mother (redirected from mother-like)

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

Prov. If you work carefully and constantly, you will be far more likely to be successful, as if luck had come your way. Mimi: I'll never get work as an actress; I always have such bad luck at auditions. Jane: Keep working at it. Diligence is the mother of good luck.

See also: good, luck

every mother's son (of them)

Fig. every one of them. The scout leader said that unless the scouts told him who had stolen the money, he would punish every mother's son of them. When the football team won the championship, they were all crying, every mother's son of them.

See also: every, son

expectant mother

a pregnant woman. The doctor's waiting room was filled with expectant mothers. The magazine has articles of interest to young parents and expectant mothers.

Experience is the father of wisdom, and Experience is the mother of wisdom.

Prov. The more that happens to you, the more you will learn. I never understood why supervisors got so frustrated with me until I became a supervisor and got frustrated with my subordinates. Experience was definitely the mother of wisdom, in my case.

See also: experience, father, wisdom

face (that) only a mother could love and face that could Stop a clock

Fig. a very ugly face. (Usually jocular. See also homely enough to stop a clock.) The poor baby has a face only a mother could love. Look at that guy. That's a face that could stop a clock.

See also: could, face, love

He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin.

Prov. If you want to marry a woman, you should find a way to impress her mother, so that the mother will favor her marrying you. Harry: I think I want to marry Gina. Bill: Don't propose to her until you're sure her mother is on your side. He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin.

See also: begin, daughter, first, must

Like mother, like daughter.

Prov. Daughters resemble their mothers.; Daughters tend to do what their mothers did before them. My mother loved sweets, and every time my father saw me with a cookie in my hand, he would sigh, "Like mother, like daughter." Jill: Gina's beautiful. Jane: Like mother, like daughter; her mother's gorgeous, too.

See also: daughter, like

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Prov. When people really need to do something, they will figure out a way to do it. When the fan belt on Linda's car broke in the middle of the desert, Linda used her stockings as a replacement. Necessity is the mother of invention.

See also: necessity

old enough to be someone's mother and old enough to be someone's father

as old as someone's parents. (Usually a way of saying that a person is too old.) You can't go out with Bill. He's old enough to be your father! He married a woman who is old enough to be his mother.

See also: enough, old

swear on a stack of Bibles and swear on one's mother's grave

to state something very earnestly, pledging to tell the truth. (~ a Stack of Bibles refers in an exaggerated way to swearing to tell the truth in court by placing one's hand on a Bible.) I swear on a stack of Bibles that I am telling the truth. Of course, I'm telling the truth. I swear on my mother's grave!

See also: Bible, stack, swear

tied to one's mother's apron strings

Fig. dominated by one's mother; dependent on one's mother. Tom is still tied to his mother's apron strings. Isn't he a little old to be tied to his mother's apron strings?

See also: apron, string, tie

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a mother lode of something   (American)

a large collection of a particular type of thing His collection of letters and papers is a mother lode of information for writers and journalists.

a mummy's/mother's boy  (British & Australian) also a mama's boy (American)

a boy or man who allows his mother to have too much influence on him Derek's a bit of a mummy's boy. He finished with his last girlfriend because his mother disapproved. He was often depicted as a weak-willed mama's boy with a domineering mother.

See the boy next door

See also: boy

an earth mother

a woman who has children and who has a natural ability as a mother My older sister's a real earth mother. She has four kids and she's completely happy to stay at home all day with them.

See also: earth

at your mother's knee

if you learned to do something at your mother's knee, you learned it when you were a young child I learned to sew at my mother's knee.

See also: knee

be tied to your mother's apron strings

if someone, usually a man, is tied to their mother's apron strings, they still need their mother and cannot think or act independently He's 30 but he's still tied to his mother's apron strings.

See also: apron, string, tie

Mother Nature

the force that controls the natural world Look at those trees blown down in the storm. Just shows you what Mother Nature can do when she gets angry.

See also: nature

Necessity is the mother of invention.

something that you say which means that if you want to do something very much you will think of a way to do it We can't afford expensive paper to paint on so we use old envelopes and newspaper. They do say necessity is the mother of invention.

See also: necessity

Shall I be mother?  (British & Australian humorous)

something that you say in order to ask whether you should serve food or drink to someone Here comes the tea. Shall I be mother?

See also: shall

the [child/house/mother, etc.] from hell  (humorous)

the worst or most unpleasant person or thing of that type that anyone can imagine His mother's awful. She really is the mother-in-law from hell.

See also: hell

the mother of all something   (informal)

an extreme example of something Mike's suffering from the mother of all hangovers after the party last night.

See a mummy's's boy, be tied to mother's apron strings

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the mother of all something

an extreme example of something Donny's car crash was the mother of all crashes. Hundreds will travel to Stonehenge, the mother of all places to celebrate the longest day of the year.