be fed up (with someone or something)
To be irritated, exasperated, bored, or disgusted with someone or something. I'm really fed up listening to all your complaining! We're fed up with our car, but we just can't afford a new one right now. The whole department is just so fed up with our new manager. Everything he does seems designed to make us angry.
become fed up (with someone or something)
To become exasperated, bored, or disgusted with someone or something. I'm becoming really fed up listening to all your complaining! We're becoming pretty fed up with our car, but we just can't afford a new one right now. The whole department has just become so fed up with our new manager. Everything he does seems designed to make us angry.
by degrees
Gradually; in steps. I've been putting $50 aside every month to increase my savings account by degrees. I know this process can be confusing, so we'll go over it by degrees this week. Don't worry, there's still plenty of time and assignments left in the semester for you to raise your grade by degrees.
do a 180 degree turn
To make a big change in some area of one's life. If one physically turns 180 degrees, one will then be facing the opposite direction. A: "Can you believe that Sam quit his job at the firm?" B: "No, he really did a 180 degree turn on being a paralegal!" After a huge public outcry about the controversial program, the president quickly did a 180 turn and announced that he would not support the plan. The tech giant typically has unyielding success, but they did a major 180 turn with the disastrous unveiling of their latest gadget.
get the third degree
To be interrogated, scrutinized, or questioned intensely or thoroughly by someone. My boyfriend is so controlling that I always get the third degree if I go anywhere or see anyone without him. I got the third degree from the police regarding my whereabouts during the crime. If I get the third degree, can you please tell Mom you saw me at the library? I don't want her thinking I snuck off with my friends.
give (someone) the third degree
To interrogate, scrutinize, or question someone intensely or thoroughly. My boyfriend is so controlling, always giving me the third degree if I go anywhere or see anyone without him. The police gave me the third degree regarding my whereabouts during the crime. Mom, don't give her the third degree. I know she was at the library—I saw her there.
one degree under
Not completely well or healthy. I'm a lot better than I was on Friday, but I'm still feeling one degree under.
six degrees of Kevin Bacon
A humorous notion that every actor has a connection to prolific American actor Kevin Bacon through six or fewer links. Based on the concept of "six degrees of separation," that any two people have a shared social connection through six or fewer acquaintances. Often "played" as a sort of parlor game. Not only is six degrees of Kevin Bacon legit, you can make the craziest connections in less than six steps. The man has been in everything!
six degrees of separation
The notion that any two people have a shared social connection through six or fewer acquaintances. A: "Can you believe it? My aunt's banker has a niece who goes to college with a girl whose nanny grew up next-door to your mother!" B: "Wow, six degrees of separation, eh?"
the third degree
Intense or thorough interrogation, scrutiny, or questioning. Kayla's boyfriend is so controlling, always giving her the third degree if she goes anywhere or sees anyone without him. I got the third degree from the police regarding my whereabouts during the crime.
to a certain degree
Somewhat; partly; in a limited way or to a limited extent. Your essay would be improved to a certain degree by tidying up your paragraphs, but your topic on the whole has some fundamental problems. Our administration is willing to negotiate to a certain degree, but we aren't ready to make any significant changes to the legislation.
to a degree
Somewhat; partly; in a limited way or to a limited degree. Your essay would be improved to a degree by tidying up your paragraphs, but your topic on the whole has some fundamental problems. Our administration is willing to negotiate to a degree, but we aren't ready to make any significant changes to the legislation.
to some degree
Somewhat; partly; in a limited way or to a limited extent. Your essay would be improved to some degree by tidying up your paragraphs, but your topic on the whole has some fundamental problems. The administration is willing to negotiate to some degree, but it is not ready to make any significant changes to the legislation.
to the nth degree
To the highest level or degree; as much as possible. We're pushing the computer to the nth degree to be able to render these kinds of effects. The film is cheesy to the nth degree, but intentionally so.
turn 180 degrees
1. Literally, to turn and face the opposite direction. I was going to go to the park, but when I saw those dark clouds roll in, I turned 180 degrees and headed back home.
2. To make a big change in one's position, opinion, lifestyle, etc. A: "Can you believe that Sam quit his job at the firm?" B: "No, he really turned 180 degrees on being a paralegal!"
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
do a one-eighty
and turn one hundred and eighty degrees 1. Lit. to turn around and go in the opposite direction. When I hollered, the dog did a one-eighty and headed back to its own yard.
2. Fig. to radically reverse a decision or opinion. His political philosophy turned one hundred and eighty degrees when he grew a little older.
*third degree
Fig. a long and detailed period of questioning. (*Typically: get ~; give someone ~.) Why is it I get the third degree from you every time I come home late? Poor Sally spent all night at the police station getting the third degree.
to the nth degree
to the maximum amount. Jane is a perfectionist and tries to be careful to the nth degree. This scientific instrument is accurate to the nth degree.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
by degrees
Gradually, by successive steps or stages. For example,
By degrees he began to delegate more and more of his duties to his staff. [Mid-1500s] Also see
by inches.
third degree
Intensive questioning or rough treatment used to obtain information or a confession, as in The detectives gave her the third degree, or Jim gave her the third degree when she came home so late. This term comes from freemasonry, where a candidate receives the third or highest degree, that of master mason, upon passing an intensive test. Dating from the 1770s, the phrase was transferred to other kinds of interrogation in the late 1800s.
to a degree
to some degree
Also, to a certain degree; to some or a certain extent ; to a degree or an extent . Somewhat, in a way, as in To some degree we'll have to compromise, or To an extent it's a matter of adjusting to the colder climate. The use of degree in these terms, all used in the same way, dates from the first half of the 1700s, and extent from the mid-1800s.
to the nth degree
To the utmost, as in They'd decked out the house to the nth degree. This expression comes from mathematics, where to the nth means "to any required power" ( n standing for any number). It was first recorded in 1852.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
give someone the third degree
If someone gives you the third degree, they ask you a lot of questions in a determined manner. He told the operator his wife was having a baby on the pavement. The operator gave him the third degree to make sure he was serious. The interviewer didn't exactly give her the third degree.
to the nth degree
If you do something or have a particular quality to the nth degree, you do it or have it to an extreme degree. He carried discretion to the nth degree, speaking only once about his job. You're a risk-taker to the nth degree.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
one degree under
slightly unwell. informalto the nth degree
to any extent; to the utmost. In mathematics, nth denotes an unspecified member of a series of numbers or enumerated items.
1994 i-D Along the way they argue, get harassed by ignorant locals, sing along to their favourite tunes and camp it up to the nth degree.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
by deˈgrees
little by little; gradually: The country’s economy won’t improve straight away, but will only get better by degrees.to the nth deˈgree
(informal) to the greatest possible amount, level, etc.; very much: This book is boring to the nth degree.(give somebody) the ˌthird deˈgree
(informal) question somebody for a long time and in a thorough way; use threats or violence to get information from somebody: The soldiers were given the third degree in order to make them reveal the information. ♢ Why are you giving me the third degree?This expression comes from Freemasonry (= a secret society). In order to reach the highest level of the organization and become a Third Degree Mason, members are interrogated.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
third degree
n. a session of questioning, usually by the police. Bart got the third degree, but—being the thoroughbred he is—he was a clam. They gave Spike the third degree, but he refused to say anything.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
by degrees
Little by little; gradually.
to a degree
To a small extent; in a limited way: doesn't like spicy food, but can eat a little pepper to a degree.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
six degrees of separation
The idea that everyone on earth may be linked to anyone else through a chain of connections. This newer phrase for it’s a small world was the title of a play and the movie based on it (1993) by John Guare. The term is becoming a cliché.
third degree, to give/get the
To give or be subjected to intensive questioning and/or rough treatment. In Freemasonry, the third and highest degree is that of master mason, attained after a stiff examination, and several writers speculate that this may be the source of the late nineteenth-century expression for an inquisition. Today the term is used both for the sometimes brutal tactics of the police and other authorities to make a prisoner tell the truth or reveal secrets, and more lightly for questioning about less important matters, as in “Jane gave Martha the third degree about her good-looking new boss.”
to the nth degree
To the utmost possible. In mathematics to the nth has meant “to any required power” since the eighteenth century, and it soon came to be used figuratively as meaning “to any extent” or “to the utmost.” Thus Francis E. Smedley wrote (Lewis Arundel, 1852), “Minerva was great . . . starched to the nth.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer