be in a lather
To be very nervous, distressed, or upset. Sam is in a lather because she doesn't think her job interview went well. I told Mom that we'll get there on time, but she's still in a lather about us leaving behind schedule. Janine has been in a lather about her driving test today. I hope she passes and gets her license.
get in(to) a lather
To become very nervous, distressed, or upset. Sam got in a lather because she doesn't think her job interview went well. I told Mom that we'll get there on time, but she still got into a lather about us leaving behind schedule. I'll help you with getting dinner ready for the party, OK? So don't get in a lather about it—everything will be fine.
in a lather
Very nervous, distressed, or upset. Sam is in a lather because she doesn't think her job interview went well. I told Mom that we'll get there on time, but she's still in a lather about us leaving behind schedule. Janine has been in a lather about her driving test today. I hope she passes and gets her license.
lather up
1. To cover someone, something, or oneself with a lather or foam, typically from soap. In this form, a noun or pronoun can be used between "lather" and "up." Make sure you lather your hair up really thoroughly to wash out any excess dye. Our dog never sits still when we try to lather him up for his bath. To save on water, I always turn the shower off while I lather up.
2. To produce a thick volume of suds when vigorously rubbed or mixed together. I always hate washing with shower soap that doesn't lather up—I just don't feel like it gets me clean! Once the mixture lathers up, apply it evenly across the entire area of the stain.
3. To cover someone, something, or oneself with sunscreen. In this form, a noun or pronoun can be used between "lather" and "up." Make sure you lather the kids up before they go down to the beach. A lot of people forget to lather up when they go skiing because it's typically cold out, but the sun is even more dangerous out on the slopes!
4. Of a horse, to produce a lot of sweat that develops into a foam, used to cool the horse down in the heat or after strenuous activity. By the end of the long ride, I was covered in dust and my horse was well lathered up.
lather, rinse, (and) repeat
An instruction to repeat the same steps of some process, perhaps multiple times, in order to achieve the same desired result. A reference to instructions found on some bottles of shampoo. It's easy, you just cut a piece of the material to length, fold it in half, then sew along the edges. Lather, rinse, and repeat until you've done 50 of them. My last job was so mindless. I would just input customer details into a spreadsheet, export the file to our internal format, then add it to the company database. Lather, rinse, repeat, all day long.
lathered (up)
1. Totally covered in some liquid or foamy substance, such as soap suds or cream. Everyone in the bachelorette party was busy getting lathered up in fake tan ahead of the night out on the town. Make sure the kids are lathered in sun block before you let them go out on the beach.
2. slang Drunk. The flight attendant was fired for getting lathered in the middle of a flight. Tom kept buying us rounds of drinks, so we stayed pretty lathered up the whole night.
work (oneself) into a lather
To become very nervous, distressed, or upset. Don't work yourself into a lather just because you don't think your job interview went well. I told Mom that we'll get there on time, but she's worked herself into a lather about us leaving behind schedule.
work (oneself) up into a lather
To become or make oneself feel very nervous, distressed, or upset. Don't work yourself up into a lather just because you don't think your job interview went well. I told Mom that we'll get there on time, but she's worked herself up into a lather about us leaving behind schedule.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*in a lather
Fig. flustered; excited and agitated. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~.) Now, calm down. Don't be in a lather. I always get in a lather when I'm late. I get into a lather easily.
lather something up
to apply thick soapsuds to something, such as part of the body or all of it. He lathered his face up in preparation for shaving. He lathered up his face.
lather up
1. [for a horse] to develop a foam of sweat from working very hard. The horses lathered up heavily during the race. Don't let your horse lather up!
2. [for soap] to develop thick suds when rubbed in water. This soap won't lather up, even when I rub it hard. When the soap lathers up, spread the lather on your face and rub.
3. and lather oneself up [for one] to apply soap lather to one's body. He will spend a few minutes lathering himself up before he rinses. He lathered up and then shaved.
work oneself (up) into a lather
and work oneself (up) into a sweat 1. and work up a sweat Lit. to work very hard and sweat very much. (In the way that a horse works up a lather.) Don't work yourself up into a lather. We don't need to finish this today. I worked myself into a sweat getting this stuff ready.
2. . Fig. to get excited or angry. (An elaboration of work oneself up to something.) Now, now, don't work yourself up into a lather. He had worked himself into such a sweat, I was afraid he would have a stroke.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.