enough

be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey (British, very informal!)

brass monkey weather - extremely cold weather. We were in Moscow, and it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

See also: ball, brass, cold, freeze, monkey

be man enough to do something

to be brave enough to do something. He was man enough to admit he had made a mistake.

See also: man

Enough is as good as a feast. (British, old-fashioned)

something that you say which means you should not have more of something than you need. No, thank you, nothing more to drink for me. Enough is as good as a feast.

See also: feast, good

enough is enough

something that you say in order to tell someone that you think what is happening should stop. Look, enough is enough. He's borrowed £300 already.

Enough said.

something that you say in order to tell someone that you have clearly understood what they have just said and do not need any more explanation. 'His father's a duke.' 'Enough said.'

See also: said

fair enough

something that you say in order to show that you understand why someone has said or done something. 'I don't feel like going out tonight - I've got a bit of a headache.' 'Fair enough.' Having health warnings on cigarette packets is fair enough but I do think alcohol should carry warnings too.

See also: fair

give someone enough rope (to hang themselves)

to allow someone to do what they want to, knowing that they will probably fail or get into trouble. I let him speak on, knowing that he would offend the director, and gave him just enough rope.

See also: give, rope

have a lot/enough on your plate

to have a lot of work to do or a lot of problems to deal with. I don't want to burden my daughter with my problems; she's got enough on her plate with her husband in prison. Simon can't take on any more work. He's got his plate full as it is.

See also: lot, plate

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(say) enough is enough

this must stop. The movie was so boring that I decided enough is enough and got up and left. I am tired of being treated badly, and I say enough is enough.

Usage notes: usually said of something that is not interesting or pleasant

fair enough

all right. The town is full of tourists, which is fair enough because they spend a lot of money here.

See also: fair

leave well enough alone

to allow something to stay as it is because doing more would not improve it. I thought about rewriting the letter, but I decided to leave well enough alone.

See also: alone, leave, well

man enough to do something

someone with a strong enough character to do something. I appreciate you being man enough to tell me what happened.

Usage notes: usually said about doing something difficult or unpleasant

See also: man

strangely enough

in a way that is unusual or surprising. His mother, strangely enough, seemed to be happy that he got arrested.

sure enough

as expected. He said he left the book on the desk, and sure enough, there it was.

See also: sure

true enough

correct or accurate, but not completely explaining something. It's true enough that he had doubts about the project, but we have to look further to understand why he resigned so quickly.

See also: true