consists of some mispronounced English words and some foreign words used by Orientals in talking with Westerners. * /You can conduct a lot of business in Pidgin English in the Far East./
[pie] See: EAT HUMBLE PIE, FINGER IN THE PIE, PIE IN THE SKY, SWEETIE PIE.
[piece] See: BY THE PIECE, CONVERSATION PIECE, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE'S MIND, GO TO PIECES, OF A PIECE, PIECE OF CAKE, SAY ONE'S PIECE or SPEAK ONE'S PIECE, TO PIECES.
[piece of cake] <adj.>, <slang> Easy. * /The final exam was a piece of cake./
[piece out] <v.> 1. To put together from many different pieces; put together from odd parts; patch. * /They pieced out a meal from leftovers./ * /He pieced out the machine with scrap parts./ * /The detective pieced out the story from a stray fact here, a clue there, and a hint somewhere else./ 2. To make larger or longer by adding one or more pieces. * /The girl grew so fast that her mother had to piece out her dresses./
[piecework] <n.> Work paid for in accordance with the quantity produced. * /Al prefers working on a piecework basis to being on a regular salary because he feels he makes more that way./
[pie in the sky] <n. phr.>, <informal> An unrealistic wish or hope. * /Our trip to Hawaii is still only a pie in the sky./ Compare: PIPE DREAM.
[pigeonhole] <v.> 1. To set aside; defer consideration of. * /The plan was pigeonholed until the next committee meeting./ 2. To typecast; give a stereotypical characterization to someone. * /It was unfair of the committee to pigeonhole him as a left-wing troublemaker./
[pigeonhole] <n.> 1. Small compartment for internal mail in an office or a department. * /"You can just put your late exam into my pigeonhole," said Professor Brown to the concerned student./ 2. One of the small compartments in a desk or cabinet. * /He keeps his cufflinks in a pigeonhole in his desk./
[piggy-back] <adj.> or <adv.> Sitting or being carried on the shoulders. * /Little John loved to go for a piggy-back ride on his father's shoulders./ * /When Mary sprained her ankle, John carried her piggy-back to the doctor./
[piggy bank] <n.> A small bank, sometimes in the shape of a pig, for saving coins. * /John's father gave him a piggy bank./
[pigheaded] <adj.> Stubborn; unwilling to compromise. * /"Stop being so pigheaded!" she cried. "I, too, can be right sometimes!"/
[pig in a poke] <n. phr.> An unseen bargain; something accepted or bought without looking at it carefully. * /Buying land by mail is buying a pig in a poke: sometimes the land turns out to be under water./
[pig out] <v. phr.> 1. To eat a tremendous amount of food. * /"I always pig out on my birthday," she confessed./ 2. To peruse; have great fun with; indulge in for a longer period of time. * /"Go to bed and pig out on a good mystery story," the doctor recommended./
[pile up] <v. phr.> 1. To grow into a big heap. * /He didn't go into his office for three days and his work kept piling up./ 2. To run aground. * /Boats often pile up on the rocks in the shallow water./ 3. To crash. * /One car made a sudden stop and the two cars behind it piled up./
[pile-up] <n.> 1. A heap; a deposit of one object on top of another. * /There is a huge pile-up of junked cars in this vacant lot./ 2. A large number of objects in the same place, said of traffic. * /I was late because of the traffic pile-up on the highway./
[pill] See: BITTER PILL.
[pillar of society] <n. phr.> A leading figure who contributes to the support and the well-being of his/her society; a person of irreproachable character. * /Mrs. Brown, the director of our classical symphony fund, is a true pillar of society./
[pillar to post] See: FROM PILLAR TO POST.
[pimple] See: GOOSE BUMPS or GOOSE PIMPLES.
[pin] See: ON PINS AND NEEDLES.
[pinch] See: TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT also TAKE WITH A PINCH OF SALT, WHERE THE SHOE PINCHES.
[pinch and scrape] <v. phr.> To save as much money as possible by spending as little as possible. * /They are trying to buy their first house so they are pinching and scraping every penny they can./
[pinch-hit] <v.> 1. To substitute for another player at bat in a baseball game. * /Smith was sent in to pinch-hit for Jones./ 2. <informal> To act for a while, or in an emergency, for another person; take someone's place for a while. * /I asked him to pinch-hit for me while I was away./ * /The president of the City Council pinch-hits for the mayor when the mayor is out of town./ - [pinch-hitter] <n.> * /Jones was hit by a pitched ball and Smith came in as a pinch-hitter./ * /When our teacher was sick, Mrs. Harris was called as a pinch-hitter./ - [pinch-hitting] <adj.> or <n.> * /Pinch-hitting for another teacher is a hard job./
