map

all over the map

1. Spread out or scattered over a great distance. I love how people from cities all over the map make their way to this bar for a drink. I think we'll have a great trip across the country; we've got places all over the map we want to visit. My sister loves traveling to exotic locations all over the map, whereas I've never left the US.

2. In or having a great number and variety. Public opinion is all over the map for the governor, so it's hard to know how she'll do in the next election. The shop is all over the map as to what you can buy there. You'll definitely appeal to a wide variety of consumers if your offerings are all over the map.

3. Unorganized or scattered in thinking, communication, or planning. I tried to get a sense of John's plan for the project, but he seems all over the map with it. Mary is all over the map with her plans for the future. I wish she would just pick something and stick to it! What exactly am I supposed to be doing? The instructions I've gotten have been all over the map.

See also: all, map, over

blow off the map

To obliterate. A noun or pronoun can be used between "blow" and "off." Many buildings were blown off the map during the siege. The dictator threatened to blow our country off the map. The typhoon's gale-force winds blew the tiny village off the map.

See also: blow, map, off

fall off the map

To become unpopular or little-known after a period of popularity. Wow, I didn't realize that this show was still on TV—it really fell off the map after its first season. I thought record players had fallen off the map, but my teen daughters just love mine. The band had a hugely popular single in the '80s, but they fell off the map soon afterward.

See also: fall, map, off

lay down a road map

To establish the plan, set of guidelines, course of action, etc., for a particular situation. Luckily, the department head laid down a road map for how to handle these quarterly reports while she is out on maternity leave. It is up to the president to lay a road map for our country's foreign policy in the region. We'll need to lay down a road map for the various updates we plan to implement after the app goes live.

See also: down, lay, map, road

map (something) onto (something else)

To find or illustrate the connections between two things. With this research, scientists hope to be able to map the function of this tiny set of nerves onto the musculoskeletal system.

See also: map

map out

To carefully plan or provide the details or something, especially by rendering it in some way, as by illustrating or outlining it. The committee mapped out the five-year plan with an extensive slideshow showing all the projected improvements. Look, I've mapped out our road trip in red marker so you can get a sense of the route we'll be taking.

See also: map, out

off the map

In a distant, remote, or obscure state or location. The cabin is a bit off the map, but the scenery around it is beautiful. I liked the show, but it must have fallen off the map after its first season, because no one talks about it anymore.

See also: map, off

put (someone, something, or some place) on the map

To make some place or thing very famous or renowned; to establish some place as being remarkable or noteworthy. It was my grandma's chili recipe that put this restaurant on the map years ago! They're hoping that this amusement park can put the small town on the map. Her first film put her on the map. Her next three movies made her a legend.

See also: map, on, put

road map

A plan or set of guidelines for a particular situation or course of action. Luckily, the department head laid down a road map for how to handle these quarterly reports while she is out on maternity leave. It is up to the president to come up with a road map for our country's foreign policy in the region. We'll need a road map we can show consumers for the various updates we plan to implement after the app goes live.

See also: map, road

the map is not the territory

A person or thing is completely separate from the judgments or perceptions that people place upon it. The phrase was coined by US semanticist Alfred Korzybski. I know you dislike Ed because of how he acted in that meeting, but you don't actually know him. Just keep in mind that the map is not the territory, OK?

See also: map, not, territory

throw a map

obsolete slang To vomit. The poor man must have eaten something that didn't agree with him, because he's in the lavatory throwing a map.

See also: map, throw

wipe (someone or something) off the map

To totally eliminate, eradicate, or destroy someone or something. The president vowed to wipe these terrorist scumbags off the map. Through our vaccination efforts, we've been able to wipe polio off the map.

See also: map, off, wipe

wipe (something) off the map

To obliterate something. The dictator threatened to wipe our country off the map. They believe that the course of treatment they've developed could wipe cancer off the map. Many buildings were wiped off the map during the siege.

See also: map, off, wipe

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

map something out

to plot something out carefully, usually on paper. I have a good plan. I will map it out for you. I will map out the plan for you.

See also: map, out

put something on the map

Fig. to make some place famous or popular. The good food you serve here will really put this place on the map. Nothing like a little scandal to put an otherwise sleepy town on the map.

See also: map, on, put

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

put on the map

Make famous, publicize, as in The incident got on the national news and put our community on the map. This expression, alluding to a locality that formerly was too small to put on a map, dates from the early 1900s.

See also: map, on, put

wipe off the map

Also, wipe off the face of the earth. Eliminate completely, as in Some day we hope to wipe malaria off the map. This idiom uses wipe in the sense of "obliterate," and map and face of the earth in the sense of "everywhere."

See also: map, off, wipe

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.

put someone/something on the map

COMMON If someone or something puts a person, place, or thing on the map, they cause them to become well-known or important. The film which really put Ellen Barkin on the map was The Big Easy. In today's programme, we look at the career of the man who, in 13 years as Chancellor, put Austria back on the map.

See also: map, on, put, someone, something

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

off the map

(of a place) very distant or remote. Compare with off the beaten track (at beaten).

See also: map, off

put something on the map

make something prominent or important.

See also: map, on, put, something

wipe something off the map

obliterate something totally.

See also: map, off, something, wipe

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

(be) off the ˈmap

(be) far away from other places; (be) remote: It’s a little house in the country, a bit off the map.

See also: map, off

put somebody/something on the ˈmap

make somebody/something famous or important: Her performance in her first film really put her on the map. ♢ The newspaper story put the village on the map.

See also: map, on, put, somebody, something

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

map out

v.

1. To plan something explicitly: Let's map out a way to accomplish this project. We mapped the trip out so we wouldn't get lost.

2. To incorporate or lay out some set of things into an explicit map, plan, or order: I've mapped out the beginning and end of each project on this timeline. The houses on these city blocks have been mapped out for demolition.

See also: map, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

map

1. n. one’s face. With a map like that, she could really go somewhere.

2. n. sheet music. (see also chart.) I left the map at home. Can I look at yours?

throw a map

tv. to empty one’s stomach; to vomit. Somebody threw a map on the sidewalk.

See also: map, throw

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

all over the map

1. In, from, or to a variety of places; ubiquitously.

2. Showing great variety; varied or diverse: "Literary nonfiction is all over the map and has been for three hundred years" (William Zinsser).

See also: all, map, over

put on the map

To make well-known, prominent, or famous.

See also: map, on, put

wipe off the map

To destroy completely; annihilate.

See also: map, off, wipe

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.