dear (redirected from Dears)

a Dear John letter

a letter a woman writes to her boyfriend telling him that she does not love him anymore. Bert got a Dear John letter today from Sally. He was devastated.

See also: john, letter

dear departed

Euph. a dead person, as referred to at a funeral. Let's take a moment to meditate on the life of the dear departed.

Dear me!

an expression of mild dismay or regret. Sue: Dear me, is this all there is? Mary: There's more in the kitchen. "Oh, dear me!" fretted John, "I'm late again."

hang on for dear life

Cliché to hang on tight. As the little plane bounced around over the mountains, we hung on for dear life.

See also: hang, life

thing you don't want is dear at any price

Prov. You should not buy something just because it is cheap. Jill: There's a sale on black-and-white film; we should get some. Jane: We never use black-and-white film. Jill: But it's so cheap. Jane: A thing you don't want is dear at any price.

See also: any, price, thing, want

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your nearest and dearest  (humorous)

your family When people are stressed at work, they tend to go home and take it out on their nearest and dearest.

See also: and, near

a Dear John letter  (humorous)

a letter that you send to a man telling him you want to end a romantic relationship with him I've always thought Dear John letters a cowardly way of ending a relationship.

See also: john, letter

close/dear to somebody's heart

if something is dear to someone's heart, it is very important to them Animal rights is an issue very close to my heart.

See also: close, heart

cost somebody dear

if something that someone does, especially something stupid, costs them dear, it causes them a lot of problems Later that year he attacked a photographer, an incident that cost him dear.

See count the cost, and hang the cost

See also: cost

hang/hold on (to something/somebody) for dear life

to hold something or someone as tightly as you can in order to avoid falling I sat behind Gary on the bike and hung on for dear life as we sped off. A rope was passed down and she held on to it for dear life as she was pulled to safety.

See cost dear, close to heart

See also: hang, life

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your nearest and dearest

your family My wife and dozens of her nearest and dearest are from West Virginia.

See also: and, near

close to your heart also dear to your heart

of great importance to you The issue of race is one that is close to his heart.

See also: close, heart

hold on for dear life

to use a lot of effort to keep something With so few jobs available, workers are holding on for dear life to the jobs they already have.

See also: hold, life

near and dear to you

very important to you People usually give more attention to the things that are particularly near and dear to them.

See also: and, near