waters

Cast one's bread upon the waters.

Prov. Act generous because you feel it is right and not because you expect a reward. (Biblical.) Joseph is casting his bread upon the waters, supporting Bob while he works on his novel Cast your bread upon the waters; make a generous contribution to our cause.

See also: bread, cast, upon

fish in troubled waters

Fig. to involve oneself in a difficult, confused, or dangerous situation, especially with a view to gaining an advantage. Frank is fishing in troubled waters by buying more shares of that company. They are supposed to be in financial difficulties. The company could make more money by selling armaments abroad, but they would be fishing in troubled waters.

See also: fish, trouble

still waters run deep.

Prov. Quiet people are often very thoughtful. Jill: I get the impression that Nathan is not very smart. He never says anything. Jane: Don't be so sure. still waters run deep, you know.

See also: deep, run, still

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muddy the waters

to make a situation more confused and less easy to understand or deal with The statistics you quoted didn't prove anything, they simply muddied the waters.

See also: muddy

pour oil on troubled waters

to do or say something in order to make people stop arguing and become calmer She was furious with Dave for forgetting her birthday so I tried to pour oil on troubled waters by offering to take them both out for a meal.

See also: oil, pour, trouble

still waters run deep

something that you say which means people who say very little often have very interesting and complicated personalities He's quiet and shy, it's true, but still waters run deep.

See also: deep, run, still

test the water/waters

to try to discover what people think about an idea before you do anything about it, or to try to discover what a situation is really like before you become very involved in it I mentioned my idea to a couple of friends as a way of testing the water and they were very enthusiastic about it. Perhaps you should go to a couple of meetings to test the waters before you decide whether to join the club.

See stand the test of time

See also: test, water

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muddy the waters

to make a situation more confusing He's just trying to muddy the waters so we won't notice all the bad things he's done.

Usage notes: sometimes used with a modifier: The controversy has muddied the social waters of communities throughout this region.

Related vocabulary: muck something up

See also: muddy

test the waters

to try something new We are testing the waters to see if online ads increase sales.

Related vocabulary: float an idea

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of test the waters (to put your toe into water to see how cold it is)

See also: test