fly off the handle

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fly off the handle

Fig. to lose one's temper. Every time anyone mentions taxes, Mrs. Brown flies off the handle. If she keeps flying off the handle like that, she'll have a heart attack.

See also: fly, handle

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I put up with it as long as I could and then joined in and tried to improve it, but this encouraged young George to join in too, and that made a failure of it; because George's voice was just "turning," and when he was singing a dismal sort of bass it was apt to fly off the handle and startle everybody with a most discordant cackle on the upper notes. The Innocents Abroad by Twain, Mark View in context			flush away flush out flush out of some place flush with flutter flutter about flutter down flutter over fly fly a kite fly across fly apart fly around fly at fly away fly blind fly by fly by the seat of pants fly from fly in the face of fly in the ointment fly into fly into a rage fly into the face of danger fly off fly off the handle fly off with fly out fly out of fly over fly past fly the coop fly the flag fly the nest fly to fly up to fly-by-night flying flying high foam foam at the mouth foam up foaming at the mouth fob fob off fob off on focus focus on fog fog over fog up			fly in the teeth of fly in the teeth of someone or something fly into fly into a rage fly into a rage fly into a rage fly into a rage fly into a rage fly into a temper fly into a temper fly into a temper fly into a temper fly into the face of danger Fly Is Open, Please Close It fly ladder Fly leaf Fly like a Bird Fly line Fly line Fly loft Fly loft Fly lure Fly maggot Fly Me to the Moon Fly mushroom Fly mushroom fly net Fly nut fly off fly off fly off the handle fly off with fly on Fly on the wall Fly on the Windscreen fly open Fly or Die fly orchid fly orchids Fly orchis Fly out Fly out Fly out fly out of Fly Outs Fly over Fly over Fly over fly page Fly paper fly past fly past fly poison fly poison fly poison fly poison Fly posting Fly powder Fly press fly rafter Fly rail

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