Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 127 D daily grind - the everyday work routine My father is tired of the daily grind of working and will retire soon. dance to a different tune - to change one's behavior or attitude Our boss began dancing to a different tune when his head salesman decided to quit. dance with death - to do something that is very risky The teenagers were dancing with death when they began to race their cars. dare (someone) to do (something) - to challenge someone to do something The little boy dared his friend to throw a rock at the window. dark horse - a political candidate who is little known to the general public The woman candidate was a dark horse but she won the election easily. darken (someone's) door - to visit someone or somewhere The man has never darkened the door of the library in his town. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 128 dash off - to leave quickly We dashed off as soon as the concert ended. dash (something) off - to write or finish something quickly I plan to dash off a letter before I go to work. date back to (a previous time) - to go back to a previous time The old building dates back to 1850. Davy Jone's locker - the bottom of the sea (as a grave) When the boat sank all of the crew members went to Davy Jone's locker. dawn on (someone) - to become clear or occur to someone It finally dawned on me why my friend was angry. day after day - everyday Day after day the woman goes to the school to meet her child. day and night - all of the time We worked day and night to finish the project before the end of the month. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 129 day in and day out - regularly, all of the time My father goes to that restaurant for lunch day in and day out and he never gets tired of it. day-to-day - daily, everyday The president was not involved in the day-to-day running of the university. daylight robbery - the extreme overcharging of money for something The amount of money which they charged for the gasoline was daylight robbery. days running - several days in a row There were concerts at the auditorium for six days running. dead Idioms dead ahead - to be directly ahead There was a truck dead ahead so we put on the car brakes suddenly. dead as a doornail - to be very dead The man was as dead as a doornail after the car accident. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 130 dead center - the exact middle I easily hit the target dead center. dead duck - a person or a thing in a hopeless situation The man is a dead duck and he has no hope of recovering his former position. dead end - the end of a road, an impasse The negotiations between the players and the owners have come to a dead end. dead in one's/its tracks - to be stopped exactly where someone or something is at the moment The police stopped the robber dead in his tracks. dead letter - a piece of mail that cannot be delivered or returned to the sender The letter with no return address went back to the post office as a dead letter. dead loss - a total loss The money that I gave to my friend is a dead loss and none of it will be returned. dead on one's feet - to be exhausted I was dead on my feet after working all day in my garden. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 131 dead set against (something) - to be determined not to do something The parents are dead set against their son going to Europe for a year. dead tired - to be very tired, to be exhausted I was dead tired so I went to bed when I got home. dead to the world - to be sleeping soundly The little boy was dead to the world when his father took him out of the car. dead wrong - to be totally wrong I was dead wrong in my calculations to build the table. deadbeat - a person who never pays his debts There is a new government policy to penalize deadbeat fathers. deadpan - an expressionless or emotionless face My friend had a deadpan expression when he told us the story. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 132 . deaf and dumb - to be unable to hear or speak The man was deaf and dumb and could not communicate with the woman on the train. deal in (something) - to buy and sell something The man has been dealing in antiques for many years. deal with (someone) - to act in a specific way toward someone, to do business with someone The company is planning to deal with the late employee soon. deal with (something) - to be concerned with something, to take action about something We will deal with the boxes tomorrow. decide in favor of (someone or something) - to determine the winner of something, to decide who is right The city decided in favor of building a new bridge over the river. decked out - to be dressed in fancy clothes My sister was decked out in her best clothes for the party. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 133 deem it to be necessary - to believe that something is necessary The judge deemed it to be necessary to postpone the trial for a week. deep-six (something) - to throw away something, to dispose of something I decided to deep-six the videos as I did not want them any longer. deep water - serious trouble or difficulty The boy will be in deep water if he does not tell us where he spent the money. deliver the goods - to do a good or successful job of something He is the best manager that we have had. He knows how to deliver the goods. desert a sinking ship - to leave a situation or place when things become difficult or unpleasant Many employees decided to desert a sinking ship when their company began to have problems. devil of a job - a very difficult job Everybody thought that unloading the truck was a devil of a job. devil-may-care attitude - an unworried attitude, an attitude where one does not care what happens The man has a devil-may-care attitude to his job and nothing bothers him. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 134 diamond in the rough - a good person or thing that is hidden by a rough exterior The man is a diamond in the rough and a very gentle person under his harsh exterior. die down - to come slowly to an end, to grow weaker When the sound of the music died down we were able to go to sleep. die in one's boots - to die fighting The soldiers died in their boots after fighting very hard. the die is cast - something has been decided and you cannot change the decision The die is cast and now that we have sold our house we must move. die laughing - to laugh very loud and hard We almost died laughing when we saw the comedy at the theater. die off - to die one after another until the number is small The house plants began to die off as soon as we moved to a new apartment. die out - to die or disappear slowly until gone The campfire slowly died out and we went to bed. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 135 dig in - to begin eating "Let`s dig in and eat before the food gets cold!" dig one's heels in - to refuse to change one's course of action or opinions Our boss dug his heels in and refused to give us time off. dig one's own grave - to be responsible for one's own problems My sister dug her own grave when she fought with her boss. Now she is having many problems at work. dig some dirt up on (someone) - to find out something bad about someone The newspaper worked hard to dig some dirt up on the politician. dig (someone or something) up - to make an effort to find someone or something I tried to dig up some blankets for my friend when he stayed at our house. dig (something) out - to locate something I dug out last year's income tax forms to look at. a dime a dozen - common, easy to get and of little value Used books are a dime a dozen and it is dificult to sell them. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 136 dip into (something) - to borrow from a supply of something We had to dip into our savings to get enough money for a holiday. dirt cheap - to be extremely cheap The denim jackets were dirt cheap so I decided to buy two of them. a dirty look - a look that shows dislike or disapproval The boy's mother gave the boy a dirty look when he began to run in the kitchen. dirty work - unpleasant or uninteresting work I refused to do the dirty work which my friend wanted me to do. dish out (food) - to serve food from a large bowl or plate I began to dish out the food when the guests arrived. dish out (criticism) - to criticize someone roughly, to treat someone roughly Our supervisor likes to dish out criticism to others but he does not like to hear criticism about himself. dispose of (something) - to discard something, to destroy something, to get rid of something We must dispose of our old sofa before we buy a new one. [...]... and pony show - a display or demonstration of something The politicians put on a dog and pony show to make everyone forget about the scandal dog-eat-dog - to be ready or willing to fight and hurt others to get what you want It is a dog-eat-dog world in the advertising and public relations business dog in the manger - someone who prevents others from doing what he does not want them to do (from Aesops... believe something My friend is a doubting Thomas and you must tell him many times before he will believe something down Idioms down and dirty - unfair/nasty/sneaky The team decided to get down and dirty in order to try and win the tournament down and out - to have no money My friend has been down and out before but usually he can find a job down at the heels - to be shabby, to be poorly dressed The man... something all the time I wish that my friend would not dwell on his personal problems dyed-in-the-wool - permanent, stubborn My father is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative and will never change 155 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com dying to (do something or go somewhere) - to be very anxious to do something or go somewhere I am dying to go and visit my friend in the country 156 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com ... double back - to turn back from where you are going or where you have been We decided to double back from the arena and return home for a few minutes double-check (something) - to check again to be sure that something is correct I double-checked the price of the airplane ticket double-cross (someone) - to deceive someone, to promise one thing and then do another The man tried to double-cross his partner... his partner but was caught and sent to jail double-talk - talk or words that appear to mean something but do not The speaker gave the audience much double-talk and nobody knew what he wanted to say double up - to share a room with someone The passengers had to double up in hotel rooms when the plane landed because of the weather 143 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com a doubting Thomas - someone who needs strong...divide and conquer - to split an opposing side into two groups so that you can win against them The government was trying to divide and conquer the opposition parties divide (something) fifty-fifty - to divide something into two equal parts We divided the money that we won fifty-fifty do Idioms do a double take - to look again in surprise at someone or something... something) - to harm or damage someone or something We really did a job on the bookcase that we were trying to move do a land-office business - to do much business in a short time The children are doing a land-office business by selling the cold drinks next to the stadium do a number on (someone or something) - to hurt or damage someone or something The students did a number on the spectator stands during... run - an attempt or rehearsal for something The marriage ceremony was on Saturday so we had a dry run on Thursday night dry up - to become dry The river began to dry up early in the summer duck soup - easy, effortless "How was the test last week?" "It was duck soup - no problem at all." dumb bunny - a stupid gullible person He is a dumb bunny and you never know what he will do next Dutch auction - an... for the count - to be finished for now The boxer was down for the count but everybody expected him to get up and fight again down in the dumps - to be unhappy The girl has been down in the dumps since her boyfriend moved away 144 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com down on one's luck - to be unlucky, to have no money The man was down on his luck and did not even have a place to live down on (someone) - to be critical... to a close - to end The tournament was drawing to a close and everybody was going back to their homes draw up (something) - to put something in writing They were able to draw up the contract while we were waiting dredge (something) up - to uncover something unpleasant and remind people about it The newspaper is always trying to dredge bad things up about the government dress (someone) down - to scold . day in and day out and he never gets tired of it. day-to-day - daily, everyday The president was not involved in the day-to-day running of the university. daylight robbery - the extreme. politicians put on a dog and pony show to make everyone forget about the scandal. dog-eat-dog - to be ready or willing to fight and hurt others to get what you want It is a dog-eat-dog world in the. . deaf and dumb - to be unable to hear or speak The man was deaf and dumb and could not communicate with the woman on the train. deal in (something) - to buy and sell something