baby (redirected from babying)

*bald as a coot and *bald as a baby's backside

completely bald. (*Also: as ~.) If Tom's hair keeps receding like that, he'll be bald as a coot by the time he's thirty. Fred: Now, I'll admit my hair is thinning a little on the top, but—Jane: Thinning? You're not thinning, you're as bald as a baby's backside!

See also: bald, coot

*soft as a baby's bottom and soft as a baby's backside; *soft as down; *soft as silk; *soft as velvet

Cliché very soft and smooth to the touch. (*Also: as ~.) This cloth is as soft as a baby's bottom. The kitten's fur was as soft as down. Your touch is soft as silk. This lotion will make your skin soft as velvet.

See also: bottom, soft

*weak as a baby and *weak as a kitten

Cliché [of someone] physically very weak.(Also: as ~.) Six weeks of illness left the athlete as weak as a baby. John is as weak as a kitten because he doesn't eat well.

See also: weak

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Prov. Do not discard something valuable in your eagerness to get rid of some useless thing associated with it. Jill: As long as I'm selling all the books Grandpa had, I might s well sell the bookcases, too. Jane: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can use the bookcases for something else.

See also: out, throw

leave someone holding the bag and leave someone holding the baby

Fig. to allow someone to take all the blame; to leave someone appearing to be guilty. They all ran off and left me holding the bag. It wasn't even my fault. It was all the mayor's fault, but he wasn't left holding the bag.

See also: bag, holding, leave

like taking candy from a baby and as easy as taking candy from a baby

Cliché very easy. Getting to the airport was easy. It was like taking candy from a baby.

See also: candy, like, taking

sleep like a log and sleep like a baby

to sleep very soundly. Everyone in our family sleeps like a log, so no one heard the thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Nothing can wake me up. I usually sleep like a baby.

See also: like, log, sleep

throw the baby out with the bath(water)

Fig. to dispose of the good while eagerly trying to get rid of the bad. (Fig. on the image of carelessly emptying a tub of both the water inside as well as the baby that was being washed.) In her haste to talk down a project that had only a few disagreeable points, she has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Hasty action on this major spending bill will result in throwing out the baby with the bath.

See also: bath, out, throw

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a baby boomer  (mainly American)

someone who was born between 1945 and 1965, a period in which a lot of babies were born Clinton was the first baby boomer in the White House. The ads are supposed to appeal to the baby boomer generation.

a cry-baby  (informal)

someone, usually a child, who cries too easily and too often Don't be such a cry-baby - I hardly touched you.

be left holding the baby  (British) also be left holding the bag (American)

to suddenly have to deal with a difficult problem or responsibility because someone else has decided they do not want to deal with it He abandoned the project after a year because he felt that it was going to fail and I was left holding the baby.

See also: holding, left

be like taking candy from a baby  (American informal) also be as easy as taking candy from a baby (American informal)

to be very easy Beating them was the easiest thing in the world - it was like taking candy from a baby.

See also: candy, like, taking

cry like a baby

to cry a lot When I heard that she was safe, I cried like a baby.

See also: cry, like

sleep like a log/top

to sleep very well I don't know if it had anything to do with the wine we drank but I slept like a log.

See also: like, log, sleep

the baby blues

a feeling of sadness that some women experience after they have given birth to a baby According to this article, as many as 60% of women suffer from the baby blues.

See cry like a baby, throw the baby out with the bath water, wet the baby's head

See also: blues

throw the baby out with the bath water

to get rid of the good parts as well as the bad parts of something when you are trying to improve it I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bath water. There are some good features of the present system that I think we should retain.

See also: bath, out, throw, water

wet the baby's head

to celebrate the birth of a baby by having an alcoholic drink He couldn't wait to get home to wet the baby's head. We bought some champagne to wet the baby's head.

See also: head, wet

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leave somebody holding the bag

to make someone else take all of the responsibility If we loan the company money we want to be sure it won't fail and leave us holding the bag.

See also: bag, holding, leave

like taking candy from a baby

extremely easy Selling my mother something I made is like taking candy from a baby - she can't say no.

See also: candy, like, taking

sleep like a log

to sleep very well With a full stomach and a warm blanket, I slept like a log.

See also: like, log, sleep

throw out the baby with the bath water

to lose the good parts when you get rid of the bad parts of something You can't close the airport because one airline has problems - that's just throwing out the baby with the bath water.

See also: bath, out, throw, water