Idioms

dread

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a scalded dog dreads cold water

proverb obsolete Someone who has experienced some kind of negative situation or consequence will try to avoid repeating the experience in the future. A: "It's heartbreaking how Eloise still refuses to go anywhere near the stable since her accident." B: "Well, you know a scalded dog dreads cold water." Joseph refuses to invest any money after losing his retirement fund during the stock market crash—a scalded dog dreads cold water. I know that a scalded dog dreads cold water, but you'll never find love if you don't put yourself out there and risk getting your heart broken again.
See also: cold, dog, dreads, scald, water

I dread to think

It is too worrying or unpleasant for me to think about something that might happen or might have happened. I dread to think what my boss will say when I tell him I lost our biggest client. I dread to think what would have happened if the firefighters hadn't gotten there in time! I dread to think what Mom and Dad will say when they see I'm failing three classes.
See also: dread, think, to
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

I shudder/dread to ˈthink (how, what, etc....)

(informal, often humorous) I am afraid to think or ask myself about something, because the answer might be terrible or unpleasant: I shudder to think when he last had a bath.‘How much more work is there?’ ‘I dread to think!’
See also: dread, shudder, think, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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References in periodicals archive
Cloth, $22.50--This engrossing book explores the human experience of evil and locates its ground in "an experience of dread almost beyond words," arguing that the evil we do is "an attempt to master the experience by inflicting it on others" (p.
The holiday nightmare can begin as soon as women set foot on the plane, with one in five saying they dread fitting into tight airline seats, according to the research for Slimming World.
But they can relate to somebody coming out because that person is dealing with a nameless dread, at least from a straight point of view.
Animals, such as household pets, dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, dread, simply dread, the loud deafening bangs and cower away in terror.
One parent told me in a focus group this year that what worried her most about the religious ed program at their parish wasn't the content, but that her kids dread going every week.
Indeed, some think the dread disease of unwarranted optimism is a killer.
I don't know what Meadville means, but I think the reason I've played it more than any other music released in 1997 is that when Thomas' joke is at its best, especially then, the music is all about uncertainty, about dread, a dread that spins the present into the future.
First, refugees from Haiti and Cuba are people of color, and behind the dread of refugees--indeed, behind the anti-immigration movement as a whole--is a huge boulder of racism.
Each day's mobilization was an exercise in dread and exhaustion-dread that our voices would fall on deaf ears, dread of an unexpected voting, dread that so few would be allowed inside.
Poets' corner HOMELESS REVISITED I write again about their plight The forgotten ones who dread the night Those poor souls, who have no home, And alien streets are forced to roam Some bond together to form a group Others, perhaps loners and not in the "loop" They will be thinking of what lies ahead Does anyone care if they're alive or dead?
And more than half even dread having to swop their winter clothes for skimpy summer outfits.
Why didn't we dread coming home like everyone else?
You'd better land this one, son, or it's three dread lashings for you!
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